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Australia sends advisers to Vietnam
Australia sends 30 advisers from the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) which marked the start of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war -
First Australian soldier killed
The first australian soldier Sergeant William Hacking died after dropping his carbine, which shot the sergeant fatally shot him in the head. Even though he dropped his gun it was still the first Australian killed in the war. -
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Australia in the Vietnam war
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Australia sends first troops to battle in Vietnam
South Vietnam were not able to hold of the communists as they were supported by North Vietnam the US had commence a major escalation of the war, so Australia had to go with the US to support them under the ANZUS treaty -
The dispatch of a task force
The australian goverment dispatched a new task force to replace the 1RAR (1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment). The task force consisted of two battalions and support services. They where dispatched to Nui Dat, Phuoc Tuy province. The taskforce was assigned its own area of operations and included conscripts who had been called up but the Australian government -
Battle of Long Tan
In August 1966 a company of 6RAR was engaged in one of Australia's heaviest actions of the war, in a rubber plantation near Long Tan. The 108 soldiers of D Coy held off an enemy force, estimated at over 2000, for four hours in the middle of a monsoonal rain -
Major Peter Badcoe was award the Victorian cross
Major Peter Badcoe, is killed in action leading two companies of Vietnamese regional forces. He was awarded the Victoiran Cross for his outstanding Heroism -
The Battle of Coral & Balmoral
The Battle for Fire Support Base (FSB) Coral begins with an enemy attack that overruns 1 RAR Mortar Platoon and captures one of 102 Field Battery’s gun pits. The base is cleared with the help of helicopter gunships. After a second attack on May 15, Australian casualties around Coral stand at 15 killed and 56 wounded while enemy losses are estimated to exceed 100 dead. -
A poll
Morgan Gallup Poll finds 55% of Austrlians want Australians brought home from Vietnam. This shows how divided the country was about Australia in the Vietnam war -
Protests Around Australia
Anti-Vietnam War protesters stage the protests in Australian cities (70,000 in Melbourne, and about 120,000 throughout Australia). -
Australia withdraws troops
The Prime Minister announces the bulk of Australian forces in South Vietnam are to be withdrawn, leaving only a modified training team. -
Australia pull out of the Vietnam war
Australia’s military commitment in South Vietnam ends, although controversy about the precise end date of the war continues.