Combat

Overview

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.

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.

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.

The other side

The Vietnamese thought of the Americans as they had of the French, the Japanese, and the Chinese, as colonialists who sought to occupy their country. They called their struggle against the most recent invaders ‘the American War’ and they fought it using a combination of guerrillas and regular troops; the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, who were more closely integrated than is often realised. more…

Patrolling

Patrolling was the cornerstone of 1 Australian Task Force’s (1ATF’s) operations in Phuoc Tuy Province … The Australian tactics surprised the Viet Cong who were used to meeting an enemy that fought from defensive positions and rarely pursued them into the jungle. more…

Viet Cong Tunnels

The tunnels concealed living areas, storage depots, ordnance factories, hospitals, headquarters – a range of facilities than enabled people to live, and wage war from, underground for years at a time … The existence and the extent of the tunnel systems surprised the Americans and Australians. more…

Battle of Long Tan

Almost as soon as the battle began a torrential downpour added to the gloom in the rubber plantation. The Australians, surrounded, short of ammunition and fighting an enemy whose strength they could only guess at, called for helicopters to drop ammunition to them … more…

Operation Bribie

On his order 5 platoon ran forward with a roar only to be cut down almost immediately. Hidden machine guns opened up on the right flank, leaving eight members of the nine-man-strong 1 section either killed or wounded. more…

Battle of Coral/Balmoral

Australian, New Zealand and United States forces were involved in a series of actions between May and June 1968 at fire support bases Coral and Balmoral some 20 kilometres north of Bien Hoa city. more…

Battle of Binh Ba

Fire came at the Australians from the doors and windows, from any vantage point that offered the enemy cover. By now it was clear from the uniforms that some of the dead included NVA soldiers as well as Viet Cong. That explained the heavy weapons seen that morning and the surprising intensity of the fighting in Binh Ba. more…