By Bob Hall Over the course of the war between 1966 when the Australian Task Force arrived, to the end of 1971 when the Task Force departed, Phuoc Tuy Province underwent significant changes. Some of these were the direct result of civil affairs projects. Some were indirect results of these projects. Still others were the result of improving security and … Read More
The Swimmer Sapper Attack on USS Meeker County – June 1970
By Hector Donohue The Swimmer Sapper Threat The significant threat posed by swimmer sappers in Vietnam was accentuated on 1 November 1968 when USS Westchester County (LST-1167), a 115m tank landing ship, was attacked, resulting in the US Navy’s greatest single-incident combat loss of life during the entire Vietnam War. The ship had resumed duty with the Mobile Riverine Forces … Read More
Ambassador Bunker and the Tet Offensive of 1968
By Bob Hall Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam from 5 April 1967 to 11 May 1973, wrote lengthy monthly reports to Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Bunker wrote a final report to President Johnson on the President’s last days in office, on 16 January 1969. It ran to 56 pages. In it, Bunker … Read More
Now’s the time to record your place in history
Now that COVID-19 is confining us to our homes, you may be finding that you’ve got time on your hands. One way of making good use of that time is to help make the Australia’s Vietnam War website the best it can be. Here’s some things you can do: Scan your old photographs and upload them to the website direct … Read More
Gallup Polls #3 – US attitudes to the Vietnam War
By Bob Hall Throughout the course of the Vietnam War, Gallup Polls were regularly conducted in the United States. Beginning in 1965 the polls asked a standard question: In view of the developments since we entered the fighting in Vietnam, do you think the US made a mistake sending troops to fight in Vietnam?[1] The graph below shows the polling … Read More
Gallup Polls #2 – Australian support for Vietnam deployment
By Bob Hall Following the Second World War, elements of the Australian Defence Forces were deployed on the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and on Confrontation. In the early 1960s, public attention was drawn to the possibility that Australian forces may again be deployed on combat operations, this time in Vietnam. The following … Read More
New articles posted
To mark National Serviceman’s Day (14 February), we’ve posted an article titled ‘Gallup Polls #1 – National Service’. The article graphs the level of public support for the National Service Scheme, according to Gallup Polls, between 1961 and 1972. It shows that support for the scheme never fell below 50%, but support for deployment of National Servicemen to a war … Read More
Gallup Polls #1 – National Service
By Bob Hall In May 1964 the Australian government introduced the National Service Scheme. Under the scheme, young men were selected by ballot for two years compulsory military service which could include service overseas in a war zone. National servicemen first deployed to Vietnam as part of the 1st Australian Task Force in May-June 1966. The 1RAR Battalion Group, which … Read More
The real story: First battle of Coral
By Ian F. Ahearn Background – Operation Toan Thang Operation Toan Thang (Complete Victory) was launched on 8 April 1968. It was a combined operation deploying 70,000 US, Vietnamese, Australian, New Zealand and Thai troops with the initial aim of destroying enemy forces in the III Corps area. Australian participation in the combined operation commenced on 21 April 1968 with the … Read More
Nui Le: The last battle, 21 Sep 1971
By Gary McKay In late September 1971 I was a 23 year-old rifle platoon commander in Delta Company of the 4th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment. We were on operations in the north of Phuoc Tuy Province searching for and hoping to destroy our enemy; the highly trained, strictly disciplined and deeply motivated soldiers from the North Vietnamese Army’s 33rd … Read More