RM Military History is a channel dedicated to exploring the fascinating world of military history. Created by Robbie McGuire, a passionate historian and military enthusiast, this channel offers a variety of engaging and informative videos that delve deep into the conflicts, battles, and tactics that have shaped our world.
The channel is for like-minded military history fans to sit back, relax and absorb History. From the trenches to the First World War to the dense Jungles of Vietnam. My work has been showcased at the National Army Museum as well as commissioned work from here in the UK and as far as Australia.
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Just wanted to clarify, when you talk about the body armor that the ARVN airborne troops are seen wearing near the beginning of the video, you called the 2 vests there the m69. The correct vests seen in those clips are: the m52a, a Korean era flak vest without a collar and epaulettes, and the 3/4 collar flak vest, a better version of the m52a with a collar added to protect the neck area. The m69 (what you mentioned), was a post war variant of the 3/4 flak best but the closure in the front was made of Velcro because they got rid of the buttons and zipper.
I’ve read that the M1and M2 carbines were popular amongst the ARVN because they were smaller and the smaller statured ARVN troops could carry and use them better than the bigger and longer m-16
I was there as a full screw with my section, we waited at the border in the desert, it was a long wait. When the time came we all line up our vehicles and crossed the anti tank ditchs and into the interior. We headed north on the opposite side of a highway, stopped a few times to set up road blocks and vehicle harbours in all round defence. Eventually we ended at the airport and dug in, at night I sat there watching the AS90s firing their shells arching into the night towards targets... I was also part of the first Gulf War as a young Lance Jack, the war was over so quickly. We were give the task to provide security to abandoned weapons and ammunition from the iraqis. It ended up being piled up high, locals were either trying to buy it or steal it from us.
The ARVN private by the mid 60s up to the early 70s could be expected to have a monthly payment of around 19 dollars a month. Very low in terms of military payment, and still very low even for south Vietnamese standards.
@@raviolit9037 Thank you for the info. I suspected all along that the ARVN enlisted soldier was grossly underpaid. I seem to recall the U.S. enlisted soldier at the rank of E-1 earned something around $80 base pay per month between 1968-70. That was not counting the additional overseas and combat pay. That's another reason why the motivation and loyalty of the ARVN soldier would not be what you expected. Yet I heard and am not sure that the typical North Vietnamese private earned the equivalent of $24 US monthly. This is something the U.S. Government should have helped Saigon in giving a higher pay to its ARVN enlisted soldiers. Even a justifiable increase to $40 per month would have done wonders for ARVN morale and motivation.
I've been searching for videos about the ARVN and have come up with almost nothing until I found this. Thank you for the video and thank you for showing respect to the ARVN, too often they are dismissed, derided, or forgotten.
Cảm ơn bạn, chúng tôi đã cống hiến tận sức cho Miền Nam Việt Nam của chúng tôi nhưng dường như phương tây đã không công bằng với những hy sinh của chúng tôi
As a Vietnamese i advice you to read the history of Vietnam once more time. I will give you some keywords: Paris, Peace, Accords, Watergate, Scandal, Henry, Kissinger .
Germany never paid for all those monstrosities. Germans killed almost 5mln polish people during the Second World War. After the war, Poland was under Russia rules and Russia lied, that Poland don't want any reparation compensation. In comparison, Germany lost the war and won Marshall plan. This is why Germany have so much better economics, than Poland.
458 sqd RAAF (maritime) who flew the Wellington Mk.Ic & Mk XIV in 1942 transited through Malta in February 42 left a detached flight there until August 42. They reformed in September in Egypt at El Shallufa. There's a good book on the history of the squadron called We Find and Destroy by Peter Alexander CMG, OBE
And you thank that moron Lee-Mallory for the delay in getting Spitfires to Malta. He had them getting pointlessly shot down over France rather than helping the outclassed Hurries over Malta. One of his many screws ups. The man was a menace.
The ARVN our often overlooked which is odd considering they were one of the two primary belligerent nations during the war. Wonderful video. Curious I've often heard it said that M-14s weren't issued to South Vietnamese troops due to their length vs the size of the average soldier, is this true or merely an urban legends?
Very pleasant unrushed narration. I feel sure everyone accepts Dads Army only for what it was - one of televisions best ever comedy series with a perfect cast. When looking up on google to see what made men eligible for the LDV rather than the regular army it said, in two separate sections that ‘the LDV was made up of men between the ages 17 and 65’ so if that’s true then all men in the regular army were aged under 17 and over 65 which is complete nonsense! When I think of the Home Guard I think of that brilliant film: Went the Day Well, 1942!
Yeah, as if there weren’t any against the North! And the South proclaimed to be the rightful government after they clearly violated the Geneva agreement in 1956 of free election. Maybe that’s what you should look at! The American’s obsession with communism plunged a country into another war for 21 years!
