Company Sergeant Major WO2 Jack Kirby, D Coy 6RAR on the morning after the Battle of Long Tan

The Commander at the helm of the historical and bloody Battle of Long Tan has welcomed the addition of an “unsung hero” of the Vietnam War to the list of candidates for a retrospective Victoria Cross.

Lt Colonel (Retired) Harry Smith said it was “only right and proper” that the Defence Honours Awards Tribunal investigate posthumous VCs for soldiers in the Vietnam and Korean conflicts alongside those for the two World Wars.

“I am cheered that my formal application for Warrant Officer Jack Kirby for his sustained gallantry at Long Tan has been accepted. Throughout the battle ‘Big Jack’ disregarded his own safety while braving enemy fire to distribute ammunition,” commented Smith. You can read more about what Jack Kirby did during The Battle of Long Tan in our previous blog post: Jack Kirby – An Unsung Hero of The Battle of Long Tan.

“Jack continuously exposed himself to enemy fire to carry wounded Australians over his shoulder back to the Company Aid Post. He also rushed out of the D Coy perimeter to silence a wheeled enemy heavy machine gun which was setting up less than 50 metres away from the Australians.

“Jack knew instinctively that in just a few moments this heavy machinegun would be able to strafe and decimate the Australians. He killed the enemy machinegun crew, then rushed back and continued to carry on handing out ammunition, moving around the entire company position and giving out words of encouragement.”

Long Tan took place on 18 August 1966 in a rubber plantation amid torrential monsoonal downpours, and involved ammunition resupplies by helicopters and continuous 24 gun artillery barrages. 108 Australian and New Zealand troops – many of them young conscripts – repelled an enemy force of more than 2,500.

Eighteen Australians were killed and 24 wounded. Enemy forces suffered horrendous casualties. Figures released in 2006 suggest as many as 1,200 killed or died from wounds.

“Personal gallantry is not the only requirement for the VC, and as in the regulations, some previous VCs have been awarded for ‘extraordinary performance of duty in the face of the enemy’,” said Smith, who has been a gadfly for awards recognition for his men for the past 18 years and belatedly received a Star of Gallantry Medal last year in lieu of a Distinguished Service Order downgraded in 1966.

“Thus, apart from personal gallantry under fire, I believe Jack qualifies for his extraordinary performance of his Company Sergeant Major duties under fire at Long Tan.

“It is an abysmal situation that not one VC was awarded in the Australian Task Force battalions between 1965 and 1972, although they fought significant battles such as Long Tan, Coral-Balmoral and Bin Ba,” said Colonel Smith.

“It is particularly shameful when you consider that in those 10 years Australia lost some 520 young men and another 2,200 wounded.”

Kirby, who served with the 1st Battalion in South Korea (1954-55) and 3RAR in Malaya (1957-59), died tragically from a friendly artillery salvo misdirected by an inexperienced artillery officer six months after Long Tan.

Media inquiries to Martin Walsh, Red Dune Films – 0438 417143

*Keith Payne, Kevin Wheatley, Ray Simpson and Peter Badcoe were awarded a Victoria Cross in Vietnam but they were part of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) and not 1 Australian Task Force.

“What an extraordinary coincidence that two young McCormack’s, unrelated and from different states, ended up dying next to each other on a battlefield in Vietnam.”

Albert McCormack at 19, just a few months before being conscripted for National Service.

A knock at the door….the fateful telegram….and then the 20th August 1966 headlines in that evening’s edition of the Examiner Express – ‘Launceston Boy Killed in Viet. Battle’ – thrust the Vietnam War into the face of every Tasmanian. Albert Frederick McCormack was Effie and George McCormack’s youngest and Tasmania’s first son to die in the conflict that hardly seemed real in the distant ‘Apple Isle’…until Long Tan.

Albert’s life began and ended in war. He was born on 20 March 1945 before World War II had ended in either Europe or the Pacific. Twenty-one years later his life was cut short in the hail of bullets that has come to represent the defining Australian battle of the Vietnam War — in a rubber plantation on the outskirts of the hamlet of Long Tan.

