Australian forces used counter-insurgency tactics, prioritising persistent patrolling and ambushes within jungle and rural areas. While risk levels varied across units, ground troops and aircrews frequently encountered hazardous close combat. Landmines and booby traps caused deaths and injuries, as well as significant psychological trauma.
Australians serving in the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) could be involved in several types of combat.
Some engagements carried relatively little risk for those involved, such as naval vessels providing gunfire support for land forces. Australian bomber crews ran slightly higher risks, but for the most part their war was also fought at a distance from their targets.
Infantry, members of the armoured, artillery and engineer corps, along with helicopter crews and forward air controllers, were among those who were frequently in danger. Sometimes, they engaged in regular, close combat. For the most part, these Australian troops experienced combat in rural or jungle terrain against experienced, skilled opponents.
While it is commonly held that United States forces sought to draw the enemy into battle and defeat them with overwhelming firepower, Australian forces took a different approach.
Australian counter-insurgency tactics demanded constant patrolling, the laying of ambushes and pursuit of the enemy. Army units would spend long periods patrolling, painstakingly seeking signs of the enemy. Following enemy contact, combat was often at close range and of relatively short duration. But there were times when Australians were involved in longer battles, such as those at Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral in 1968.
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 in doing so and were often exposed to intense enemy fire during 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.
Troops of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) move through rice paddy fields as US helicopters fly overhead after landing them during a search-and-destroy operation, Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, January 1966. 1RAR, made up entirely of regular soldiers, was attached to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade at Bien Hoa. AWM SHA/66/0007/VN
Troops from the 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR), run from a US Army Iroquois helicopter, Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, 2 May 1967. The chopper is one of 20 that dropped 7RAR to the landing zone to launch Operation Lismore, its first major mission against the Vietcong. From left: Private (Pte) Ken Aspinal, Pte Jozsef Csorba and Pte Peter Gates from the Fire Assault Platoon, Support Company. Gates described the operation in a letter to his family. AWM GIL/67/0377/VN
217739 Section Commander Corporal Joseph 'Joe' Danyluk (right) and Private Richard 'Dick' Bligh of B Company, the 8th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR), have a rest before searching a Vietcong bunker system in the Long Hai mountains during Operation Hamersley, Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, 18 February 1970. AWM WAR/70/0160/VN
Troops from the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), watch a Vietcong camp burn, Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, c November 1966. They are sitting on an armoured personnel carrier (APC) of the 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier (1APC) Squadron. The camp was located east of their Nui Dat base and destroyed along with the food supplies. AWM P05565.019
C packs and ammunition laid out ready for the troops of the 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR), before embarking on an operation, South Vietnam, 1970. Image: private collection of Carole Talty (Red Cross), used with permission.
Weary-looking members of the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), move through thick jungle during Operation Vaucluse, Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, September 1966. The strain of patrolling, knowing that enemy contact could occur at any moment, is evident on their faces. This search-and-destroy operation lasted for 16 days and aimed to destroy enemy personnel and bases in the Nui Dinh hills. AWM FOR/66/0796/VN
Members of 2RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion have a rest before embarking on an operation, South Vietnam, July 1967. In their operational area, the threat of combat is constant with few opportunites to relax. The battalion took part in 23 operations in Phuoc Tuy and Bien Hoa provinces during this tour. AWM CAM/67/0574/VN
Digging in', Thua Tich, Phuoc Tuy Province'. Painted by Ken McFadyen, South Vietnam, 1968 [charcoal, rubbing out on paper 56 cm x 38.2 cm]. 'Everyone had to dig a hole. That drawing always symbolised how you survived out there, no matter what … and it wasn’t long after that one of the soldiers lost his life through being a bit careless because he hadn’t dug it deep enough.' – Official War Artist, Ken McFadyen. AWM ART40628
An outdoor debrief for the 8th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR), after Operation Keppera using a giant map hung from the unit’s movie screen, South Vietnam, February 1970. 8RAR took part in 2 phases of the operation between 23 January and 14 February. The map was drawn by an 8RAR intelligence dutyman and painted onto bed sheets. Image: private collection of Derek Walsh (3794119), used with permission.
Members of 2RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion on top of a Centurion tank during Operation Cung Chung II, Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, c September 1970. They are watching a Bell UH-1 Iroquois 'Huey' helicopter take off. A Sioux 'Possum' observation helicopter is on the ground nearby. Image: private collection of Leon Pavich (312606), used with permission.
An emergency at the 8th Field Ambulance dust-off pad at Nui Dat base, Phuoc Tuy Provice, South Vietnam, 6 August 1967. A wounded soldier is unloaded from an RAAF Iroquois chopper after being winched out of the jungle. Identified, left to right: A19033 Leading Aircraftman Kerin Williams (carrying plasma bottle); 43919 Private Charles Kerr Storie, 8th Field Ambulance; 4410808 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Albertus Leonardus 'Bert' Kuijpers; and 1411225 L Cpl Trevor Owen Skinner, 1st Australian Reinforcement Unit. The dust-off mission resulted from contact between Vietcong 274 Regiment and members of A Company, 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) in the Battle of Suoi Chau Pha during Operation Ballarat. Six Australians were killed and 14 were wounded in the action. AWM VN/67/0104/20
Squadron Officer Harriett Hardy Fenwick, adjusts the litter strap of an Australian Army casualty flying home on a RAAF Hercules for medical treatment, in the air, 1965. In June 1965, Fenwick was the first RAAF Nursing Service sister to fly into South Vietnam to help evacuate wounded Australian personnel. AWM MAL/65/0083/02
DVA (Department of Veterans' Affairs) (
), Combat experiences during the Vietnam War, DVA Anzac Portal, accessed 11 August 2026, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/vietnam-war/experiences/combat
