House debates
Monday, 31 May 2010
Battle of Long Tan
Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Neville:
That this House:
(1) acknowledges the:
(a) unquestionable bravery of 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) at the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam on 18 August 1966 and the singular heroism of units in the face of overwhelming enemy numbers, especially that of D Company; and
(b) well deserved upgrade of a number of decorations:
(i) Major Harry Smith (from Military Cross to Star of Gallantry, ie, Distinguished Service Order equivalent);
(ii) Lieutenant Dave Sabben and Lieutenant Geoff Kendall (from Mentioned in Despatches to Medal for Gallantry, ie, Military Cross equivalent); and
(c) strength of D Company 6RAR (as at 18 August 1966) which has the right to wear the former Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation Emblem;
(2) deplores the loss of documentation which has deprived 12 other Australian combatants from receiving appropriate recognition;
(3) calls on the Australian Government to convene a further inquiry to assess and document by eye witness reports, cross examination and other sources, the known courageous action of combatants on that day with particular reference to the 12 soldiers involved; and
(4) seeks appropriate remedy, by way of award, to those unjustly treated.
7:36 pm
Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party)
On 18 August 2008 I was at the cenotaph in Hervey Bay. Lieutenant Colonel Harry Smith, who had been ill, was visited by seven of his colleagues—locals and visitors—who went up with him to lay wreaths on the cenotaph for Long Tan Day. There was nothing particularly spectacular about this, but, as those eight men stepped back from the cenotaph, the gathered crowd broke into loud and sustained applause. To me, they were emblematic of Australians who have for many years felt that many injustices in Vietnam have not been attended to.
I want to talk about one of those instances tonight. It is 18 August 1966 in the partly deserted village of Long Tan, four kilometres east of the Australian base at Nui Dat. It is mid-afternoon; 11 Platoon is out on patrol with D Company 6RAR, and they engage the enemy. They kill one and the rest take flight. What they did not know, and nor did their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Harry Smith, the man at Hervey Bay I spoke about, who was then Major Harry Smith, was that they had contacted the forward units of two and a half to three thousand Viet Cong and regional and North Vietnamese regulars. There were only 105 men in D Company, and they were engaging two and a half thousand. So the odds were over 20 to one. The Vietnamese units came forward to see what was going on, a battle ensued and Major Smith had to send out 12 Platoon and 10 Platoon to try to get 11 Platoon back. Eventually, at about 6.10 pm, he got all his units together. Ten minutes earlier, a helicopter had dropped to them ammunition wrapped in blankets.
Let me divert for a minute. Prior to this, support having been called for, A Company came forward with 10 APCs, seven of which were heading towards the battle. About a kilometre short of Long Tan they too met a group of Vietnamese of company strength. They took them on. One particular man whom I know in Bundaberg rolled off his APC. He and his machine gunner lay on the ground, then got up and went straight into the face of the enemy, firing at them as they went. When their ammunition ran out they went with bayonets. It was such a convincing assault that the company of Vietnamese withdrew—turned and ran, actually.
Then they came on to the battle. By the time they got to the battle proper it had been completed. Major Harry Smith and his men—105 of them—took on wave after wave of battalion strength enemy who tried as they would to pierce the perimeter. Not once did they cross the Australian perimeter and, in fact, some of the battle occurred at the range of only 15 metres.
While all this was going on, Harry Smith was directing the battle. He was on his belly in the filthy mud, with Captain Morrie Stanley, a New Zealand officer who was directing the fire from the 24 guns that were behind them. He directed fire into the rubber plantation at Long Tan, all 24 guns firing at once—3,500 shells—you can imagine the devastation that caused. The effect of all this was that the enemy eventually broke off the engagement at a quarter to seven that night. The 11th Platoon had already lost half its number, either wounded or killed in the initial encounter. So in effect you had 80 Australians taking that fight off. But as Harry Smith himself says, nine of the 12 men that he wanted recognised for that engagement and who have been denied that recognition, were right in the front line. Three of them came up with the APCs with A Company.