My Cousin Albert’s funeral is one of my most vivid childhood memories. Although I was just six years old at the time, the images are indelibly etched: uniformed soldiers with medals and brass crowding the small Elizabeth Street Gospel Hall; the coffin draped in the Australian flag accompanied by marching soldiers all the way to Carr Villa Cemetery; young soldiers firing a salute before the coffin was lowered. I remember innocently running to collect the empty cartridges only to have two unexploded blanks confiscated by an astute uncle. I revisited Carr Villa Cemetery a few years ago and found Albert’s grave next to that of his parents, and also, movingly for me, exactly as I had remembered it three-and-a-half decades earlier.

Albert was the youngest of’ seven children and grew up in Ormley Street, Launceston. He studied at Launceston High School and after working for three years with the Tasmanian Government Insurance Office, moved to Brisbane in 1964 to work for an insurance firm there. Just three months after his twentieth birthday, Albert was conscripted into the newly established 6^th Battalion of the Royal Australia Regiment (6RAR) – raised specifically for Vietnam and composed almost entirely of conscripts among the non-commissioned ranks. After 12 months of training he was deployed with the battalion in June 1966.

Albert’s mates from D Company, especially those he fought with in 11 Platoon, describe a sensitive, articulate and musically talented bloke who was most content playing his guitar with the band he helped to form. All the Diggers from D Company knew him as ‘Lionel’ McCormack. Apparently he reminded some lark of the singer Lionel Long and his nickname has stuck for 40 years. He was the designated stretcher-bearer for 11 Platoon and had primary responsibility for administering medical aid.

Albert’s last letter was written to his parents the day before he was killed. He described the Viet Cong mortaring the Australian base at Nui Dat in the early hours of 17 August 1966 and how the A Company patrol had located the mortar base plates but had not encountered the Viet Cong soldiers responsible. Instead, it was Albert and the other 107 Diggers of D Company, sent out on just another routine patrol from Nui Dat in the early afternoon of 18 August 1966, who encountered as many as 2500 Viet Cong massing in the Long Tan rubber plantation for a serious assault on the Australian force.

How dreadful the ensuing fire fight must have been — as literally thousands of bullets exploded out of automatic weapons, destroying the rubber plantation and the lives of many of the young men crowded in it, producing pungent, acrid, cordite smoke and streaks of tracer fire. Simultaneously, thousands of shells fired from the heavy artillery at Nui Dat smashed into the ground, blasting shrapnel and body parts throughout the plantation. The heavy skies opened and a torrential monsoon seemed only to add to the inferno rather than douse it.

Private Dennis. J. McCormack, 21 from Adelaide, SA

The Diggers of 11 Platoon were the first to engage. In the lead section of the platoon another McCormack was an early casualty. Private Dennis McCormack had also been conscripted into 11 Platoon, D Company, 6RAR with the next consecutive service number (assigned on the basis of surname in alphabetical order) to my cousin Albert’s. When the names of the 18 Diggers killed at Long Tan are read out at memorial services people often wonder whether two brothers were killed that day. Dennis was from Adelaide and no immediate relative of Albert but when he was shot, Albert went to him and was himself fatally wounded in the stomach as he attempted to administer first aid. What an extraordinary coincidence that two young McCormack’s, unrelated and from different states, ended up dying next to each other on a battlefield in Vietnam.

The immortal words of The Ode are as true for Albert as for all other lives cut short prematurely: ‘They will not grow old as we that remain grow old. Age shall not weary them.’ My cousin is forever a fit, strong and youthful 21 year old. I was so young when he died and I had so much growing up to do. Now I am more than twice his age and past my physical prime. His mates are in their 60’s and in just a few more decades none will remain.

Albert McCormack funeral procession Elizabeth Street Launceston 1966

Of course I would rather have him alive and be able to talk to him about his memories if he were happy to share them. But he at least did not suffer the ignominy of utterly unjustified and shameful vilification upon his return from a controversial war. No one spat at him or verbally abused him, as was the experience of so many returning Vietnam veterans. His death occurred before the anti-war movement had gathered momentum and the people of Launceston turned out to honour him. He is immortalised on the honour roll of the 6th Battalion and in the hearts of his immediate and extended family.

He did not ask to go to war and did not relish his participation in it. He inscribed the motto of the anti-war movement — ‘Save our Sons’ — on his army hat and wrote home about his personal struggles with the horrors he witnessed in the conflict. Irrespective of the merits of the war, he went to Vietnam because his country asked it of him. In paying ‘the supreme sacrifice’, he was true to the 6th Battalion motto — Duty First.

