CLAIRE HUNTER OF THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL TELLS OF A LITTLE- KNOWN BUT SIGNIFICANT BATTLE INVOLVING AUSTRALIAN CENTURION TANKS AND INFANTRY IN VIETNAM DURING 1969.
Second Lieutenant Brian Sullivan was lucky. With his head and upper body exposed above the cupola of his tank, he was directing the movement of his troop and talking to an armoured personnel carrier commander, when an RPG was fired point-blank at them both. When Sullivan saw the smoke trail of the projectile coming directly towards him, he called out, “Duck!” and threw himself forward just as it flew between them, cutting his shirt andgrazing his shoulder with its tail fin.
Brian had narrowly escaped death in what was one of the more significant actions fought by Australian troops during the Vietnam War – the battle of Binh Ba – which took place 50 years ago.
Before the battle, soldiers of the 1st Australian Task Force had fought mainly in open country or jungle settings, but this action took place in the village of Binh Ba, less than 6.5 miles (10km) from the Australian base in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, against a large, well-armed communist force.
Former head of military history at the Australian War Memorial, Ashley Ekins, rese…
