Battle of Long Tan

The Battle occurred on the afternoon of 18 August 1966, just two months after the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) had established its base at Nui Dat in the heart of Phuoc Tuy province, South Vietnam.

While searching a rubber plantation near Long Tan for Communist forces who had attacked the base with mortar and rocket fire in the early hours of 17 August, D Company, 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) encountered a combined force of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars and local and provincial forces of the National Liberation Front (NLF). D Company numbered 108 men with an artillery Forward Observation Team, comprising New Zealand artillerymen.

The combined enemy force, estimated at over 2,000 soldiers, comprised the local Viet Cong D445 Battalion (reinforced with North Vietnamese soldiers) and elements of the main force 275 Viet Cong Regiment. It was later learnt that 274 VC Regiment also occupied an ambush position on Route 2, north of Binh Ba.

Under intense enemy fire, the separated platoons of D Company fought off enemy attacks and then regrouped with the company headquarters. They continued to withstand repeated enemy attacks, supported by accurate artillery fire from the base at Nui Dat.

As D Company’s position became increasingly desperate, two RAAF helicopters succeeded in dropping ammunition to the men despite the heavy monsoonal downpour which persisted throughout the battle.

After three hours of continuous fighting, as it seemed that enemy forces may be gathering for a final assault, the besieged company was reinforced with the arrival of A Company, 6 RAR mounted in armoured personnel carriers. On the following day, 245 enemy bodies were counted on the battlefield although the enemy is believed to have retrieved many more dead and wounded during the night and removed them from the site of the battle. Australian losses were 17 dead and 25 wounded, one of whom later died of his wounds.

The decisive victory at Long Tan was achieved against odds of over ten to one but left one-third of the Australian company killed or wounded. Fifteen Commonwealth decorations were awarded to individual soldiers for their actions during the battle and D Company 6 RAR was awarded a US Presidential Unit Citation. In March 2008, an independent review panel recommended that Commonwealth awards to three soldiers should be upgraded by the award of modern Australian decorations.

Although challenged at the time, and since, in Communist Vietnamese accounts, the victory effectively imposed the Australians’ dominance in Phuoc Tuy province for the duration of their presence there.

The bravery, tenacity and sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand soldiers at Long Tan became legendary.