Long Tan Nui Dat 18 Aug 1969. Pipers Lament for the dead of Long Tan at the consecration of the Long Tan Cross. D Coy veterans of the battle on their second tour of Vietnam, are with the pipers.

On the third anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, 6RAR was back at Nui Dat on the battalion’s second tour of duty. D company, which included veterans of the battle, erected a memorial cross in a clearing next to the rubber plantation in honour of their fallen comrades. The ‘Long Tan Cross’ has now become symbolic of the loss of Australian lives at Long Tan and of the cost of the nation’s participation in the conflict. One of the Diggers who helped erect the cross told me that, as the chopper lowered the cross into the clearing, the heavy monsoonal clouds parted and a shaft of sunlight lit up the cross and followed it throughout its descent. He was visibly moved as he recalled the spectacle he witnessed so many years ago. Long Tan, for us, and for many other Australians, is hallowed ground.

There were 105 soldiers from D Company, 6RAR and 3 soldiers from 161 Battery RNZA who fought on the battlefield at Long Tan. The list below totals more than 108 as some members of D Coy were on language courses and attending to other duties at the time of the battle. However, all members of D Coy, 6RAR from August 1966 are entitled to wear the Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry (UCG) and the U.S. and South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citations for Gallantry.

You can also download a .PDF version of the D Coy, 6RAR Battle of Long Tan Manning details.

Click on the image for a larger version

The long wait for proper recognition of the gallantry of those who fought and died in this battle is almost over.

45 years ago today 105 Australians and 3 New Zealanders fought and defeated an overwhelming enemy force of 2,500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers in a rubber plantation in South Vietnam called Long Tan. This three and a half hour battle was so fierce it resulted in the deaths of 18 Australians and more than 500 enemy.

43 years ago U.S. President Lyndon B Johnson awarded the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) for gallantry to D Company, 6RAR for extraordinary heroism. A similar award was also given by the South Vietnamese President. However, no unit citation was given by the Australian or New Zealand governments and individual awards were downgraded or not given at all. Some of these individual awards have only recently been upgraded.

2Lt Dave Sabben (21 yrs) - Former platoon commander 12 Platoon, D Coy, 6RAR

Today, at Gallipoli Army Barracks at Enoggera in Brisbane, the long wait for proper recognition comes to an end. At 3pm today, Australian Governor General Quentin Bryce will formally present the Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry (UCG) to the surviving Long Tan veterans of D Coy, 6RAR. In addition, former 12 Platoon Commander Dave Sabben will also be presented his upgraded individual medal, the Medal for Gallantry (MG) for his acts of leadership and gallantry on the battlefield at Long Tan. Current soldiers of 6RAR who have recently returned from a second tour of Afghanistan will formally troop the colours and be on parade during this historic ceremony. Many surviving Long Tan veterans will be on parade today, many with their family present along with a number of Next of Kin of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country 45 years ago.

This is an historic occasion. Today’s serving members of 6RAR battalion will be parading alongside the original founding members of 6RAR from 1965 in this case the veterans of D Coy, 6RAR who fought at Long Tan on 18 August 1966.

We would like to thank all of the Long Tan veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice, especially those who did not come home. Lest We Forget.

Unit Citation for Gallantry

The Unit Citation for Gallantry is awarded to a unit for extraordinary gallantry in action. The Meritorious Unit Citation is awarded to a unit for sustained outstanding service in warlike operations.

The actual citation is a warrant presented to the unit. Insignia are worn by individuals to denote their membership of a unit that has been awarded a citation. Personnel cannot be issued with the insignia until the authorised unit representative, normally the CO, has been formally invested with the citation.

The insignia of a Unit Citation for Gallantry is a gilt rectangular frame surrounding a deep green ribbon. The frame has a design of flames emanating from the outer edges of the frame to the centre.

Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry (UCG)

The insignia of a Meritorious Unit Citation is a rhodium-plated rectangular frame of the same dimensions and design surrounding a ribbon of old-gold.

