By Bob Hall In July 1968 the Psyops advisor in Phuoc Tuy Province, Major Desmal C. Smith Jr. was nearing the end of his tenure in the job. He was writing his end-of-tour report giving an overall assessment of progress and recommendations for change and improvement. He argued that the achievement of physical security was the key to improving pacification … Read More
An Australian at Hamburger Hill
By Bob Hall The Background In mid-1968 General Westmoreland was replaced as Commander US Military Assistance Command Vietnam (COMUSMACV), by General Creighton Abrams. Following the heavy losses suffered by the Viet Cong and People’s Army of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968, Abrams attempted to introduce a new ‘pacification’ strategy. This reversed the previous US strategy in which top … Read More
The ARVN: Was their performance misunderstood?
By Bob Hall The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), especially their Regional Force and Popular Force (RF/PF) components, had a reputation for poor combat performance. Brigadier S.P. Weir, Commander 1ATF from 1 September 1969 to 31 May 1970, expressed the concerns of many 1ATF soldiers when he remarked that Some of these [ARVN Regional Force] companies were so … Read More
Comparison: Force strengths and casualties
By Bob Hall The contribution of Australia and New Zealand to the Vietnam War is significant to Australians and New Zealanders, but in the wider context of the war it was minor. The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF), US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (USMACV) and other Free World Military Assistance Forces (FWMAF) far exceeded Australian and New Zealand forces … Read More
33 PAVN Regiment morale and the ‘red rats of Phuoc Tuy’
By Ernie Chamberlain (This article was first published as Ernie Chamberlain Research Note 25/2018) On 10 September 1969, the 199th US Light Infantry Brigade killed a number of VC in an engagement at YT557333 in southern Long Khánh Province – including the second-in-command of the 1st Battalion 33rd PAVN Regiment named Bùi Đức Nhật. They recovered a 33rd Regiment ‘News … Read More
The Battle of Coral (Sở Hội) 13 May 1968 – the 141st NVA Regiment Account
By Ernie Chamberlain The 141st North Vietnamese Regiment History (1997) [1] relates that: On 12 May, we discovered a battalion of Royal Australian troops had deployed to South Sở Hội (six kilometres north of Tân Uyên), and the Regiment was ordered to launch a night attack. The night was dark, and the regimental commander – Doãn Khiết, together with the … Read More
The Battle of Long Tân: Việt Cộng ‘numbers’ – 275 Regiment ‘s ‘QM notebook’
By Ernie Chamberlain The 50th anniversary of the 1966 Battle of Long Tân is now past. However, with the the Red Dune movie “Danger Close” – “based on” the Battle, to begin filming in southern Queensland shortly, interest in the detail of the Battle is expected to increase. Estimates published in a 2016 “fact sheet” by the Red Dune … Read More
Tet ’68 in Phuoc Tuy: Impact on communities
By Bob Hall and Andrew Ross Phuoc Le village, better known as Baria, was the Phuoc Tuy Province capital. It and the neighbouring village of Long Dien, bore the brunt of the Tet Offensive attacks in Phuoc Tuy Province in February 1968. This article describes these two towns and the impact of the Tet Offensive on them. Baria Baria had … Read More
The Tet Offensive in Ba Ria, Viet Nam 1968
Luke Johnston is the son of Pte David Johnston, 2 Pl A Coy, 3 RAR. Read his analysis along with his father’s recollections, of the Tet Offensive.
Baria, Tet ’68: Province Senior Advisor Report – February 1968
By Bob Hall Each month the Province Senior Advisor (PSA) in each of the Republic of Vietnam’s 44 provinces submitted a detailed report up the chain of command. These reports assessed the political and psychological, security and economic situation in their province. They provided a qualitative evaluation of the previous month’s developments and so, form a useful complement to the … Read More