Close to exactly 50% of the Aussies that fought in Vietnam were conscripts. The Australian Army had a policy throughout the war that all combat units were as close as 50:50 regular army professional soldiers to national servicemen, so in a squad/ section of 10 men around 5 were professional soldiers and the remainder national servicemen, which kept standards in the battalions high. No Australian Nasho was sent to Vietnam with less than 6 months thorough jungle warfare training, and the battalions were rotated through their year long tour as a whole unit, which meant they trained together as a battalion in the lead up to deployment, they deployed together and returned home together. Nine Australian infantry battalions were deployed to Vietnam with over half of them doing 2 tours. From 1967 to 1970 there were never less than 3 battalions in Phuoc Tuy Province based at Nui Dat. 60,000 Aussie troops fought in Vietnam between 1965-1972, mostly in Phuoc Tuy, Long Kanh and Bien Hoa Provinces, north-east and east of Saigon. -500 Killed in Action -2,400 Wounded in Action. (NB- The Battle of Long Tan which this film portrays took place in a commercial rubber tree plantation that covered several dozen acres, in case anyone was wondering why all the trees were straight and evenly spaced and not typical of the jungle the soldiers experienced in Vietnam.)
I'm German, I didn't know until recently that Australia also fought in the First and Second World Wars and the Vietnam War and that many men fought, were wounded and killed. In my opinion, the Australians have the least to do with the wars. They supported the Americans by giving their lives for wars that were not their wars. Honor for their courage, strength, fighting spirit, endurance, trust and solidarity with one another. 🌹