Personnel who were members of the unit when an award was made wear a Federation Star in the centre of the ribbon and continue to wear the insignia after leaving the unit. Personnel who are subsequently posted to the unit wear the insignia without the Federation Star and only while actually posted to the unit.

2LT Dave Sabben, Commander 12 Platoon, D Coy 6RAR overlooking dead enemy surrounding their wheeled 7.62 Machinegun the morning after the Battle of Long Tan.

There is still availability on the 7 day Long Tan Trek Tour departing 12 October 2011, and the follow-on 12 day Decisive Battlefields Tour to Vietnam 18 October 2011, both hosted and guided by Long Tan veteran, former commander of 12 Platoon, D Coy 6RAR 2Lt Dave Sabben.

This Tour also makes a donation to the AVVRG (Australian Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Group) – an Australian non-government organisation(NGO), which is a community of volunteers seeking to make a difference to the lives ofdisadvantaged citizens of Vietnam. AVVRG is registered and licensed to operate and provide humanitarian aid in Vietnam, and is the official custodian of the Long Tan Cross. You can read more about the Kindergarten they built in South Vietnam here.

The 2010 tour was a huge success (please go to www.longtantrek.com and select “the 2010 Long Tan Trek Tour Report” or download the full 2011 itinerary from “the 2011 Long Tan Trek Tour Details”). You may do either of the tours or both of them. Tour numbers are limited but we do require a minimum number to operate.

Almost all meals, touring, sightseeing, entrance fees and group tipping are included. Your only outlay will be a few meals, your drinks and souvenirs.

Both tours are very comprehensive, and you visit the prime battlefield sites of the three Indo-China Wars. Download the full tour flyer with pricing.

The first tour, The Long Tan Trek Tour, visits Saigon, Balmoral, Coral, Dong Nai, Vung Tau, 1ALSG area, Nui Dat, Horseshoe, minefield, Frankie’s mine incident, the Long Hai’s, and features a 4 hour guided walk across the Long Tan battlefield where Dave Sabben will describe “in real time” all the significant events of the battle, on the locations where they actually happened. We end with a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels. You can then stay on for the additional tour…..

The second tour, The Decisive Battlefields of the Vietnam Wars, which commences at Saigon airport and visits Hoi An, Da Nang (Op Starlight, 1965) Marble Mt (VC Hospital), China Beach, Red Beach 11, Hai Van Pass, Hue (Tet ’68), Quang Tri, Dong Ha, the DMZ, Khe Sanh, the Vinh Moc tunnels and the A Shau Valley (where we will see Hamburger Hill, weather permitting), then to Hanoi and the Army Museum and Hanoi Hilton, continuing to Dien Bien Phu. We finish with a 2 night R&R at beautiful Ha Long Bay.

A more personal and comprehensive tour of the Battlefields of Vietnam cannot be found. We have included time in both Hoi An and Ha Long Bay, both beautiful sightseeing areas. Ladies are of course more than welcome!  In fact, past Tours have comprised about one-third Vets, one-third their partners, family or friends and one-third teachers, historians, museum curators, serving members, including Police, and other people interested in the history of the Vietnam War.

You will be surprised by the high quality of hotels, coaches and meals.

This is a rare chance to visit these Vietnam battlefields with Dave, who as you know has first-hand knowledge of Long Tan and other sites. The success of each tour will determine any future tours. We would appreciate your assistance in passing this opportunity to anyone you feel may be interested.

Bookings for these tours will close the first week in August. A visa for Vietnam is required and Judi at National Network Travel can assist with this. For any information please contact Judi at National Network Travel on 03 96544000 or judi@nntravel.com.au.

Download the full tour flyer.

21 year old National Service Officer 2Lt Dave Sabben, 12 Platoon, D Coy, 6RAR. 1966.

If you’ve ever wanted a more detailed understanding of The Battle of Long Tan, you should check out this fantastic, animated and interactive PowerPoint presentation created by Long Tan veteran Dave Sabben.

About Dave: as a 20 year old, Dave registered for national service but his number didn’t come up. Unperturbed, Dave packed his bags, presented himself at Victoria Barracks and volunteered, applying for officer selection training. After successfully completing the six month Officer Training course at Scheyville in NSW, Dave reported for duty to 6RAR at Enoggera Barracks in Queensland as a newly minted 2nd Lieutenant to command a platoon of 28 soldiers – one day after his 21st birthday.

