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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-06-06 Daily Xml
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Motions

Battle of Coral-Balmoral

The Hon. T.T. NGO (16:54): I move:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Coral-Balmoral, which was fought between 12 May and 6 June 1968;

2. Recognises the bravery of those 3,000 Australian soldiers involved in the battles at Coral-Balmoral, and pays its respects to the 26 men who lost their lives and the more than 100 injured;

3. Commends the commonwealth government for officially recognising the gallantry of 3,000 Australian soldiers who fought at the Battle of Coral-Balmoral by awarding them a Unit Citation for Gallantry; and

4. Pays special tribute to the mothers of these fallen Australian soldiers, particularly those of the 11 men who died on the first night of the battle, which happened to be Mother’s Day.

I rise to move this motion which provides an opportunity for this parliament to recognise the sacrifices that Australian soldiers made fighting to defend fire support bases at Coral-Balmoral, 40 kilometres north-east of Saigon, during the Vietnam War between 12 May and 6 June 1968. It is particularly timely as this year marks the 50th anniversary of this battle, and the first part of my motion asks this council to acknowledge that fact.

The Battle of Coral-Balmoral saw the North Vietnamese launch attacks on fire support patrol bases Coral-Balmoral in order to improve their position for a future attack on Saigon. However, they were successfully repelled by Australian armed forces through conventional warfare.

Fire support bases are temporary military encampments that provide artillery fire support to infantry operating in areas beyond the normal range of fire support from their own base camps. This activity was undertaken in the midst of what had been a heavy offensive by the North Vietnamese. What is known as the Tet Offensive began on 31 January 1968, with up to 100,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops simultaneously assaulting population centres and allied stations across South Vietnam in an attempt to incite a general uprising against the South Vietnamese government and its American supporters.

The general uprisings never eventuated and in late February the communist offensive collapsed after suffering more than 45,000 killed against the South Vietnamese and allied losses of about 6,000 men. Although the Tet Offensive had been a tactical disaster on the ground for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, the Hanoi administration emerged with a significant political victory as confidence in the American military and political leadership collapsed within South Vietnam.

There was also mounting pressure on the then US president Lyndon B. Johnson to end the war and bring the troops home. Opposition within his own Democratic Party was being led by the charismatic senator Bobby Kennedy, who was expected to challenge president Johnson for the Democratic nomination for the upcoming presidential election. The sentiment was similar in Australia, with anti-war protesters mounting pressure on the government. Then prime minister Gorton unexpectedly declared that Australia would not increase its military commitment in Vietnam beyond the then current level of 8,000 personnel.

Despite the losses of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive, the defence minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, General Vo Nguyen Giap, moved quickly to replace these losses with reinforcements. By early May, 15,000 North Vietnamese soldiers were serving in the Viet Cong units in South Vietnam. This led to North Vietnam's May Offensive, which was their attempt to gain an advantage in the war before the first session of peace negotiations, which were scheduled to begin in Paris on 13 May.

The North Vietnamese successfully infiltrated Saigon in an event that received widespread international media coverage and resulted in considerable embarrassment for the Americans and the allies, including Australia. As many as five of the 13 attacking Viet Cong battalions penetrated the city's outer defences, plunging the capital into chaos and resulting in heavy civilian casualties.

Eventually, by 12 May, the North Vietnamese were forced to withdraw from Saigon and its outer reaches. They suffered more than 5,500 dead in just over one week of fighting. The US casualties were also heavy, amounting to 652 killed and 2,225 wounded. It was the most costly week of the war for the Americans.

This prelude helps explain the reason Australian forces were then tasked, in the aftermath of the North Vietnamese withdrawal from Saigon, to set up fire support bases. These bases, established outside the regular perimeter of established bases for the Allies, were used to further drive the North Vietnamese towards the north and further away from Saigon. The Australian infantry set up its first fire support base, which they named Coral. It was the first of the two bases to come under attack on 12 May. I will speak more about the significance of that particular night later on in my contribution.

The second base was named Balmoral by the Australians, and it would first come under attack on 24 May. These bases were only 40 kilometres north-east of Saigon. At the beginning of the conflict at Coral–Balmoral, the Australians were unaware of the level of numbers that the North Vietnamese still had in the area. Intelligence had advised them that the North Vietnamese were slowly filtering back up north in a defeatist attitude after being pushed back further out of Saigon. The reality was that the battle of Coral–Balmoral saw 3,000 Australian soldiers fight valiantly, outnumbered by up to 4,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers. A total of 26 Australian men would lose their lives, with more than 100 men being wounded through the fighting.

