Facts

*As we add more official and private documents as well as other related materials to this page we will improve the design to accommodate the different types of media.

As part of developing the documentary on Long Tan and our upcoming movie, I (Martin Walsh) have now spent some 6 years researching the story, facts and individual accounts relating to the battle of Long Tan and have therefore collected and collated a lot of material. This includes the Australian perspective, the New Zealand perspective, the Vietnamese perspective and the American perspective.

Facts & Figures:

• Download the Battle of Long Tan Facts Sheet (.pdf 556k)
• Download or watch this fantastic, animated Long Tan PowerPoint Presentation created by Dave Sabben.

D Company, 6RAR Manning Details for the Battle of Long Tan

• Download a complete list of names of those who fought in the Battle of Long Tan. (.pdf 226k)

Biographies:

• Lt Colonel Harry Smith SG MC (Retired) – Officer Commanding D Coy, 6RAR (309k .pdf)
• Major Maurice ‘Morrie’ Stanley, MBE (Retired) - Royal New Zealand Artillery (RNZA) Forward Observer (FO) 161 Battery, 16th Field Regiment RNZA attached to D Coy, 6RAR (324k .pdf)

Documents:

I have also been able to access many official military, government and diplomatic documents, the majority of which –  but not all – have been declassified. These include official Australian ‘After Action Reports’, ‘Commander’s Diaries’ and ‘Citations’. Here are some of the official declassified Australian Army Commander’s Diaries and After Action Reports covering the lead up to the battle, the battle itself and the period after it (1-31 August 1966):

• Official Long Tan After Action Reports (.pdf 4MB)
• 6RAR Commander’s Diary 1-31 Aug 1966 (.pdf 18MB)
• Part 1 – 1 Australian Task Force Commander’s Diary 1-31 Aug 1966 (.pdf 12MB)
• Part 2 – 1 Australian Task Force Commander’s Diary 1-31 Aug 1966 (.pdf 12MB)
• Long Tan Battle Record by 1ATF Operations Officer Lt Col Dick Hannigan (2.2MB)
• 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) – secret radio signals intelligence and tracking unit based at Nui Dat during the Vietnam War in support of 1 Australian Task Force

This is the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation awarded to D Coy, 6RAR (click image for larger version):

Click image for larger version

Books:

These are some of the primary books about The Battle Of Long Tan:

• Ian McNeil’s ‘To Long Tan. The Australian Army and the Vietnam War 1950-1966. The Official History of Australia’s Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948-1975.’ Sydney 1993: Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial. ISBN 1863732829
• Lex McAulay’s ‘The Battle of Long Tan: The Legend Of ANZAC Upheld‘. Sydney 1986: Arrow published by Random House. ISBN 0099525305
• ‘The Battle of Long Tan As Told By The Commanders To Bob Grandin‘. Sydney 2004: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781741141993
• Bob Buick with Gary McKay’s ‘All Guts and No Glory: The story of a Long Tan warrior‘. Sydney 2000: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781865082745
• Dave Sabben ‘Through Enemy Eyes‘. Sydney 2005: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781741145618

I’ve worked directly with many of the Long Tan veterans and commanders such as Harry Smith, Dave Sabben, Geoff Kendall, Bob Buick, Adrian Roberts, Morrie Stanley and Bob Grandin which has given me access to a lot of privately held and collected material as well as their own individual accounts. When developing and producing our documentary we interviewed approximately 30 Australian, New Zealand and Vietnamese veterans and for each interview we did we filmed some 40-60 minutes worth of personal accounts with only a fraction being able to be included in the final 142 minute documentary.

In 2006 as part of the research for the documentary I met and interviewed numerous Vietnamese veterans of the Battle of Long Tan with unhindered assistance from the Vietnamese Government. Some of these veterans were:

• Former Vice Commander D445 Battalion – Major General Nguyen Minh Ninh
• Former Commander of Company 3, D445 Battalion – Colonel Phan Thanh Binh
• Former Commander of Company 2, D445 Battalion – Colonel Nguyen Duc Thu
• Chairman of Vung Tau Province Veterans Association – Phan Chien

I will be updating this page to include links to more research material as well as other material I had to develop for the movie and documentary such as the reconstruction of detailed timelines for the battle. We will also put up lots of historical videos, photos, documents and much more!