Dave Sabben led his mix of national service and regular soldiers of 12 Platoon, D Company 6RAR during the Battle of Long Tan and for his actions was awarded a ‘Mentioned In Dispatches’ (MID). *After a Government inquiry in 2008, Dave’s medal was upgraded to the ‘Medal for Gallantry’, the equivalent of the old imperial Military Cross. You can learn more about Dave on his own website – www.dave-sabben.com.

There are a number of ways you can view and access this great presentation. The best experience is to download the presentation or watch it in your browser (options 1 & 2):

1. Download Long Tan PowerPoint Presentation (.pps 7.2MB)
2. View the Long Tan PowerPoint Presentation in your browser (no need to have PowerPoint installed!)
3. Watch a video version of the Long Tan Presentation (below) – there is no audio and you may need to pause some slides so you can read all the text:

CSM WO2 Jack Kirby, D Coy 6RAR

Arguably the backbone and discipline of any infantry company is the Company Sergeant Major (CSM). These soldiers of Warrant Officer rank are part father figure, part teacher and part principle / headmaster. Almost all of the CSM’s I’ve come across have had very strong and unique personalities made up of steadiness, humour, discipline but ultimately a sense of fairness. In the case of D Company (Coy), 6RAR, the CSM was the 31 year old WO2 (Warrant Officer) Jack Kirby.

While the short and nuggetty Major Harry Smith, Officer Commanding (OC) D Coy and the young soldiers strode out on training runs, Jack Kirby was feeling his age and weight. Kirby was a Malaya veteran and naturally a big build. Unable to keep up on the runs, he nevertheless plugged along, always finishing and earning the respect of the soldiers. At the Battle of Long Tan he was to deepen and broaden their regard with his steadiness, bravery and humour.

Throughout the battle “Big Jack” Kirby disregarded his own safety while braving enemy fire to distribute ammunition. Kirby continuously exposed himself to enemy fire to carry wounded Australian’s over his shoulder back to the Company Aid Post. At a critical point in the battle Kirby rushed out of the D Coy perimeter to silence a wheeled enemy heavy machine gun which was setting up less than 50 metres away from the Australians. He knew in just a few moments this heavy machinegun would be able to strafe and decimate the Australians. Kirby killed the enemy machinegun crew, rushed back and continued to carry on handing out ammunition, moving around the entire company position and giving out words of encouragement to the D Coy soldiers.

Here are just some highlights of what CSM Jack Kirby was doing throughout the battle:

• The Australian choppers banked over the tree tops, kicked out the ammunition and it crashed down into the centre of D Coy’s position, only metres away from Kirby, but was securely packed in boxes. It was needed at once as many of D Coy’s soldiers were down to 15 rounds of ammunition each. Kirby and Sgt Rankin had trouble trying to break open the boxes to get at the ammo, it seemed to take ages. And firing could be heard to their front again…belts of machinegun ammunition and rifle ammo were carried back to the CHQ position and thrown to each group….magazines were refilled and firing at the enemy resumed.
• Kirby turned up near Private Brian Reilly’s position and called to the nearby diggers: “Do you know who that is? No? Well, shoot ‘im!”
• Kirby noticed a wounded machinegunner, Private Webb, and ran up to the exposed position, picked up the tall soldier and carried him back to the Company Aid Post. Webb’s M60 machinegun could not be retrieved so Kirby had to put it out of action by firing a few rounds into it.
• Out on the thin perimeter of D Coy, Corporal Laurie Drinkwater was watching the area to his front when Kirby came by and called : “Drinky, you can shoot anyone you don’t know!”
• Private Brian Reilly heard Kirby call out, pointing to a group of enemy, “Do you know who that is? No? Well shoot the bastard!”
• With the ammunition starting to run low again, Kirby went over to the three man New Zealand forward artillery party and took their unused magazines, leaving them one magazine each. Throughout the embattled D Coy position, Kirby continued to move around underneath the flights of bullets, steadying soldiers. A long standing joke in the company was Kirby’s insistence that Private Harry Esler was in fact Private Ralph, who had last been heard of on patrol in Malaya. “You remind me of the bludger”, Kirby would say to Esler; and on his journey around the perimeter that afternoon, Kirby would remark: “How are you Private Ralph?” And “You’re not going to get back if you don’t watch out”. Undismayed, Esler would reply: “I will. You make sure you do!”
• At a critical point in the battle Jack rushed out of the D Coy perimeter to silence a wheeled enemy heavy machine gun which was setting up less than 50 metres away from the Australians. He knew in just a few moments this heavy machinegun would be able to strafe and decimate the Australians. Jack killed the enemy machinegun crew and rushed back with the enemy firing at him all the way.
  

