Aussies In Vietnam: The Ambush at Long Tan

Vietnam 1966 yesterday on August 17th the enemy sent mortar and recoilless rifle teams with an attack range of about two kilometers from your base the surprise bombing that has lasted throughout the night has killed at least one soldier and wounded several others thankfully further enemy attacks are halted by the rapid counterfire from the basis guns into the jungle brush the next morning the commander of the base orders Delta company to locate the enemy and their firing positions and clear the area instead they will run into an enemy Ambush and fight an intense battle over the next 24 hours against a vastly larger number of the Viet Cong this is the story of the Ambush at long Tang Australia was one of the few countries that contributed to the United States in the Vietnam war effort from 1962 to 1971 sending some of the best trained soldiers in the world over 7 000 of them to fight alongside the American units but due to diplomatic considerations the Australian government wanted to restrict their forces to Southern coastal areas and prevent deployment anywhere near International borders the overall command of forces in Vietnam was under the American General Westmoreland who agreed with the Australian request and was eager to make good use of the Australian troops in the area east of Saigon a mostly Vietcong controlled farming Province called the first complete Australian army unit deployed to Vietnam was the first Battalion Royal Australian regiment or first RAR in April 1965. this unit was initially sent to bianha outside of Saigon joining the American 173rd Airborne Brigade The Following month the Australian unit received a battery theory of 155 millimeter guns augmenting the other battery of 105 millimeters from New Zealand and a squadron of m113 armored personnel carriers the following year in March of 1966 the first RAR returned home replaced instead by the fifth rer and the six RAR which came a month after these combined units were then designated the first Australian task force or ATF which would start operating independently the ATF was then sent to Wong Tao in May 1966. let's take a look at the local area of operations for some context the province of toy was mostly a rural area made up of farm fields and scrub lands though there is also some jungle areas most of the 100 000 inhabitants of this province lived along the coastline areas and were known to be pro-viet Cong or at least neutral making the task of pacification more challenging and dangerous for the Australian forces to the northeast of Wong Tao in the maitau Hills the Viet cong's fifth division was deployed while a smaller Detachment the locally raised gorilla d-445 VC Battalion was known to be spread out within the various local Villages the ATF Commander Brigadier OD Jackson decided to set up a forward base of operations at a small hill known as Nui dutt 20 miles north of the base at Wong Tao here he placed his 105 millimeter artillery along with a unit of American-made 155 millimeter guns which could cover a wide area and so on May 24th the fifth rer joined the American 173rd Airborne Brigade to secure nui.hill and surrounding areas from the Viet Cong three weeks later the sixth rer would be joining the other Aussie units allowing the Americans to pull out the 173rd Airborne Brigade to be redeployed elsewhere the Australian soldiers were now on their own to control and pacify the entire Province the Australians deployed their special air service or SAS units to push deep into the province in Search and Destroy missions often ambushing the Vietcong troop movements using Claymore mines and machine guns the fifth RAR and the 6 RAR were ordered to clear a buffer zone around the nui.hill base to keep the Viet Cong Beyond mortar range villages in the area including long tan were searched and their inhabitants relocated to other areas in order to maintain Security in the sector around the base however on August 17 1966 the Vietcong was able to bring mortar teams within range of the base and caught the Australians by surprise with a barrage of fire killing one Aussie Soldier and wounding 23 others the Australian Commander then ordered the fifth rer and a company of the six rer on a search and destroy mission of the enemy mortar teams Brigadier Jackson then sent out the under strength Bravo Company 6 RAR to sweep the area east of the base finding no enemy the Australian units were ordered to return to base by the following day when Delta company 6 rer would then take over the patrols unknown to the Australians the Viet Cong had amassed seven battalions of over four thousand men in total strength and were closing in on the new debt base three battalions would swing towards the north to flank the base while the other four battalions would advance from the East using the long Tang rubber Plantation S cover the following day August 18 1966 Delta company of the sixth Battalion Royal Australian regiment commanded by Major Harry Smith prepared to set out to locate the enemy mortar positions they had fired on their base as well as to track the enemy routes of retreat and push the enemy back Beyond mortar range Delta company was made up of 108 men split into three platoons the 10th 11th and 12th with a small HQ Detachment at 1100 hours on August 18th they left the Nui dot