Special Fundraising Tour
Dave Sabben
Dave Sabben
In June 1966, I was the platoon commander of 12 Platoon, Delta Company, and 6 RAR. (Royal Australian Regiment) I was also one of hundreds of soldiers who moved into the rubber plantation at Nui Dat and started to set up the Task Force base (1 ATF) from scratch.
In the next eight weeks, we had an endless cycle of patrols, ambushes, digging, wiring and sentry duty, broken only by the monthly Company or Battalion operations. It was relentless.
By mid-August, every soldier at Nui Dat was exhausted – and the perimeter still wasn’t secure. And then came Long Tan – the enemy’s response to our arrival in their area. Their mission was to attack and destroy the base at Nui Dat.
Come with me to South Viet Nam – to Phuoc Tuy Province – to Nui Dat and Long Tan. I’ll explain on the ground what the enemy proposed and how one Company of Aussie soldiers, with superb support from artillery and with an ammo resupply from the RAAF, destroyed their plans and prevented a potential disaster for the new ANZAC base. We also see the the site of the infamous “minefield” and we’ll walk into the Long Hai hills, where we lost too many good men to our own mines used against us. so visit some of the charity projects such as the Baria Orphanage and The Nui Dat “Kindy “, aid projects initiated by your tour organisers, the AVVRG, and by your kind donations.
See you on the tour .....