  2Lt Dave Sabben surveys the Long Tan battlefield on 19 August. Enemy dead lie beside their 7.62mm heavy machinegun which was silenced by CSM Jack Kirby.

• Kirby again made it around to Esler, doling out the meagre ammunition available and asking Harry Esler, “You alright Private Ralph? Doing a good job?” Kirby then dropped twelve rounds of ammunition by Esler’s side.
• In the midst of the attacks, with no help in sight, one or two of the soldiers began to show signs of strain. Kirby would then place his large hand on the soldier’s shoulder saying, “Get a grip on yourself, son. You’re paid to kill these people and here’s your chance to earn your money. Get over there.” To many of the diggers that long afternoon, Kirby personified the traditional image of a Sergeant-Major. One of the diggers later likened Kirby to the imperturbable British Regimental Sergeant Major who told the redcoats to “do up your buttons, and never mind the spears”.
• On the morning after the battle there were many media and task force HQ personnel crisscrossing the battlefield and making thoughtless remarks about Australian casualties. Sergeant Bob Buick was about to explode when the observant Jack Kirby materialised beside him. Kirby quietly pointed out an area of rubber trees a short distance away: Buick was to be responsible for securing and searching it. This moved Buick away from the scene, gave him something to do, and allowed him to calm down.

CSM Jack Kirby, D Coy 6RAR the morning after The Battle of Long Tan

The tragedy of Jack Kirby’s story is that he was killed six months after the Battle of Long Tan in February 1967 by a friendly artillery salvo misdirected by an inexperienced New Zealand artillery officer.

CSM WO2 Jack Kirby was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his actions at Long Tan but many of the veterans, historians and his former commanding officer, Lt Col Harry Smith (RTD) agree that Kirby should have been cited and awarded a Victoria Cross. Unfortunately, immediately after the battle, Harry Smith was only given 18 hours to write and submit all of the citations for his men. Harry did suggest to 6RAR Commanding Officer Lt Col Colin Townsend that Kirby should have got a VC but Townsend said he would only sign a DCM citation.

There have been many precedents for the upgrading of gallantry medals to soldiers throughout all wars (recently some of the other Long Tan veterans) and we believe that Jack Kirby’s gallant and heroic actions at Long Tan are well deserving of a Victoria Cross. Lastly, not a single Victoria Cross was awarded to any soldier in the Task Force, despite 500 men being killed in action.

*Keith Payne, Kevin Wheatley, Ray Simpson and Peter Badcoe were awarded a Victoria Cross in Vietnam but they were part of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) and not 1 Australian Task Force.

Here is a list of the Australian’s who died fighting in the Battle of Long Tan:

Private Paul Large, 21 years old. 12 Platoon, D Coy, 6RAR. Paul was the last Australian killed in action during the last minutes of the Battle of Long Tan.

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS USED IN LIST
1 APC Sqn = 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron
2Lt = 2nd Lieutenant (Army rank)
6RAR = 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Civ: = Civilian occupation
Commem: = Commemorated at
Cpl = Corporal (Army rank)
KIA = Killed in action
L/Cpl = Lance Corporal (Army rank)
Pte = Private (Army rank)
WIA = Wounded in action

During the Vietnam War a secret radio intelligence and tracking unit from the Australian Army – 547 Signal Troop – was stationed at Nui Dat in support of 1 Australian Task Force (1ATF).