Why do I feel so strongly about this? They were recommended for awards, and in fact two senior officers received DSOs. Harry Smith’s likely award, originally to be a DSO, was downgraded and he received the Military Cross. Two of his lieutenants, Sabben and Kendall, were downgraded to MIDs, and his 12 men that he recommended did not receive awards, including one who was killed in action. Unbelievable stuff.
There was a review, as there is at the end of all conflicts—what is called the end-of-war review—and still these men’s awards were not upgraded. Again, what is even more disturbing is the fact that another review was held under Generals Abigail and Gower and Brigadier Warner in 2008. They restored Harry Smith’s award to the equivalent of a DSO, the Star of Gallantry, and the two lieutenants’ to the equivalent of the Military Cross, the Medal of Gallantry—but again, nothing for the 12 soldiers.
There was a further review by a professor, a warrant officer who had not been in Vietnam and who had no Vietnam experience, and a former lieutenant colonel who had a staff posting in Vietnam. They again recommended against these awards. What had happened was that instead of those awards being kept for the end-of-war review, they were destroyed, and there is evidence that they were destroyed. But there is eyewitness evidence that these men acted with conspicuous bravery, and Harry Smith can tell you in intimate detail even today what each of them did. There is no justification at all for those men not receiving awards.
Madam Deputy Speaker, do you know that in the Vietnam War there were 726 awards, 61 going to private soldiers, and only 35 medals? In 1984 the Military Historical Society of Australia, in a paper on awards during the Vietnam War, said that the majority of awards were given to those people furthest from the action. What an absolute disgrace. I would like to go into more detail on this. I saw the reaction of fellow Australians at the cenotaph in 2008 at Hervey Bay. I know Harry Smith and his integrity. I know that these men fought with conspicuous gallantry and I am calling tonight for a further inquiry. I do not care what form it takes. Perhaps we should take it into the parliament and do it as a Senate inquiry. But this injustice cannot be allowed to continue and I will not rest until it is addressed. We go there on Long Tan Day, we put our hands on our hearts, we talk about the glories of what happened in Vietnam and yet we deny awards to 12 people who were seminal to the battle being won. It is a disgrace. (Time expired)
7:46 pm
Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party)
I rise today to speak on the motion of the member for Hinkler as someone who has a longstanding interest in this issue. The Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966 is one of the legendary battles in our wartime history. The battle saw the 105-strong Delta Company, 6th Battalion RAR, defeat the Vietcong force, estimated to be up to 2,500. The outcome was 254 Vietcong casualties, with some reports of up to 1,000 killed, and three enemies captured. Australia suffered 18 casualties with a further 24 soldiers wounded. It is difficult to comprehend how anyone in Delta Company survived a battle between 105—with three New Zealanders there as well—on one side and up to 2,500 on the other.
During the Vietnam War there was an understanding that a Vietcong attack on the Australian base at Nui Dat was imminent and the attack came on 17 August 1966 when the Vietcong attacked the Australian base by mortar and rocket. Bravo Company was sent out to patrol the suspected Vietcong base on the night of 17 August and were later relieved by Delta Company around midday on 18 August. Delta Company made contact with the Vietcong at 1540 hours when they were patrolling a rubber plantation in Long Tan.
Following the initial contact, the Vietcong and Australian Army soldiers would be in direct contact with each other for many hours. During this time the soldiers were surrounded by enemy battalions firing mortars and automatic weapons. President Lyndon B Johnson awarded D Company, 6RAR with the US Presidential Unit Citation and I read a brief extract from that:
While searching for Viet Cong in a rubber plantation northeast of Ba Ria, Phuoc Tuy, Province, Republic of Vietnam, D Company met and immediately engaged in heavy contact. As the battle developed, it became apparent that the men of D Company were facing a numerically superior force. The platoons of D Company were surrounded and attacked on all sides by an estimated reinforced enemy battalion using automatic weapons, small arms and mortars. Fighting courageously against a well armed and determined foe, the men on D Company maintained their formations in a common perimeter defence and inflicted heavy casualties on the Viet Cong.
