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Combat

Troops of 1RAR move through paddy fields as American helicopters fly overhead

Troops of 1RAR move through paddy fields as American helicopters fly overhead after landing them during a search and destroy operation, Bien Hoa, January 1966.

1 RAR made up entirely of regular soldiers, was attached to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade at Bien Hoa.

[AWM SHA/66/0007/VN]

Australians in Vietnam could be involved in several types of combat. Some engagements, such as when naval vessels provided gunfire support for land forces, carried relatively little risk for the Australians involved. Australian bomber crews ran slightly higher risks, but for the most part their war was also fought at a distance from those whom they engaged. Infantry, members of the armoured, artillery and engineer corps, along with helicopter crews and forward air controllers, were, however, among those who, sometimes fighting at close quarters and engaging in regular combat, were frequently in danger. For the most part these Australians in Vietnam experienced combat either in or above rural or jungle locales against experienced and skilled opponents.

Captain Gerry Cudmore, a Roman Catholic Chaplain with 1RAR, gives communion to Australian gunners and American troops, Bien Hoa, 1965.
Troops from 7RAR dash from a United States Army Iroquois helicopter
The bodies of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops are laid out in an open area so they can be checked for documents before burial.
Section Commander Corporal Joe Danyluk and Private Dick Bligh ‘take five’ before beginning their search of a Viet Cong bunker system in the Long Hai mountains
6RAR troops watch a Viet Cong camp burn from atop an armoured personnel carrier
Staff Sergeant Wayne Wells, 1ATF Intelligence Staff, with an aerial Personnel Detector, which analysed smells to detect humans in the jungle
'C’ packs and ammunition laid out ready for 5RAR infantrymen
Members of 1RAR cordon and search a village near the Rung Sat area, a vast tangle of waterways and mangrove swamps
Weary looking soldiers of 6RAR move through thick jungle
A soldier from 7RAR moves through a creek during a patrol in June 1970
Soldiers of 2RAR/NZ (Anzac) grab the chance to rest
Captain John Brien checks a compass bearing on the bridge of the Army landing ship Clive Steele
A wrecked and burned out M113A1 armoured personnel carrier stands on a bare patch of ground
Charcoal drawing of man digging by artist Ken McFadyen
Waterborne engineers beach their dinghy
An outdoor debrief using a giant map drawn by an 8 RAR intelligence Dutyman. The map was painted onto bed sheets and hung from the unit’s movie screen, 1970
Chaplain Ray Stachurski, Roman Catholic Priest, administering the last rites to Private (Pte) Robert Buchan, D Company 6RAR
Lance Corporal Anthony ‘Mooka’ Jones, 4RAR, performing road convoy duty in a Land Rover armed with a 106mm recoilless rifle, 1968
Huey and Bell helicopters and a Centurion tank
5 US soldiers travel in armed tank

While it is commonly held that United States forces sought to draw the enemy into battle, aiming to defeat them with overwhelming firepower, Australian forces used a different approach. Australian counter-insurgency tactics demanded constant patrolling, the laying of ambushes and pursuit of the enemy. Units would spend long periods patrolling, painstakingly seeking signs of the enemy. Combat, when it came, was often at close range and of relatively short duration. There were, however, occasions when Australians were involved in longer battles such as those at Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral in 1968.

Smoke signal to indicate location of wounded for evacuation
a wounded soldier is unloaded from an RAAF Iroquois chopper
Commandant Janice Webb, Australian Red Cross, with walking wounded at 8 Field Ambulance, Vung Tau, during 1967
RAAF Nursing Sister, Squadron Officer Harriett Hardy Fenwick adjusts the litter strap of an Australian Army casualty as he is flown home on a RAAF Hercules for medical treatment, 1965

Air force and naval helicopter crews flew troops into and out of combat, evacuated the wounded and provided gunfire support to ground troops.They ran considerable risks to do so and were often exposed to intense enemy fire in the course of their operations.

For Australians, combat in Vietnam meant more than exposure to mortar and small arms fire. Even where there was no contact with the enemy, men could be wounded or killed by concealed landmines and booby traps. This type of warfare carried a heavy psychological burden, danger was ever-present and many of those who suffered no physical injury were nonetheless traumatised by the experience.

Related content

Phuoc Tuy Province map indicating province boundary, district boundary, minefield and rubber plantations

Map of Phuoc Tuy Province.

PDF icon 8RAR Report containing details of booby traps encountered (pdf 614.36 KB) (614.36 KB)

A report from 8RAR containing details of booby traps encountered during a patrol. 2. Booby trap incident 612 RF Coy at Hoa Long, 8 September 1969. [AWM 98 – VC Mines and Booby traps – [222]

PDF icon VC Mine Markers (pdf 932.31 KB) (932.31 KB)

An Australian Army publication revealing potential mines and booby traps set by the Viet Cong. [Battle Intelligence Section 1ATF ‘VC Mine Markers’, AWM 98 [Item 222]

PDF icon Peter Gates Letter (pdf 940.41 KB) (940.41 KB)

Private Peter Gates of Victoria, 7RAR, arrived in Vietnam on 19 April 1967. In this excerpt from a letter to his family Gates describes his feelings on arrival and having been on his first operation, Operation Lismore. [AWM PR83/218]

PDF icon 173rd Airborne Brigade Situation Report (pdf 299.14 KB) (299.14 KB)

The 173rd Airborne Brigade Situation Report (SITREP) for the period 141800H to 151800H December 1965, during Operation New Life, reports on security operations to protect the harvest in the ‘Rice Bowl’ area, Australian and US patrols in the Tactical Area of Responsibility (TAOR) and the provision of road security for Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) convoys passing through the TAOR. [AWM 273 Item 14]

PDF icon AFV Monthly Report—June–Dec 1966 (pdf 1.01 MB) (1.01 MB)

The Austforce Vietnam Monthly report – July 1966, from Headquarters Australian Force Vietnam, gives details of operations and activities for the month, including civic action projects initiated by the Australians. [AWM 98/R723-1-13 part 1]

PDF icon The Commander's Diary—1–31 Jul 1966 (pdf 1.66 MB) (1.66 MB)

The Commander’s Diary for the period 1–31 July 1966, provides an insight into the Australian Task Force’s early operations and the problems it faced at Nui Dat. [AWM 95 1/4/4 Headquarters I Australian Task Force Narrative 1–31 July 1966, pp 1–16]

PDF icon Message from Austforce Vietnam—30 April 1967 (pdf 658.69 KB) (658.69 KB)

A message from Austforce Vietnam to Defence Canberra on 30 April 1967, advising of future operations to restrict Viet Cong influence around the Task Force Base and curtail their supply routes around Dat Do and the Barrier minefield. [AWM 98/306 Pt 1]

Interview 1 Second Lieutenant David Sabben, 12 Platoon, D Company, 6RAR

The realities of battlefield casualties. Australians at War Film Archive Interview No.2585

Return to Long Tan [AWM F03877]

Troops of Charlie Company, 6RAR, completed their last operation in Vietnam, Operation Bowen, in May 1967, when they re-visited the village of Long Tan on a search and destroy mission.

Vietnamese and Australians on joint operation [AWM F04403]

A seven-week joint operation between Delta Company, 6RAR, and the 3rd Battalion, 52nd Regiment of the 18th Army of the Republic of Vietnam Division, ended with a five-day operation in the Nui Thi Vai hills north-west of the Task Force base at Nui Dat, November 1969. Major Mick Gill from Qld commanded Delta Company; Captain Tan was the ARVN Battalion Commander.

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