Communist were loosing every battle and much higher casualties until U.S congress abandoned South Vietnam. Fighter planes F5 and Sky raiders ran out of ammunition and fuel, ARVN on the front have enough M16 but short on ammo while the communist got many latest tank T-54 and longer artillery guns they could shoot longer range. ARVN were better at fighting the communist but they ran out of ammunition in April 1975.
Best case scenario is South Vietnam survives the 1975 Spring Offensive, but remains vulnerable to further military incursions by North Vietnam in 1976 and beyond.
The green uniform we see, is also possible that a ARVN made uniform, south vietnam also made there own uniforms. On my channel is mostly abouts the Vietnamese uniforms, equipment. From 1946 to this day, every uniform that north as wel south vietnamese has nog much be told, and that has to change
Hallo just wanted to add to something in minute 3:03. The two men shown in the frame are using the M1952A flak vest , a few seconds later shows a man using the actual m69 flak vest, you can see the diffrence in the collar and the color , the m1952A does not have the 3/4 collar on the vest, while the m69 vest has the 3/4 collar on the vest. I own these two flak vests from my collection, and the diffrences are pretty visible. Just wanted to help you out! your doing gods work making these videos!
The Arvn airborne man holding the Chinese Type 56 Rifle in 3:14 is using the m69 3/4 collar vest so and next to him on the left the M52A vest. Here you can see the difference, keep doing your amazing content brother 👏 ❤
Thought that was just Highland ERDL, does it really differ from the ARVN ERDL pattern in the video? Cause at first glanze it doesn't seem "light" or "invisible" ERDL.
@@pablosoleramaeso4561I'm not sure about the camo, but it might be the "Nhay Du" or the BDQ erdl pattern, used by the ARVN Biet dong quan Rangers but not sure if it was used also by airborne troops, I haven't researched much about erdl camo pattern so please correct me if im wrong! ❤
Okay video, but there’s a decent bit of inaccuracies. Hopefully this’ll help you in better documenting the ARVN. 1. ARVNs were not issued OG-107s. Although their uniforms are similar, they differ in the cut and material. The general name for the ARVN cut is M59. They were not made out of OG-107 material, but rather a darker 10oz heavyweight cotton material. M59 Uniforms differ in the way that their pockets are shaped, the buttons, the fly, and among many others. Often seen with M59s are shoulder and elbow reinforcements along with epaulettes (although not seen with ODs quite as much). These make them distinctly different from the OG-107 cut. Although sometimes seen are ARVN troops modifying their pockets to replicate OG-107 type 2 or type 3 cuts. 2. Another thing I saw was when talking about the ARVN rucks or bags. In the video, the man is actually wearing an M1945 field pack. This would be issued starting in the late 50s and would be issued alongside the ARVN ruck by 1965 before being completely phased out by the end of 1968. ARVNs were not issued other packs like buttpacks which you put a picture of in the video. 3. The camo patterns talked about don’t really give a good overview on the camo patterns used by the ARVN. This video takes place during the May Offensive, and therefore 3 main camouflage patterns would be given to ARVN airborne and ranger troops. This would be Invisible ERDL, poplin ERDL, and ripstop ERDL (all in M59 cut, most of the time with reinforcements and epaulettes). “ARVN ERDL,” or more commonly known as “BDQ,” named after the rangers, wasn’t issued widespread until late 1968. What could also be mentioned would be the fact that BDQ was first only made in a poplin material with a lime color (or sometimes yellow), and only being promptly switched over to a heavyweight cotton version in 1969. All of these being mentioned would probably be able to give people a better understanding of ARVN camouflage patterns. And it is especially important to list that ripstop ERDL was only issued to the ARVN when the May Offensive started, not the Tet Offensive. Overall, the video is an okay overview, but it could use a lot of improvements. Hope this info helps you!
@@RMMilitaryHistory On second look, I think it might be an M17 gas mask bag, which is interesting. It doesn’t have the snap hook and D-ring strap. However, with that out of the way, this was not very common, and most ARVNs were still issued M1945s or ARVN rucksacks.