The men of D Company still wear that Presidential Unit Citation. The issue of proper recognition of Long Tan veterans first came to my attention through representations from Bill ‘Yank’ Akell, one of my constituents. As I have said to him often, when he first came to tell me that instead of receiving the Republic of Vietnam’s Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation he received a doll I thought he was joking.
Mr Akell is one of the most humble men that I have met. He is a true gentleman who is softly spoken and he is a much loved member of our community. Mr Akell enlisted in the Australian Army on 14 May 1964 and he was a member of the 105-strong Delta Company. As part of the battle, Mr Akell, a signaller, was tasked with rushing alone from company headquarters to 10th Platoon to deliver a spare radio set to platoon commander, Geoff Kendall. The 10th Platoon radio had gone off the air and it was vital that communication was restored between 10th Platoon and company headquarters.
Mr Akell had heard that the 10th Platoon’s radio was out and on pure instinct knew that he had to resolve the matter urgently. He knew that without radio communication 10th Platoon was unable to request artillery or to update company headquarters with vital information. Situated in company headquarters, Mr Akell picked up a spare radio and ran blind looking for 10th Platoon. He weaved alone through the terrain in search of the platoon. He was alone in Long Tan under heavy enemy fire for over 10 to 15 minutes in search of his fellow soldiers. While in search of the platoon, Mr Akell made contact with two Vietcong soldiers who he subsequently killed. Finally, he reached the platoon.
Mr Akell played a vital role in ensuring communication was resumed between the platoon and company headquarters. When you realise that Bill was just 19, it is pretty extraordinary. This is one of a number of stories from the Battle of Long Tan. Mr Akell and D Company were not evacuated until later that night. As a further sign of true courage, the battalion, lead by D Company, were assigned back into the area the very next day.
Following the battle, the South Vietnamese government awarded those involved with a unit citation and singled out 20 individual soldiers who would receive various levels of the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross. Bill was one of those 20 soldiers. At the last minute the Australian ambassador intervened, with the citation and medals not being awarded. On the day these soldiers were set to receive recognition, they instead received cigar cases and dolls.
I have spoke in this House about the Battle of Long Tan on a number of occasions. In particular in opposition I, alongside the then member for Cowan and the member for Brisbane, pursued the issue of the Palm Unit Citation and the awarding of military medals. I must admit to some disappointment that we had so little support at the time from the then government on the issue. I am certainly pleased to hear the member for Hinkler’s voice raised on this issue, albeit now from opposition.
I am very proud to have been part of the actions of the Australian Labor Party on this issue, both in opposition and now in government. On 14 August the government announced that D Company 6RAR commander, Harry Smith, would be awarded the Star of Gallantry. We also announced that platoon commanders Dave Sabben and Geoff Kendall be offered the Medal for Gallantry. This announcement was in response to an independent review into unresolved issues of recognition. As part of this review we also announced the approval for soldiers in D Company 6RAR to wear the Republic of Vietnam’s Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation Emblem—a decision that was contrary to the recommendations of the independent review panel.
The Rudd government referred all unresolved concerns regarding individual awards for Long Tan to the newly established independent Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal—the tribunal we established at arms length from government to inquire independently into these and a number of other matters relating to military recognition. The establishment of the tribunal was a 2007 election commitment of this government. As a result of the tribunal’s inquiry, they recommended that Flight Lieutenant Cliff Dohle be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and that Delta Company 6RAR be awarded the Unit Citation for Gallantry. The government accepted the recommendations of the tribunal.
It took a change of government to resolve many of the issues regarding the recognition of D Company. I understand that for commander Harry Smith that recognition for those Australians who fought in the Battle of Long Tan is an outstanding issue. I certainly commend my constituent Bill Akell in his endeavours to support Harry Smith in his ongoing actions to seek recognition for those in Delta Company. This was a real battle, which has affected real people and their families.
