TY  - BOOK
AU  - FitzSimons,Peter
TI  - The battle of Long Tan
SN  - 9780733646614
U1  - 959.70433/94 23/eng/20221027
PY  - 2022///
CY  - Sydeny, NSW
PB  - Hachette Australia
KW  - Australia
KW  - Australian Army
KW  - Royal Australian Regiment
KW  - Battalion, 6th
KW  - History
KW  - D Company
KW  - Vietnam War, 1961-1975
KW  - Participation, Australian
KW  - Participation, American
KW  - Participation, New Zealand
KW  - Long Tan, Battle of, Vietnam, 1966
KW  - Campaigns
KW  - Personal narratives, Australian
KW  - Soldiers
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (pages 431-444) and index
N2  - It was the afternoon of 18 August 1966, hot, humid with grey monsoonal skies. D Company, 6RAR were four kilometres east of their Nui Dat base, on patrol in a rubber plantation not far from the abandoned village of Long Tan. A day after their base had suffered a mortar strike, they were looking for Viet Cong soldiers. Then -- just when they were least expecting -- they found them. Under withering fire, some diggers perished, some were grievously wounded, the rest fought on, as they remained under sustained attack. For hours these men fought for their lives against the enemy onslaught. The skies opened and the rain fell as ferocious mortar and automatic fire pinned them down. Snipers shot at close quarters from the trees that surrounded them. The Aussie, Kiwi and Yankee artillery batteries knew it was up to them but, outnumbered and running out of ammunition they fired, loaded, fired as Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces just kept coming. And coming. Their only hope was if Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) could reach them before they were wiped out. The APCs did their best but low cloud and thunderstorms meant air support was stalled. A daring helicopter resupply mission was suggested but who would want to fly that? The odds against this small force were monumental... By far the deadliest battle for Australian forces in Vietnam, the Battle of Long Tan has a proud place in the annals of Australian military history -- and every ANZAC who fought there could hold his head high
ER  -