Coral/Balmoral Clarifications

I want to make a few clarifications regarding my last posting about the battle at FSBs Coral and Balmoral 40 years ago. First, I said 25 Australians were killed in the battle. I was making the common mistake of counting those who were killed on the ground, and overlooking Major Constable, the army pilot who takes the number to 26. Second, I said we returned to Nui Dat at the end of the battle on the 5th of June. I should have said the 6th of June. Finally, due to the quirks of using a blogging system from America, it appeared as though I was posting the message on Sunday the 11th of May, and going to Parliament House that night. I actually posted that message on Monday the 12th, Australian eastern time. Blogspot took my message on Sunday the 11th, American time, and posted it with that date.

The event at Parliament House was an outstanding success. The Great Hall was packed with veterans. The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader gave speeches that made all of us feel that our efforts at Coral and Balmoral, and the sacrifice of those who died, were appreciated, and that the battle would be given due recognition at last. The Prime Minister, Opposition Leader and Minister for Veterans Affairs spent a lot of time mingling and talking with the veterans and the next of kin of those who were killed in the battle. It was good to see a number of other politicians, who had no official role to play and didn't have to be there, came along in their own time.

The memorial service was held on the 13th, the 40th anniversary of the first attack on Coral, at the National Vietnam Memorial. It was an extremely moving service, although it was unfortunate that the information given out to the veteran community before the event did not make it clear that the service would start at 10 a.m. I arrived at 10.05, thinking I would be early, only to find the service in progress. I believed it was to start at 11 o'clock, and only came earlier because somebody I'd met at the Parliament House event told me that the Governor-General would be arriving at ten.

The Balmoral commemorations and 3RAR reunion are on next weekend. I will be reading a poem at the 3RAR banquet on Saturday night.

Battle of Coral/Balmoral 40th Anniversary

This evening I'm off to Parliament House for a reception hosted by the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, for veterans of the Battle of Coral/Balmoral. This is the first of several events to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the battle at Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral in 1968.

Although it will never have the same place in Australian folklore as the Battle of Long Tan, and for good reasons, Coral/Balmoral was the biggest battle Australians fought in the Vietnam War. It was the biggest in terms of the number of Australians involved, the number of Australians killed, and the size of the enemy force we faced.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the day I arrived at Coral with 3RAR battalion headquarters. The first attack by the North Vietnamese came that night. They overran parts of 1RAR and got into the Australian artillery, temporarily capturing one gun. 13 Australians were killed in that first attack. Following the first attack, 3RAR left Coral and moved on to FSB Coogee, leaving 1RAR and the Australian and New Zealand artillery and other support units at Coral. After just over a week at Coogee, we moved to Balmoral, which, according to the "official" history of Australia's involvement in Vietnam, was a mere 1500 metres from the headquarters of the 7th Division of the North Vietnamese Army, the unit that had attacked Coral while we were there and again after we left. The NVA made two attempts to overrun Balmoral, hitting us with mortars, rockets and ground assaults. They also tried again at Coral. After the second attack on Balmoral on the 28th of May, they gave up trying to remove us, and the battle fizzled out. We returned to Nui Dat on the 5th of June. 25 Australians were killed in the battle.

A Day to Remember

I have just written an account of the battle at Fire Support Andersen on the morning of the 18th of February 1968, and the events of the morning after the battle. This was one of the most significant days of my life. Click on the link to find out why.