Australia in the Vietnam War. Just came across this Government website. Great info, fantastic photos. A really top notch professional website. Australia and the Vietnam War The Vietnam War was the longest major conflict in which Australians have been involved; it lasted ten years, from 1962 to 1972, and involved some 60,000 personnel. A limited initial commitment of just 30 military advisers grew to include a battalion in 1965 and finally, in 1966, a task force. Each of the three services was involved, but the dominant role was played by the Army. In the early years Australia’s participation in the war was not widely opposed. But as the commitment grew, as conscripts began to make up a large percentage of those being deployed and killed, and as the public increasingly came to believe that the war was being lost, opposition grew until, in the early 1970s, more than 200,000 people marched in the streets of Australia’s major cities in protest.
I was talking to an English/Oz chap who was back from Australia , where he emigrated to 'Sidney' in the sixties from Britain , and he was telling me that when he came home from work one day he'd got his call up papers waiting for him as one Imagines he was'nt to pleased about that and took a ship arranged by his brother in the merchant navy to New Zealand and didnt go back to Oz for years , It makes you wonder how many young Brits served in Viet Nam back then .
Nice site bookmarked, for those intrested in Australia's part in the Vietnam War I highly recommend the book Vietnam Remembered by Lifetime Distributors ISBN 0 86302 072 1. Which includes a ROH and a full list of all those who served so if any one wants a name give me a shout!