ASSORTED PICs SHOWING VUNG TAU AND NUI DAT

This and following slides to show graphically some assorted matters Vung Tau township on

A much better idea of 1 ALSG As it was in 1966. Sand, dunes

Across the water are the Foothills of the Long Hai’s. A view from mid

A view from a Huey over the area. Vung Tau hills & mangrove. Beach

THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON

Another view from a Huey taken further up the peninsula. The “cultivation” = salt

And so to Nui Dat. The hill itself is here North Airstrip and Kangaroo

North Long Tan 5 Km Airstrip – not there in mid-1966 Another view –

1 ATF area 5 Km away – Arty - - - 1 ATF HQ

The Australian base and the battlefield - distances involved. THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS

To demonstrate the scale: The whole battle took place within the circle at Parliament/Windsor

5 Kilometres THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT

THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN The Horseshoe WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT

Some of the D/6 people – photo from early 1967. CQMS Ron Gildersleeve Sgt

THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © level

THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN MPC – Military WHO RETAINS

MEDALS (as viewed looking at the wearer) RIGHT BREAST Australian unit citations Foreign unit

Infantry Combat Badge (Combat Infantryman’s Badge) Unit Citations are worn by subsequent members of

THE 12 DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE 3 INDO-CHINA WARS THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THIS SLIDE THE “COMMERCIAL” THE FINE PRINT This Powerpoint show

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ASSORTED PICs SHOWING VUNG TAU AND NUI DAT THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN DETAILS AND SOME OTHER WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT presented by DAVE SABBEN MG 05 – Phuoc Tuy Aug 1966

This and following slides to show graphically some assorted matters Vung Tau township on other side of hills Radar emplacements on top of “Radar Hill”. Note shipping at anchor awaiting dock space THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT Beach and sand dunes The 1 ALSG area MUCH, MUCH later than our time – See next slide…

A much better idea of 1 ALSG As it was in 1966. Sand, dunes and canvas… No made roads. No phone or electricity THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT Pic doesn’t show heat or wind. Pity.

Across the water are the Foothills of the Long Hai’s. A view from mid 1967. Better established. Tin sheds & cement. THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT But still canvas accom ’few roads, no phone and electric poles.

A view from a Huey over the area. Vung Tau hills & mangrove. Beach is to left of pic. US airbase is left of road. Again, note ships at anchor offshore. THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT

Another view from a Huey taken further up the peninsula. The “cultivation” = salt pans. Note the extensive mangrove. Long Hai hills in distance. THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT

And so to Nui Dat. The hill itself is here North Airstrip and Kangaroo Pad. Neithere in June 1966 THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT 1 ATF HQ in rubber plantation. APCs off pic to left of HQ Arty area – the site of our first landing

North Long Tan 5 Km Airstrip – not there in mid-1966 Another view – much later The hill itself is here 5 RAR lines 6 RAR lines THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN Kangaroo Pad WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT APCs TF HQ, Artillery area

1 ATF area 5 Km away – Arty - - - 1 ATF HQ - - - K’ Roo Pad - - - Nui Dat - - - airstrip - - - 5 RAR APCs 1 THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY APCs 2 DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT 12 © ON CREATIVE CONTENT CHQ 10 11 The area of the Battle – Numbered circles indicate where units had their separate actions. The final Coy stand was at CHQ circle. Foothills of Nui Dat 2. North is to the right.

The Australian base and the battlefield - distances involved. THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE 5 Km SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT An aerial photo looking west over the battlefield towards the Nui Dat base. The large oval is the battlefield – the small oval is where the artillery was.

To demonstrate the scale: The whole battle took place within the circle at Parliament/Windsor Hotel. The final Company position was within the THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATIONoutline of the Parliament building on this map. WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN The artillery was located at WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT Station Pier, firing support from 5 km (in a heavy monsoon downpour!). The final adjustments to fall of shot were the same as moving the fall of shot from room to room within the Parliament building.

5 Kilometres THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT A map of Sydney: To show relative distances, if the Australian base was in North Sydney, then the Battle would have been 5 Km away, at Central Station

THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT Or to put it another way, the artillery would have had to fire over the Harbour Bridge and all of downtown Sydney to hit Central Station. The area covered by the Battle was not larger than Central Station and we were adjusting fire as if to put rounds on platform by platform. From 5 kilometres away!

THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN The Horseshoe WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © and the ON CREATIVE CONTENT Minefield The area of Operation BRIBIE 6 RAR, February 1967 The area of the “Frankie” mine incident, 6 RAR, 21 July 1969

Some of the D/6 people – photo from early 1967. CQMS Ron Gildersleeve Sgt A/Tk Pl Vic Creagh Sgt 12 Pl Lance Larcome OC 12 Pl Dave Sabben Sgt 10 Pl Bob Savige Sgt Cook Bill O’Donnell Sgt 11 Pl Bob Buick OC 10 Pl Bob Irvine THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN OC A’Tk Pl ? Griffin WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT MFC Sgt Jack Thompson OC Delta Harry Smith OC 11 Pl Paul O’Sullivan The 3 with handlebar mo’s were having a growing competition. The cook won!

THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © level of accom we aspired to ON CREATIVE The CONTENT But which didn’t happen until 1967. Until then, plastic hoochies in the mud For the first month, then basic canvas Tents without floorboards for 2 months Then floorboards and stretchers, Then finally some metal beds…. . Shells lining the drain are 105 mm arty shells fired at Long Tan.

MEDALS (as viewed looking at the wearer) RIGHT BREAST Australian unit citations Foreign unit citations L to R by descending status THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT Badges (centred) LEFT BREAST Australian gallantry awards & honours L to R by descending status Australian campaign & service medals L to R by precedence list Australian comem’ve medals L to R by precedence list Foreign gallantry awards L to R by descending status Foreign campaign medals L to R by ascending date

Infantry Combat Badge (Combat Infantryman’s Badge) Unit Citations are worn by subsequent members of the unit, but without the Federation Star. (US & SVN UCs same. ) Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry American Presidential Unit Citation Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry With Palm Unit Citation THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT Australian Medal for Gallantry Australian Active Service Medal 1945 -75 Aust V’nam Campaign Medal (with MID) Australian Defence Medal Anniversary of National Service Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry With Palm Vietnamese Campaign Medal

THE 12 DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE 3 INDO-CHINA WARS THIS SLIDE AND PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED BY DAVE SABBEN WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT © ON CREATIVE CONTENT presented by DAVE SABBEN MG 05 – Phuoc Tuy – Aug 1966 Questions?

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THIS SLIDE THE “COMMERCIAL” THE FINE PRINT This Powerpoint show is copyright to Dave Sabben but is freely available for any non-profit use. It may be downloaded free from Dave’s website: www. sabben. com It was prepared for presentation to those who join his Decisive Battlefields and Long Tan Trek Tours of Viet Nam (see other panel for the “commercial”) as introductions for the various battles. As at 2011, Dave Sabben leads one tour per year (second half of October) to visit some of the areas of Australian/ANZAC operations of 1966 -1971. The highlight of these tours is to walk the Long Tan battlefield with Dave (a platoon Commander in that battle). The walk takes about 4 hours – about the time of the battle – so the group goes to all the key locations of the battle and hears about what happened pretty much in “real time”. For further enquiry into these tours, please visit: http: //www. sabben. com/longtantrek/ and select VN%20 Long%20 Tan%20 Trek%20 Tours. html or PRESENTATION VN%20 Decisive%20 Battlefields%20 Tours. html Because the shows are live presentations, much more is in the narrative than is included in the text. THIS on the. SLIDE slides. AND The shows are intended to be introductions and overviews – WAS PREPARED BY not detailed expositions or analyses. Views and conclusions An optional extension to the Long Tan Trek Tour takes in the are the author’s and are not offered as the only possible main US battles of northern South Viet Nam including Da Nang, or even as fully comprehensive views. Hue, the DMZ© (including Khe Sanh) and the A Shau Valley WHO RETAINS COPYRIGHT (Hamburger Hill), then visits both Hanoi (‘Hanoi Hilton’, War Where possible, permissions have been obtained to use ON CREATIVE CONTENT Museum) and the Dien Bien Phu valley (both Viet Minh and maps or photos but some have been used without specific French positions). permission. Copyright holders who want their material either DAVE SABBEN not used or credited, please contact Dave Sabben at http: //www. sabben. com/contact%20 us. html As well as the once –a-year-in-October tours, Dave can arrange a similar tour at any time of year for a group of 20 or more. Dates, durations, standards of accommodation, inclusions etc will be all your call. Please contact Dave (with numbers and preferences) at http: //www. sabben. com/contact%20 us. html Anyone wishing to make an anonymous donation towards the cost and time of putting this show together is invited to make a donation of any amount to (Australian) Westpac bank account BSB# 733 000, Account# 853 546 (branch = 360 Collins St, Melbourne), or (Australian) CBA bank account BSB# 063 550, Account# 1024 7640 (branch = Hampton, Victoria), either account in the name of David Sabben. Note that these are “battlefield-oriented” tours – they do NOT go to the popular tourist sites. “Tourist” tours can be added before or after. If passing this slide show to others, please don’t remove this slide.