Long Tan: Memories, Myths and Reality
Kevin O’Brien
Edmund and Alexander, 2025
Kevin O’Brien presents a work that immediately commands attention. He examines the Battle of Long Tan, which most histories refer to as the Delta Company 6 RAR fight on 18 August 1966 to the East of the newly established 1st Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat, from a fresh angle. ‘Long Tan’ (the Battle) has, for many reasons, a place in the average Australian’s understanding of the Vietnam War. Few can fail to have an opinion of its importance. Some say it rivals Gallipoli in our military history and the impact both have on the Australian psyche pertaining to our soldiers’ reputation as warriors. One outcome has been the selection of 18 August for the annual Vietnam Veterans Day, even though other major battles were fought during the same war.
This Battle has become part of our folklore, our military lexicon, perhaps even a reflection or influence upon self-perception by those of us who have served in the Australian Army. It has been purported like Gallipoli as a major triumph of arms, a display of Australian military prowess, an example of prevailing, despite the odds. Even though Gallipoli was a disastrous failure, and we certainly have not won every major battle throughout our Army’s history. In both, reflection has helped improve our understanding of what really happened when all that is relevant is examined in the cold, hard light of primary evidence.
O’Brien examines the Battle through a fresh lens – via an examination of what really happened and what could not have happened. And the concept of balance of probabilities plays a role in this work. He presents us with a challenge to the official history version of the Battle that most of us have read. This is done independently and impartially by an author who was not there at the time but who has the credentials to take an analytically forensic approach.
The author was a professional Artilleryman with training and experience of high order. He served in the Vietnam War including the performance of the duties of Forward Observer that featured critically in the real outcome of the Battle. The Forward Observer is the specialist who is up forward with a battle commander, calling in and adjusting indirect fire assets that made the crucial difference on 18 August 1966. O’Brien then went on to hold all key artillery appointments to divisional level, instructor and doctrine expert in the art of war. Along with his extensive research and consultations with veterans, military historians and suppliers of expert knowledge and analysis, this positions him eminently to speak with authority of the indirect fire component of the Battle.
During the research phase, he consulted individuals who took part in the Battle. He further cites detailed evidence from other authors on the subject, including some who interviewed enemy commanders. He also obtained access to the complete work of Brigadier Ernie Chamberlain, a fellow Vietnam veteran, intelligence specialist and linguist who is still translating captured enemy documents of vital import to the Battle. This provides a unique and unchallengeable array of primary evidence, and from both sides. Material that simply was not present in the immediate aftermath of the Battle when crucial decisions were taken leading to official announcements, political imperatives, official results records, awards and other considerations which have had far-reaching consequences.
O’Brien is previously published and as evident in the references cited he has examined all known publications on ‘Long Tan’ in presenting his take on the Battle, giving eminence to the subtitle Memories, Myths and Reality. For some, this treatment might be confronting; it certainly will challenge many readers’ existing position on the Battle. A wise person once said: If one has to have a debate on an important or contentious issue, it is most helpful to thoroughly examine both sides of the issue with all of the evidence available. The book takes such an approach.
This Review does not need to regurgitate or pass opinion on the Battle. As the Bibliography shows, there is a range of sources dedicated to the Battle itself, and no publication on Australians in the Vietnam War fails to mention ’Long Tan’. The events of 18 August 1966 and its aftermath hold an extraordinary place in our record of the Vietnam War, and rightly so. It was an amazing feat of arms by any measure. But has the full story been presented? Once this book has been read, the general consensus is likely to be a resounding ‘No’.
The author enables a person who might never have heard of the Battle to understand how it unfolded, and in detail. People with extensive accumulated knowledge and opinions of events are provided with a compelling re-assessment of what they have read/heard in other publications/presentations. For the participants of the Battle, it is likely that they will have a fresh perspective even today, many years later. People who did not take part cannot possibly know more of what happened than those who did. But even then, no participant in a firefight sees everything, nor can they know what the enemy were doing for sure. And then there is the conjecture, the unassumed acceptance that if a certain authority wrote or said something, then by virtue of their position what they say must be true. But was it? These are the type of questions that will excite the reader and challenge existing mindsets.
The book presents with great style and appeal. Having been trained and experienced in the operation conducted at Long Tan, I believe that I am able to judge what the combatants faced, and whether the author’s summation of their performance, from commander to the most junior rifleman, and what they had to do. I could find no error or unreasonable assumption on the part of the author in this respect. He tells the individual and collective experiences as accurately as I can tell as a long serving Infantry officer.
From the cover, the inside of which features a wonderfully detailed map of the battlefield to the logical sequence of short and succinct chapters, the book unfolds with unusual clarity. Starting with the ‘big picture’ about the war and why Australians were deployed to Vietnam, the reader is taken through the lead up to and conduct of the Battle in detail. The aftermath is then dealt with in a series of chapters that examine the consequent factors such as awards – both immediate and fifty years since – ongoing advocacy, and other contentious matters. Remarkable detail is a characteristic of Long Tan: Memories, Myths and Reality.
Almost every Delta Company 6 RAR soldier in the battle is named and their role accounted for, with understandable honour and dignity afforded the dead and wounded. This human touch blends with excellent photographs, sidebars on weapons and tactics, and the best series of maps I have seen in such a history which illustrate the Battle as it occurs. For example, I have rarely seen such a lucid description of enfilade fire, how artillery works and what the ammunition types expended by both sides look like and their effects. Judicious use of Endnotes in chapters makes reference checking immediate and simple. A first-class bibliography lists sources that in themselves are worth reading if this has not already occurred. In fact, many of us probably already have read them, and this helps give credence to O’Brien’s views about what really happened, what did not, or could not.
Strong evidence and deductions hard to refute are presented. The author also tactfully balances his challenges with the probabilities of the accumulative effect of the ‘fog of war’ on individuals, the immense pressure that they were under during and after the battle, and of course, the limit of their ability to draw accurate deductions from the maelstrom that engulfed them. The reader is appropriately left to draw their own conclusions about motive and intent by those men including Major Harry Smith himself, the central character. Similarly, federal politics are addressed in no uncertain manner, machinations of which had a profound impact even on national direction.
What then are the absolute truths associated with the Battle given the approach taken by the author? To help reach an answer, this book simply has to be read as carefully and as forensically as it has been researched and written. In my view, it places the famous Battle of Long Tan in a new context. It was a battle which deserves to be fully understood with the benefit of the excellent treatment of the evidence and balance of probabilities. Respect for the men of both sides in this struggle is retained and given freshly reinforced prominence as all veterans deserve irrespective of which side they fought on. Much more than the transient and opportunistic actions taken by government officials and their advisors of the day who deserve far less respect.
Military history lecturers would do well to take note of all sources, and especially this one, for future coverage of the Battle and its societal impact. Official history at any point in time is not in itself the last word on any matter and there is always room for adjustment of those parts of the story of the Battle of Long Tan that the benefit of possible revisionist treatment demand. Long Tan: Memories, Myths and Reality is a must-have reference for both dedicated military history buffs, officials and the lay reader alike. See what YOU think.
Reviewer: Lieutenant Colonel Russell Linwood, ASM (Retd)
