6 Battalion RAR [Long Tan] battle aftermath DPR/TV/427

This is the scene of the bloodiest and most decisive battle yet fought by Australian troops in Vietnam. And these are the men of "D" Company, 6th Battalion, who took the brunt of the action. Seventeen of their mates [were killed] in four-hour conflict, and 26 more were wounded. But the bodies of more than 250 Vietcong were left as a mute tribute to the fighting ability of Diggers. The Company's Sergeant Major, Jack Kirby of Windsor, Brisbane reads the men a message from the Prime Minister, Mr Harold Holt, on behalf of the people of Australia. "Our forces in this latest engagement have acquitted themselves with skilled effectiveness and high courage in the best Australian tradition. Please tell them Australia is proud of them. I have publicly expressed my sympathy to the bereived. My sympathy goes to the wounded. I send them best wishes and a complete recovery," it read. The strain of battle and sheer exhaustion marks the men's faces. Twenty-four hours before they had fought against staggering odds, and had not rested since. Armoured personnel carriers, which had joined Australian, New Zealand and American artillery batteries in beating back the Vietcong, are loaded with weapons and equipment taken from the enemy. the hundreds of captured weapons include light machine guns, automatic rifles, sub machine guns, anti-tank weapons and, in addition, thousands of rounds of ammunition. The carriers' hull doors are closed on the huge load, and the Viet Cong are deprived of valuable firepower. the carriers leave for home, and soon will be followed by the weary, saddened, but truimphant men of "D" Company, heading for a well-earned rest from the war.