page_title: Military history of Australia during the Vietnam War
section_title: Increased Australian commitment, 1965–1970
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of Australia during the Vietnam War / Australia's military involvement / Increased Australian commitment, 1965–1970
caption_attribution_description: A Royal Australian Air Force English Electric Canberra B20 from No. 2 Squadron during a strike out of Phan Rang air base, Vietnam, in March 1970.
context_page_description: Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War began with a small commitment of 30 military advisors in 1962, and increased over the following decade to a peak of 7,672 Australian personnel following the Menzies Government's April 1965 decision to upgrade its military commitment to South Vietnam's security. By the time the last Australian personnel were withdrawn in 1972, the Vietnam War had become Australia's longest war, and was only recently surpassed by Australia's long-term commitment of combat forces to the War in Afghanistan. It remains Australia's largest force contribution to a foreign conflict since the Second World War and was also the most controversial in Australian society since the conscription controversy during the First World War. Although initially enjoying broad support due to concerns about the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, a vocal anti-war movement developed in response to Australia's programme of conscription.
  The withdrawal of Australia's forces from South Vietnam began in November 1970, under the Gorton Government, when 8 RAR completed its tour of duty and was not replaced.
context_section_description: In August 1964 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) sent a flight of Caribou transports to the port town of Vũng Tàu. By the end of 1964, there were almost 200 Australian military personnel in the Republic of Vietnam, including an engineer and surgical team as well as a larger AATTV team. To boost the size of the Army by providing a greater pool for infantrymen, the Australian Government had introduced conscription for compulsory military service for 20-year-olds, in November 1964, despite opposition from within the Army and many sections of the broader community. Thereafter, battalions serving with 1 ATF all contained National Servicemen. With the war escalating the AATTV increased to approximately 100 men by December.
  On 29 April 1965, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that the government had received a request for further military assistance from South Vietnam. "We have decided...in close consultation with the Government of the United States—to provide an infantry battalion for service in Vietnam." He argued that a communist victory in South Vietnam would be a direct military threat to Australia. "It must be seen as part of a thrust by Communist China between the Indian and Pacific Oceans" he added. The issue of whether a formal request was made by the South Vietnamese government at this time has been disputed. Although the South Vietnamese Prime Minister, Trần Văn Hương, made a request in December 1964, Hương's replacement, Phan Huy Quát, had to be "coerced into accepting an Australian battalion" and stopped short of formally requesting the commitment in writing, simply sending an acceptance of the offer to Canberra the day before Menzies announced it to the Australian parliament. In this regard it has been argued that the decision was made by Australian politicians against advice of the Department of Defence, to coincide with the commitment of US combat troops earlier in the year, and that the decision would have been made regardless of the wishes of the South Vietnamese government.
  As a result of the announcement, the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) was deployed. Advanced elements of the battalion departed Australia on 27 May 1965. Accompanied by a troop of armoured personnel carriers from the 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse as well as logistics personnel, they embarked upon HMAS Sydney and following their arrival in Vietnam in June, they were attached to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade along with a New Zealand artillery battery. Throughout 1965 they undertook several operations in Biên Hòa Province and subsequently fought significant actions, including Gang Toi, Operation Crimp and Suoi Bong Trang. Meanwhile, 1 RAR's attachment to US forces had highlighted the differences between Australian and American operational methods and Australian and US military leaders subsequently agreed to the future deployment of Australian combat forces in a discrete province. This would allow the Australian Army to "fight their own tactical war", independently of the US. In April 1966 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was established in Phước Tuy Province, based at Nui Dat. 1 ATF consisted of two (and after 1967 three) infantry battalions, a troop and later a squadron of armoured personnel carriers from the 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron and a detachment of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) as well as support services under the command of the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1 ALSG) based in Vũng Tàu. A squadron of Centurion tanks was added in December 1967. New Zealand infantry units were also deployed in 1967 and were integrated into Australian battalions serving with 1 ATF after March 1968. These combined battalions being designated "ANZAC Battalions". Special forces from the New Zealand Special Air Service were also attached to each Australian SASR squadron from late 1968. 1 ATF's responsibility was the security of Phước Tuy Province, excluding larger towns.
  The RAAF contingent was also expanded, growing to include three squadrons—No. 35 Squadron, flying Caribou STOL tr
caption: A No. 2 Squadron Canberra bomber operating over South Vietnam in 1970
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