In 1965, prime minister Robert Menzies committed Australian troops to Vietnam to counter communist expansion. Despite political opposition, the initial force served under United States command. Tactical differences subsequently led to the creation of an independent Australian Task Force in Phuoc Tuy Province.
On the afternoon of 29 April 1965, Australians were warned that the Menzies government would 'provide an infantry battalion for service in Vietnam.' Menzies delivered a statement to the Lower House of Parliament that evening. He explained that the decision was made in response to a request for 'further military assistance' by the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) government, in consultation with the United States government.
The takeover of South Vietnam would be a direct military threat to Australia and all the countries of South-East Asia. It must be seen as part of a thrust by Communist China between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
[Prime minister Sir Robert Menzies, Hansard, 29 April 1965.]
Five days after the prime minister's announcement, the leader of the opposition, Arthur Calwell, spoke in Parliament, opposing Australia's commitment of troops to South Vietnam.
Our men will be fighting the largely indigenous Vietcong in their own home territory. They will be fighting in the midst of a largely indifferent, if not resentful, and frightened population. They will be fighting at the request of, and in support, and, presumably, under the direction of an unstable, inefficient, partially corrupt military regime which lacks even the semblance of being, or becoming, democratically based.
[Excerpt from Mr Arthur Calwell's speech, 4 May 1965.]
On 27 May 1965, a company of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) and attachments together with a small media contingent left Sydney for South Vietnam. Their voyage on HMAS Sydney took 14 days, and they arrived at the port of Vung Tau on 10 June.
The remainder of 1RAR travelled to South Vietnam by air.
Bien Hoa Province
1RAR was attached to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade and stationed in Bien Hoa Province, an area held by the Vietcong, about 25 km from Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).
Under Colonel Oliver David Jackson, the Commander, Australian Army Force, Vietnam, the Australian contingent comprised:
- one infantry battalion of approximately 600 combat troops (1RAR)
- an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) unit
- the Prince of Wales Light Horse
- a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) unit with 6 Caribou planes
- a small surgical team
- a handful of civil engineers
- diary and signals experts
- military advisers in the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV).
Colonel Jackson was based at the Australian Headquarters in Saigon. Although he was under the operational control of the Commander, US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, General William Westmoreland, Jackson remained responsible for 'matters of Australian administration and support'.
Once the Australians had established their base and defences around the 1RAR position, they began patrolling their tactical area of responsibility (TAOR).
The infantry were tasked with:
- securing the Bien Hoa air base
- deep patrolling and offensive operations into areas adjacent to the base
- conducting combined operations with US and ARVN troops.
1st Australian Task Force
The Australians troops soon discovered their tactics were very different from those of their US allies.
This, along with the recognition that a single Australian battalion would always need to be integrated into a US brigade, led military and political planners to conclude that Australian forces in South Vietnam should comprise a task force with its own area of operations.
Thus, in 1966, the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) was deployed from Australia to Phuoc Tuy Province to establish a new Australian base at Nui Dat.
Initially, 1ATF comprised 2 battalions of combat troops (5RAR and 6RAR) with support from armour, aviation, engineers, and artillery, and was later increased to 3 battalions.
Eight regular infantry battalions completed operational tours with 1ATF during the war:
- 1RAR from January 1968 to January 1969
- 2RAR from May 1967 to June 1968 and May 1970 to May 1971
- 3RAR from December 1967 to November 1968 and from February 1971 to October 1971
- 4RAR from May 1968 to May 1969 and from May 1971 to March 1972
- 5RAR from April 1966 to March 1967, and February 1969 to February 1970
- 6RAR from May 1966 to June 1967 and from May 1969 to May 1970
- 7RAR from April 1967 to April 1968 and from February 1970 to February 1971
- 8RAR from November 1969 to November 1970.