base with second Lieutenant David sabin's 12th platoon on point two hours later Delta company linked up with Bravo Company just west of the rubber Plantation the six RAR continued East into the plantation itself where the trail then splits to the north and east into the evenly spaced rubber trees secondly tenant Jeff Kendall's 10th platoon takes the Northern Trail route while second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp's 11th platoon moves East into the rubber tree area the 12th platoon and the HQ Detachment follow closely behind Sharp's 11th platoon 40 minutes later the leading 11th platoon encounters a half a dozen Vietcong soldiers and fires upon them some of the VCS Escape East into the wall of dense jungle as the 11th platoon enters the jungle in pursuit of the enemy the area erupts in an intense hail of fire from the hidden Viet Cong soldiers killing two Australians instantly and sending the rest of the platoon to seek whatever cover they can find the Vietcong battalions attack intensifies as the enemy forces attempt to encircle the trapped 11th platoon farther behind the 12th platoon and the HQ detachment are attacked with mortar fire and cannot advance to rescue the 11th platoon the well-trained and disciplined Australians recover from the initial shock of the Ambush and begin to return effective fire picking off enemy soldiers while remaining in cover Captain Maurice Stanley a forward Observer with HQ Detachment begins to call in artillery strikes and soon the shells of all 24 of the Aussies 105 millimeter guns are exploding all around the vietcong's positions the Americans 155 millimeter guns also join in and pulverize the whole area of the rubber Plantation within minutes as the 10th platoon is making its way South along the trail to reinforce the beleaguer troops of the 11th and 12th platoons the weather turns bad with torrential rains and visibility is then reduced to less than 50 yards meanwhile back at the base at Nui dutt Lieutenant Colonel Colin Townsend commanding the six rer decides to send out a relief Force consisting of Alpha Company 6 RAR on board the m-113 armor personnel carriers leaves the base compound at 17 45 hours at the rubber Plantation Delta companies putting up a good fight but they are beginning to run low on ammunition sections of the 11th platoon pull back towards the HQ group in the west and set up a defensive perimeter while the wounded are tended to the artillery barrage suddenly ceases to allow two Australian uh-1 helicopters from nuidot to bring in much-needed supplies at that point the Viet Cong begins a human wave attack on the Australian defending Force which is stopped in time when the artillery barrage starts again breaking off the enemy assault the Viet Cong determined to destroy the Australians since the d-445 Battalion around to the west to complete the encirclement at that moment Roberts m-113 armored personnel carriers across the sui dabang River and completely surprises the VC Battalion the m113s fire their 50 caliber machine guns at near Point Blank Range and some m113s even run over other VC soldiers trying to escape the m113s have arrived at the Australian defensive Perimeter at 1840 hours and begin to push back the enemy with intense fire a few minutes later the Bravo Company 6 RAR which has moved East from Nui dot on foot arrive and provides additional reinforcements with this now larger Force the Australians begin to pull back West while additional supplies are brought in from the base the following morning on August 19 1966 Townsend orders Delta company 6 RAR to reoccupy the battlefield amazingly they are able to find two wounded Australians while recovering the bodies of their fallen Brothers they also collect the enemy dead and bury them the Australians have lost 17 men killed while they have counted 245 enemies dead this Ambush has actually turned into a victory for the Australians who have crushed the attackers through their Superior Firepower of the artillery batteries the m113 armor personnel carriers and the well-trained Infantry Soldiers the Australians have managed to push the VC fifth division back into the maitau hills while extending control of more territory in the province the Australians withdrew all their combat forces from Vietnam in late 1971 having suffered 423 men killed and 2 398 wounded after they left the futtoy province the South Vietnamese Army arvn were unable to maintain control and the VC eventually would take over the villages and territories that had been held for so long by the Australians if you enjoyed watching this episode go ahead and hit the like button and leave a comment and if you haven't 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Channel: GeoTactics

Views: 70,403

Keywords: vietnam war, battle of long tan, viet cong, dave sabben, 6 rar, ambush at long tan, general westmoreland, Captain Morrie Stanley, Lt. Colonel Colin Townsend, Colin Townsend, Colonel Colin Townsend, battle of long tan danger close, vietnam war stories, long tan, the vietnam war, vietnam war documentary, the battle of long tan, danger close, vietnam, danger close movie, australian army, australia, battle at long tan, Ambushed in Vietnam: Aussies' Epic Stand at Long Tan Battle

Id: ShPltEC4758

Length: 10min 24sec (624 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 26 2022