The Battle of Long Tan will always be remembered as one of the most significant engagements during the Vietnam War. It is of course not the only battle of Vietnam, but the bravery and courage of our Australian soldiers in such demanding circumstances will not be forgotten. I would like to finalise my comments on this motion with some words from Mr Akell. He states:
If you believe it is just for a Government to send a military Unit off to war with restrictions in place to limit the number of decorations for bravery its members can be awarded, then you need to do nothing. But, if you believe that Colonel Smith’s 40 year fight for military justice for his men is due for a rightful conclusion, then I ask that you support this motion.
While I respect that the government has taken the decision to accept the recommendations of the independent Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal and I understand the importance that this process be independent of government, I do on this occasion wholeheartedly support the motion by the member for Hinkler.
7:54 pm
Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party)
We used to say in the Army that no plan survives contact with the enemy. In listening to the contributions by the member for Hinkler and the member for Ballarat on this battle of Long Tan motion, I will dispense with the notes I have prepared for this occasion and go from a deeper place. Harry Smith once said in an account of the battle, ‘I’ve little time for the politics, theories or criticisms which detract from the outstanding performance of my company and all the supporting forces involved in the battle.’ How true that really is.
Long Tan was a victory, there is no doubt about it, against overwhelming odds. There will always be a little bit of doubt about the size of the enemy force but I think that it is pretty clear that about 1,500 or more was always going to be the sort of number that is correct. Indeed, at the end of the battle there was debate as to how many Vietnamese or Vietcong soldiers were actually killed. Yet the Americans later found evidence from Vietcong records that they found in the field that suggested that between 500 and 700 enemy soldiers were killed.
I think it is a testament to the courage and bravery of the Australian soldiers, particularly these 105 Australians and the three members of the New Zealand forward observer party, that this turned out to be a victory. It was a victory not just for those on the ground, it was a victory for all those that were in the support roles. We know that some 3,000 rounds of artillery were called in from all the batteries that were back at Nui Dat, including the Americans, the New Zealanders and the Australians. So we know that was the case. We know the desperateness of the fight on the ground, the monsoon conditions, the mist that was rising from the ground, together with the accurate artillery fire and the RAAF being able to drop ammunition from the helicopters directly into the defensive perimeter of the company.
There were a number of soldiers killed that afternoon, 18 of them. I will read into the record their names in commemoration of their supreme sacrifice for our nation: Private Richard Aldersea of Perth, Glenn Drabble of Brisbane, Ken Gant of Brisbane, Ernest Grant of Thurgoona, Vic Grice of Ballarat, James Houston of Wallsend, Jack Jewry of St Mary’s in New South Wales, Paul Large of Wellington, Private McCormack from Launceston, Dennis McCormack from Adelaide, Warren Mitchell from Dalby, Douglas Salverton from Brisbane, 2nd Lieutenant Gordon Sharp of Tamworth, David Thomas of Bendigo, Private Francis Topp of Toowoomba, Private Max Wales of Goondiwindi and Private Colin Whiston of Sydney. And from the APC squadron there was Corporal Peter Clements of Cunderdin in Western Australia. All these men were 19 to 22. These were very young men. Some of them were national servicemen, some were career soldiers within the Army. They paid a great sacrifice. But it was a victory, there was no doubt about it. The Vietcong suffered greatly from that day and they never really controlled Phuoc Tuy province after that. Yet this was a battalion that had only been established for 15 months.
I think the only real tragedy with regard to this victory was the way the recognition of bravery and courage was undertaken afterwards. I found it incredible in reading through the records that we see the brigadier of the taskforce was given a Distinguished Service Order—a brigadier. There is no way he was out there with a rifle, he was up there at the base. There is even some question regarding the battalion commander. There are some records which say that battalion headquarters came out with the APCs but other records say otherwise. There are a lot of questions that still remain about this matter.
I certainly support the member for Hinkler’s call for an inquiry. Maybe we should do something in this parliament to look into this with a lot of detail. It would be good to see this matter finally resolved. I know there has been great work to make sure that medals have been forthcoming but I think we need to search for the truth of this matter a little bit further.
Danna Vale (Hughes, Liberal Party)
Order! The time allotted for this debate has now expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.