Figure 1. Units are now browseable via a hierarchical tree

Over the past few months, we’ve been working on a number of improvements and new features to the Battle Map. This is a significant update that provides new ways of finding and exploring units and adds new ways for visitors to commemorate the fallen.

New Features

1. Unit structure. Units have been structured into a hierarchical format, making it much easier to filter incidents by a particular unit (Figure 1).
2. Unit tracking. It is now possible to follow the ‘track’ of a unit as it moved around the battlefield. Tracking a unit:
   1. Displays connecting lines between incidents involving that unit (and its sub-units) in date/time sequence.
   2. Allows you to browse forward and backward, through operations. See Figure 2 on how to start tracking a unit.
3. Place a Poppy. As with the previous Battle Map update, the names of battle casualties are listed against many incidents (see an example here). You can now place a poppy (and optionally, a personal tribute) to somebody through this place. See Figure 3 for help on how to place a poppy.
4. Honour Roll. The biographical details of each of the 521 Australians killed during the Vietnam War are listed in the Honour Roll (Figure 4).

Figure 2. Units can now be ‘tracked’, allowing the user to navigate a unit’s activity in chronological order.

Improvements

1. The map automatically pans and zooms to fit the data to be displayed, which makes navigating around the Battle Map much easier.

Roadmap

We’re now focused on adding coverage of Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force operations during the Vietnam War. This information will be integrated with the Battle Map, joining the already expansive data on the 1st Australian Task Force and 1st Royal Australian Regiment Battalion Group. It is anticipated the first features incorporating this data will be released in early 2017.

Also in early 2017, we intend to add to the Honour Roll, details of the New Zealanders who were killed in action.

Later in 2017, we intend to cover Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) activities, as well as civil affairs projects.

Donations

We are grateful to the donors who have pledged money to support the development of this website. Our work here is not-for-profit and we welcome any support you can provide, to help us continue to improve this unique public resource.

If you or anyone you know, is willing to donate to our cause, please visit our Donations page for a way to do so.

Figure 3. Users can place a virtual poppy against a person listed as a casualty on an incident’s Honour Roll.

Figure 4. Search for and browse all Australian service personnel killed during the Vietnam War.