To clarify, 2:37 the Airborne soldiers are actually wearing green dominant ERDL in ARVN cut style. ARVN ERDL wasn't widely used until late 68-69 which was first worn by the ARVN Rangers
New subscriber here. I'm a doctoral student currently doing research on ARVN right now, specifically the ARVN Rangers. I must say I am impressed with your video considering the lack of Western videos talking about ARVN and their weaponry (Battle Order, Kabutoes, and Memories of the South Vietnam, being some of the few other channels dedicated to covering this misrepresented army). I'd like to make some additions to your video (if a pin would suffice, I'd greatly appreciate it so others may see). Firstly, the ARVN ERDL is frequently referred to as "Leaf" pattern and were primarily used by the Rangers and Airborne. Second, as far as "liberating" and acquiring modern weapons outside the main supply line is concerned, I'd refer to some info I found in Lt. Col. Keith Nightengale's "Just another day in Vietnam" and Hieu D. Vu's "Republic of Vietnam Army Ranger". The latter is a collection of roughly translated memoirs by various ARVN Rangers and the former focuses on Nightengale's time as a Ranger advisor with the 52nd Ranger Battalion. Both books mention the 52nd and how their unit in particular augmented their existing Korean War vintage weapons with 2 M60s gifted to them by the commander of the US 11th Armored Cav in exchange for a collection of captured enemy weapons. It wasn't uncommon for captured weapons to be used as bartering chips with American forces as they even advisors used captured AKs as a way to barter for improved living conditions for their ARVN units as well as more modern weapons. For some additional context - Nightengale's memoir takes place during an operation around spring-summer of 1967 where the 52nd Rangers were tasked with locating and destroying a VC fortification along the Dong Nai River north of Xuan Loc during which in the later phases of the operation, the 52nd helped relieve an element of the 11th Armored Cav (which had gotten stuck by terrain and later by enemy ambushes). The 52nd would earn its second Presidential Unit Citation along with those M60s as a token of gratitude from the 11th ACV. Give those books a read. I HIGHLY recommend them
I served under Richard Holmes and without going into detail, he was without doubt, the finest officer I ever served under. He was an absolute gentleman and a bloody good soldier. I still think of him often after more than 40 years.
I have his book Fatal Avenue that I bought from a charity shop. Imagine my delight when I found that he had signed it!!! Truly a master of his craft, and sympathetic to the soldier, this man’s passing was a great loss to historians and students alike. We shall never see his like again.
The guy you said was a South Vietnamese Interpreter was/is actually Chinese Muong or 'Nung', they were the Navy's counterpart to the Army's Montagnard peoples and were mostly hired from the remnants of Chiang Kai-shek's rebel army that fled to parts of Thailand and Cambodia. Just sayin, great video though. RLTW
@@RMMilitaryHistory ARVN OD uniforms were made of a different material than OG107, and were in a darker olive shade but usually faded so they’d look very similar. I believe the guys in this clip were from an RVN Air Force Security unit. Also in the footage, the ARVN paras are wearing green-dominant ERDL. The ARVN ERDL pic you added is the succeeding pattern which is often referred to as BDQ camo (because the Rangers got them first). I think typically you’d see Airborne wearing ERDL from 1967-1970 and BDQ camo 1971-1975.
In a sense America was never actually neutral, at least in an unofficial sense. It was always clear that the Americans were going to side with Britain in the war, and although there were many Americans who wanted to stay out America was starting to get on a wartime footing even before the war started. I believe the draft in America got started in 1940, a year before the war started.
4:27 - specifically an XM16E1 or an M16A1 - both had forward assist and early M16A1s still had the second type 3-prong flash-suppressor. There is no meaningful difference - only the rollmark.
Great vid! The M16 looks to the the slick side M16A1 with the 3 prong flash hider. The target of the propaganda leaflet was the American troops- the reference to “your own ones” and the Vietnamese people, removing the distinction between North and South. Loved all the M1 carbines with the taped jungle mags. Looks like the soldier next to the Type 56 brandishing one has M26 “lemon” grenades on his flak. I used to play army wearing my dad’s old flak jacket and can confirm it will sap you out if it’s humid and hot out 😂
I recall playing vietcong 2 on the pc back in 2007 and being intrigued by the different types of arvn units and their equipment/uniforms, so much so I bought a men at arms book about the arvn. Great video 👍
@@7D.45 The game also gives the player the ability to fight the war from another perspective as a young vietcong recruit fighting before and during the Tet Offensive.
Bald ist die Türkei 🇹🇷 an der Reihe - Vietnam und der irak 🇮🇶 Krieg zusammen ,so schnell und tödlich wird , dieser Kampf für die türkei 🇹🇷 , die Turkey wollte das heilige Land united State of america. Bedrohen , die USA 🇺🇸 wird euch kleinen Türken überrennen!!!! Wenn das seal Team und Delta Team da ist wartet noch euch wird es vergehen. Die USA 🇺🇸 bedroht , zu haben !!!!!😢 lässt mich kalt dastehen !!!!‘
One of very few people- and even fewer TV presenters, who I really, really wish I'd had the privilege of meeting. Enjoyed War Walks years ago, and enjoying repeats on BBC 4 at the moments. Hoped there would be DVDs but it seems not. His life was too short, but he did manage to cram a great deal into it.
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