Austraila's Involvment in the Vietnam War

Why did Australia become involved in the Vietnam War?

Australia first came involved in the Vietnam conflict in 1962 when the Australian Government sent a team of thirty army advisers to help train the South Vietnamese Army for its fight against the NLF guerrillas. At the same time a squadron of Royal Australian Air Force fighters were sent to nearby Thailand. While the alliance with the USA was becoming increasingly important, Australia still had strong ties with Britian. In January 1965, Australia sent an army of battalion to help Britain denfend newly independent Malaysia against border raids by Indonesia. Only three months later the Australian Prime Minister Menzies announced the commitment of another battalion to help the USA in South Vietnam.

To the surprise of its opponents, the Menzies Government announced in November 1964 that it was introducing military conscription. At the time, the major concern was Indonesia, but in 1965 that threat declined and the Australian Governement became increasingly concerned about Vietnam.

Menzies announcement of the descision to send an Australian battalion to Vietnam was made a federal parliament on 29 April 1965. Early in April the Australian Government had told the USA of its willingness to send troops. Menzies represented the decision as one that would make Australia more secure against the threat of communism by strengthening its alliance with the USA.

In 1965 the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) was stationed at Bien Hoa. a large US base near Saigon.

How did various groups respond to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War?

The late 1960s and early 1970s were times of change, when protest movements arose on a scale that had never been seen in Australia....

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Humiliated by its defeat in the Vietnam War, the USA offered no compensation for the massive damage done to the countries of Indochina. After Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979 to topple the Khmer Rouge communist regime, the USA led international moves to punish Vietnam economically for its occupation of Cambodia. Eventually, it was an initiative of the Keating Labor Government in Australia that helped bring peace to Cambodia.

The official figures for Australian casualties in the Vietnam War do not tell the full story of the problem of Australian Vietnam veterans. Australians serving in Vietnam were well aware that the war was becoming increasingly unpopular at home. Troops returning home did not receive the heroes' welcome given to Australian troops from pervious wars, abd many veterans also felt that the widespread protests against the war were attacks on them.