Battle of Long Tan 1966
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 18 August 1966 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1966 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Vietnam | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Vietnam War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Australia, National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, New Zealand, North Vietnam, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 10.5539, 107.2589 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Long Tan (18–21 August 1966) 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 (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units on one side and elements of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) on the other.
Australian signals intelligence (SIGINT) 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 one ATF artillery at Nui Dat. Using mortars and recoilless rifles (RCLs), on the night of 16–17 August, the VC attacked Nui Dat from a position 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the east, until counter-battery fire made it stop. The next morning D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), departed Nui Dat to locate the firing positions and determine the direction of the VC withdrawal. D Company found weapon pits and firing positions for mortars and RCLs, and around midday on 18 August made contact with VC elements.
Facing a larger force, D Company called in artillery support. Heavy fighting ensued as the VC attempted to encircle and destroy the Australians, who were resupplied several hours later by two UH-1B Iroquois from No. 9 Squadron RAAF.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Long Tan (revision 1372094029), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Binh Gia 1964 · 11 km
- Operation Bribie 1967 · 12 km
- Battle of Suoi Chau Pha 1967 · 16 km
- Battle of Hat Dich 1968 · 16 km
- Battle of Long Khánh 1971 · 26 km
Other battles of the Vietnam War
- Battle of Ia Drang 1965
- Battle of Sông Bé 1965
- Battle of Đồng Xoài 1965
- Operation Starlite 1965
- Siege of Plei Me 1965
- Battle of A Sau 1966
- Battle of Suoi Bong Trang 1966
- Operation Crimp 1966
- Battle of Ong Thanh 1967
- Battle of Suoi Chau Pha 1967
All 54 battles of the Vietnam War →
Browse more: battles in Vietnam · Asia · Post-1945 battles