page_title: Battle of Long Tan
section_title: A Company and 3 Troop fight through
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Long Tan / Battle / A Company and 3 Troop fight through
caption_attribution_description: English: AWM Caption: Vietnam. 1966-06-25. Infantry advance by soldiers of the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), as they move into their first operation. The infantrymen occupied a large Viet Cong village in the mission, code-named Operation Enoggera. Other soldiers followed on a tank of the 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron.
context_page_description: The Battle of Long Tan took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tân, in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The action was fought between Viet Cong and People's Army of Vietnam units and elements of the 1st Australian Task Force.
  Australian signals intelligence had tracked the VC 275th Regiment and D445 Battalion moving to a position just north of Long Tan. By 16 August, it was positioned near Long Tan outside the range of the artillery at Nui Dat. On the night of 16/17 August, mortars and recoilless rifles attacked Nui Dat from a position 2 kilometres to the east until counter-battery fire caused it to cease. The next morning D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, departed Nui Dat to locate the firing points and the direction of the enemy withdrawal. Weapon pits were found including mortars and RCLs. D Company clashed with VC around midday 18 August.
  Facing a larger force, D Company called down artillery. Heavy fighting ensued as the VC attempted to encircle and destroy the Australians. After several hours two UH-1B Iroquois from No. 9 Squadron RAAF arrived overhead to resupply them.
context_section_description: By 18:45, D Company had succeeded in moving into an all-round defensive position, throwing back heavy attacks With D Company unable to manoeuvre, the initiative lay with the VC, the 1 ATF's artillery holding them at bay, with the main role of the infantry increasingly becoming one of protecting their forward observer. Stanley's efforts remained crucial to the survival of D Company, with the ability to strike artillery more precisely in closer combat. The close fire devastated the VC ranks, however a mistake led to the wounding of a member of D Company. Nonetheless, D Company was heavily outnumbered, unlikely to survive another assault; a simultaneous attack would completely overrun them. The battle's outcome rested on whether they could keep the VC at bay long enough for reinforcements. A fresh force was observed moving to the west, likely an attempt to encircle and cut off D Company.
caption: M113 similar to those used at Long Tan
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