Return to Long Tan - 18 August 1969 [No sound]

17 & 18 August 1969 - RAAF helicopters flew in equipment for soldiers of the 1st Australian Task Force when they moved back into the Long Tan rubber plantation to prepare for the memorial service for the 18 Australians who were killed during the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966.
In 1969, 6RAR was on its second tour to Vietnam. Renamed 6RAR/NZ (ANZAC) with the integration of a New Zealand rifle company, the battalion had conducted a spectacularly successful shakedown operation, codenamed Lavarack, in the north of the province in June. The following month, the unit suffered heavy casualties from enemy-laid mines during pacification operations around the populous southeast of Phuoc Tuy during Operation Mundingburra.
Shortly after Operation Mundingburra, 6RAR/NZ conducted an unconventional operation. On 17 August, A and D Companies launched an airmobile assault into the Long Tan rubber plantation, and then searched and secured the area. Soldiers found it was still littered with rusty weapons, clothing, and equipment discarded in the battle. Then they settled into night defensive positions under the wet season rain.
It had already been decided to erect a memorial in the center of Eleven Platoon's former positions as it bore the brunt of the fighting and lost thirteen killed and eight wounded.
On the following morning, infantry and assault pioneers cleared rubber trees from the site of 11 Platoon’s last stand of 18 August 1966. They then erected a three-meter-high, white concrete cross, which had been constructed by the battalion’s pioneer platoon and flown in suspended underneath an RAAF Iroquois helicopter. A brass plaque on the cross bore the simple inscription:
IN MEMORY OF THOSE
MEMBERS OF D COY AND
3 TP 1 APC SQN WHO GAVE
THEIR LIVES NEAR THIS
SPOT DURING THE BATTLE
OF LONG TAN ON 18TH AUGUST 1966
ERECTED BY 6RAR/NZ
(ANZAC) BN 18 AUG 69.
Platoons secured a defensive perimeter while the remainder of the battalion moved in by armored personnel carriers and formed a hollow square around the clearing.
When all was in readiness, the remainder of the Battalion, led by the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel David Butler of Townsville, Qld, deployed into the area with representatives of other units involved in the battle, the 1st Australian Task Force Commander, C. M. I. Pearson of Deakin, ACT, and the Commander, New Zealand Force, Vietnam, Lieutenant-Colonel K. C. Fenton. The simple remembrance ceremony recalled the details of the battle.
Also identified in this video: Sig Paul Beraldo of Ivanhoe, Vic; Cpl Brian Halls of Stafford, Qld; Cpl Brian Reilly of Auchenflower, Qld; Cpl George Richardson, 39, of Townsville, Qld, formerly UK; Sgt Neil Rankin of Wollongong, NSW; Cpl Rod Hogan; 2IC of Delta Coy, Capt Kevin Leadbetter of Townsville, Qld; Coy Commander, Maj Iain "Jock" Stewart; Sgt Allen McLean of Townsville, Qld; RSM WO1 J. A. Cruikshank of Brisbane, Qld. Lance Cpl Malcolm Campbell of Bicton, WA; Sergeant (Sgt) John Beere of Woodville North, SA and Cpl William O'Rourke of Chelsea, Vic, who was a member of the Cavalry troop which brought relieving forces to the battle. Cpl Bill Roche of Narrandera, NSW; Cpl Brian Halls of Stafford, Qld; Cpl William Akell of Townsville, Qld; Cpl George Richardson of Kelloe, United Kingdom and Sergeant Neil Rankin of Wollongong, NSW.
18 Australians were killed in the battle, and 26 were wounded. More than 245 Main Force Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers were killed with hundreds more wounded.
#DangerCloseMovie #ANZAC

[@RJM1011]

Thank you.

[@tometiger47]

Lest We Forget