As you will see in the diagram below, believe it or not this secret Australian Army radio tracking unit was, for 16 days right up until 4 days before the Battle of Long Tan, tracking the radio transmitter of the Vietnamese 275 Viet Cong Regiment as it moved from its base area through to when it stopped just short of the Long Tan rubber plantation. This is the regiment comprising 2,500 soldiers who would fight against D Company, 6RAR during the Battle of Long Tan only a few days later on 18 August 1966. Intelligence indicating a possible enemy regiment of 2,500 men being in the vicinity of the Long Tan rubber plantation was not shared with Australian combat commanders like Major Harry Smith who led D Coy, 6RAR during the battle. However, it is important to remember that throughout all wars and conflicts intelligence assessments are just that, assessments. It is always easy in hindsight to say certain pieces of intelligence were proven after the fact but in this case most rational people would argue that this type of information should have been shared with combat commanders as it my alter their planned force disposition, tactics, routes and even the levels of ammunition they take out on patrol.

Click on image for larger version

The interesting aspect of this unit’s operation and the Battle of Long Tan is that the intelligence was only shared with Major Dick Hannigan (the task force operations officer), the two intelligence officers on the task force headquarters, and Brigadier Jackson himself. Information arising from these measures was available to battalion commanders such as Col Colin Townsend Commanding Officer of 6RAR, but they could not be told its source. Such security was maintained to prevent the enemy deducing that their radio traffic was being monitored. But the habitual secrecy also meant that officers other than those of the Intelligence Corps had no experience in interpreting, evaluating or even understanding the strengths and limitations of this form of information. Jackson, for one, had not been exposed to signals intelligence before. As a result his ability to use it, as far as the signals intelligence officer was concerned, was ‘very limited’. Commanders who had to act on the information were not able to assess its reliability for themselves.

But, as you will read in the extract below there were also some other human and personality factors involved in the whole intelligence story behind the Battle of Long Tan. This intelligence also partly or fully explains why Brigadier Jackson delayed sending the relief force comprising soldiers of A Coy, 6RAR and the APC’s for more than hour to assist D Coy during the battle. In his position of overall commander he would be worried about a direct attack on the task force base as the intelligence also indicated another enemy regiment, 274 Regiment also comprising 2,500 soldiers was to the North West of Nui Dat and therefore sending any reinforcements to D Coy would weaken the Nui Dat defences even further.

You can download an (.PDF) extract outlining the fascinating background to the intelligence relating to the Battle of Long Tan below as well as a good document outlining the history of the Australian Army’s 547 Signal Troop during the Vietnam War:

• Battle of Long Tan Intelligence Outline (.PDF 505K) – extracted from Ian McNeill’s book ‘To Long Tan: Australian Army and the Vietnam War, 1950-66 (Official History of Australia’s Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts, 1948-75)’ Allen & Unwin Australia, 1993.
• History of 547 Signal Troop, Australian Army (.PDF 794K)

This information was not known to Lex McAulay who wrote the first book about the Battle of Long Tan back in 1986 or the majority of Long Tan veterans until some 25 years after the battle.

In making of our award winning Battle of Long Tan documentary we simply couldn’t cover this topic as it is a story in its own right and we would have had to sacrifice other content. However, we will be including this fascinating aspect of the Long Tan story in the storyline of the upcoming movie.

*This article appeared in The Canberra Times on 15 January 2011 but as there is no online version it has been reproduced here.

The Fallen: 19 August 1966. The body of 11 Platoon Commander Second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp on the battlefield of Long Tan. In the background is the body of another unidentified Australian soldier from 11 Platoon, 6RAR.

The greatest impediment to an honest assessment of the way honours were allocated after the battle of Long Tan is a concept that dates back to Roman times. ”De mortuis nil nisi bonum” effectively translates as ”of the dead, (speak) nothing but good”.

Long Tan is a special challenge in that many of those honoured as well as those denied honours are dead.

There has been an apparent reluctance by some of those charged with making tough calls on these issues to dig too deeply.

Three figures central to this debate are Brigadier Oliver David Jackson DSO OBE, Lieutenant Colonel Colin Townsend DSO and Second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp, a platoon commander with Delta company.

All three are dead. The first two, who were not physically present on the battlefield, received Distinguished Service Orders then second only to the Victoria Cross as an award for gallantry for their ”parts” in the battle. Both lived to ripe old ages.

2Lt Gordon Sharp (21) - Commander 11 Platoon, D Coy 6RAR

The third, the junior officer Gordon Sharp, received no honours even though he was one of the first to die in the firefight almost 45 years ago.

Jackson died aged 85 in 2004. He was the commander of the Australian task force in Vietnam on August 18, 1966, when Long Tan was fought.

