A Brief History
On May 12, 1968, the Australian Army in Viet Nam fought probably their largest engagement of the war (for the Australians), underlining the fact that not only the United States was involved in the effort to keep South Viet Nam independent.
Digging Deeper
The Battle of Coral-Balmoral as it was known was fought between about 3000 Australian troops (2 regiments plus a couple squadrons of armor), including some armed with Centurion tanks, and over 4000 North Vietnamese Army regulars and Viet Cong guerillas (2 regiments of regulars). Australian forces included smaller numbers of New Zealanders, another often overlooked American ally.
The situation in May of 1968 in Viet Nam was renewed fighting after the crushing defeat of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong during the Tet offensive, a large scale surprise attack that violated a truce for the Chinese (Oriental) New Year. Communist attacks against Saigon had been repelled and the Australians were assigned blocking positions at Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral to prevent the escape of communist troops or their reinforcement. The Australians were first attacked at FSB Coral, and when that fighting slackened redeployed their troops to FSB Balmoral where fighting continued.
Fierce combat resulted in 25 Australians killed and 99 wounded, while New Zealanders and Americans suffered 5 wounded apiece. Communist casualties were much higher, with at least 267 killed, 7 wounded, and 11 captured, although the wounded number was probably much higher. Despite what appears to be disproportionate losses, the engagement was actually closer to a communist victory than casualty numbers would imply.

Communist forces were discouraged from further attacks on Saigon after 26 days of fighting, and the battle weary Aussies were finally relieved by American troops. Poor coordination of helicopter deployment of Australian troops nearly cost the battle, and subsequent to the action the Australians refined their tactics from the lessons learned. Coral-Balmoral was the first large scale battle between Australian and NVA regulars of regimental size during the war, and both sides fought fiercely and with courage. Australia had suffered 500 killed and 3129 wounded during their involvement with the War in Viet Nam, more than any ally of South Viet Nam other than the United States (58,000+ killed) and South Korea (5099 killed). Other allies of South Viet Nam and the United States that fought in Viet Nam included Thailand, New Zealand, and The Philippines, but of course, it was for naught as the North Viet Nam Army eventually rolled into Saigon and united the country by force under communist rule.
Question for students (and subscribers): Was Viet Nam worth fighting for by Australia and the other countries allied with South Viet Nam? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below this article.

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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Edwards, Peter. Australia and the Vietnam War. University of New South Wales Press, 2014.