He graduated from RMC Duntroon in 1939, served with distinction in the Middle East and New Guinea during World War II, saw action in Korea and served as the Australian military attache in Washington in the late 1950s.

At the time he arrived in Vietnam, Jackson was one of Australia’s most respected and experienced commanders.

During the battle he reportedly spent much of the time in his tent, having delegated field command to Townsend.

He has been strongly criticised by the battlefield commanders for failing to disclose intelligence reports indicating the North Vietnamese may have been present in force and for delaying the dispatch of the relief force because he feared a major attack on the base at Nui Dat.

Jackson’s obituary, published in the Australian Army Journal, made only a passing mention of his DSO and did not link it to the action at Long Tan.

This was despite the fact the citation, published in the same edition of the London Gazette as the citation for the Military Medal awarded to Harry Smith for his courage and leadership under fire, reads ”in one action (Long Tan) on August 18, 1966, he personally directed the engagement which accounted for 254 enemy dead by body count with very light comparative losses to his own troops. His able personal direction was a decisive factor”.

Jackson’s subordinate and fellow Long Tan DSO recipient died on June 10, 2006, at the age of 79.

Townsend’s personal courage is unquestioned. He was one of three Australian platoon commanders involved in the relief of an American parachute battalion at the Battle of the Apple Orchard in Korea in October 22, 1950.

During the Battle of Long Tan he made a determined effort to join Harry Smith at Delta company headquarters in the middle of the rubber plantation where the action was fiercest.

But, and it is a big but, by the time he arrived the battle was over and the Vietnamese had withdrawn.

And, significantly, by ordering the armoured personnel carrier-borne relief force to wait for him to catch up he caused its commander, Lieutenant Adrian Roberts, to divide his troop which could have had devastating consequences.

The citation for Townsend’s DSO states: ”As soon as the initial heavy contact with the enemy was made by his company (Delta) on patrol he moved immediately with a relief company in armoured personnel carriers to join his company and took firm and effective control of the battle”.

This, according to Harry Smith and Adrian Roberts, falls far short of the standards of accuracy expected for citations for bravery and makes a mockery of claims by subsequent reviews they had to deny individual awards to men present at the battle in order to preserve the ”integrity” of the honours system.

Commenting on Townsend’s citations, Smith said ”these citations, written by his seniors, could be considered as tantamount to perjury”.

Smith has also consistently questioned the claim in Jackson’s citation the Brigadier ”personally directed” the battle.

”He (Jackson) certainly didn’t give any orders to me,” he said.

There have been subsequent attempts to deflect criticism of Jackson’s and Townsend’s DSOs by claiming they were not for gallantry at Long Tan but for ”overall service”.

Major General Peter Abigail, Major General Steve Gower and Brigadier Gerry Warner, writing in the 2008 Long Tan Recognition Review, state: ”both awards (Jackson’s and Townsend’s DSOs) relate to their entire periods of command”.

That finding, like much that was published under their imprimatur, is open to question.

In 1966 the guidelines for the Distinguished Service Order were clear cut it was for gallant leadership in the field; not to be confused with an award for good service.

That did not change until the mid- 1990s.

Either Townsend and Jackson received their DSOs as a result of their connection with Long Tan or else the awards were made inappropriately there is no middle ground.

The third player in this account is Second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp, a National Serviceman from Tamworth who had survived the accelerated officer training course at Scheyville and been sent to Vietnam as a platoon commander.

Before being called up he had worked as a television cameraman.

Popular at school, a keen athlete and with an active social life, the 21-year-old should have had his whole life ahead of him.

In the early stages of the battle, aware his platoon was being cut off, Sharp rose to his knees to direct artillery fire and was shot through the neck.

A famous photograph taken the following day shows him dead on the battlefield, his M16 still clutched in his hand.

His Mentioned In Despatches was denied at the same time the same award was made to a postal officer at Vung Tau (a rest and recreation facility near Saigon) for ”good administrative procedures”.

If the cost of appropriately honouring Sharp and the others who were denied the awards they were nominated for is a re-examination of the factual accuracy of the awards to senior officers who weren’t at the battle then so be it.

Until honour is fulfilled on this point the military awards system has no integrity to defend.