The second part of my motion asks this council to recognise the bravery of these men who fought in some of the most hazardous conditions an Australian soldier had faced since World War II. For the first time since World War II, this battle saw artillery being fired at point-blank range using splintex rounds and centurion tanks that were engaged in action.

The operation finally concluded on 6 June, with the North Vietnamese defeated and demoralised. During the 26 days of fighting, the Australians had inflicted punishing losses on the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, which forced the North Vietnamese to postpone a further attack on Saigon. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong casualties included 267 killed, seven wounded and 11 captured, while Australian losses were 26 killed and more than 100 wounded. Whilst this was an amazing military victory for the Australians, the achievement was still buried below the deep resentment many Australians had about war.

I would like to take this opportunity to share the story of Mr Robin Carbins. Mr Carbins was one of the Australian soldiers whose experience was reported in The Advertiser recently. In that report he stated:

Most people know about Long Tan…which was short, sharp and shiny battle over about five hours but this went on for a month and was far bigger than anything else…we lost more people at Coral-Balmoral than any other engagement.

The most amazing aspect of Mr Carbins' involvement is that he never fired a shot. However, he would be involved in a lot of fighting, including from artillery from his own Australian guns.

On 11 May, Mr Carbins was part of B Company of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) and flew in to give perimeter defence support during the establishment of the Coral base. They were told they were surplus to requirements and to clear the area. The company set up their own camp about a mile away. Mr Carbins recalled, 'That night all hell broke loose at Coral.'

An artillery gun was overrun by the Viet Cong who intended to turn it on the Australian troops. This gun was recovered by fierce hand-to-hand fighting. The following night, Coral was attacked again with more loss of life. On his 23rd birthday, which was 23 May 1968, Mr Carbins was flown into Balmoral, the next in the string of fire support bases that were still under construction. The next morning it came under heavy attack. Mr Carbins noted jokingly, 'I was in the right place at the right time every time during Coral-Balmoral, which hasn't been true for all my life.' Mr Carbins, a resident of Andrews Farm in South Australia, has a truly special story which until recently had not received the recognition it deserved.

When Australians think of the battles fought during the Vietnam War, most would mention the Battle of Long Tan. The Battle of Coral-Balmoral has never received the same amount of recognition until recently. In 1968, the Vietnam War was on the nose with the Australian public, and returned soldiers believed that the information that made it back to Australia was that there had been light casualties and that Coral-Balmoral was 'no big deal'. In fact, the Australian War Memorial describes the 26 days of intermittent fighting at Coral and Balmoral as Australia's 'largest, most sustained and arguably most hazardous battle of the Vietnam War'. It was Australia's largest battle since World War II.

Many returned soldiers from the Battle of Coral-Balmoral have fought for recognition since their return to Australia. Officially, it has been a 27-year battle for recognition as veterans first made an application for recognition to the federal government in 1991. A group of veterans had been fighting for many years for this recognition. Mr Alan 'Jack' Parr, 70 years old, one of the returned soldiers, led that fight. Mr Parr's first submission for a Unit Citation for Gallantry was knocked back by Defence's Directorate of Honours and Awards. Mr Parr then appealed to the Minister for Defence Personnel, the Hon. Dan Tehan, who then instigated an inquiry that was completed by the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. The Unit Citation for Gallantry is a collective group decoration awarded to members of Australian military units. It recognises extraordinary gallantry in action.

In 2017, the Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal inquired into unit recognition for the Battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral. The tribunal released the report of the inquiry into unit recognition for service at the Battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral on 3 April 2018. The report made five recommendations, which were supported by Defence and the Minister for Defence Personnel. Of these five recommendations, it is particularly important to note the first three, which were:

Recommendation 1: To recognise all participants in the battles, the Tribunal recommends that the 1st Australian Task Force (Forward) be awarded the Unit Citation for Gallantry for extraordinary gallantry in action at the Battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, between 12 May 1968 and 6 June 1968.

Recommendation 2: The Tribunal recommends that no minimum period of service with the 1st Australian Task Force (Forward) in AO SURFERS between the dates 12 May 1968 and 6 June 1968 be imposed as eligibility criteria for individual entitlement to wear this award.

Recommendation 3: To capture the legacy of the gallantry displayed by participants in the battles, the Tribunal recommends that the following Australian units substantively deployed to AO SURFERS between 12 May 1968 and 6 June 1968 be awarded the Unit Citation for Gallantry for extraordinary gallantry in action at the Battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral:

1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment

3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment

A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment

C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment

12th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery

1st Field Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers

The recommendations were subsequently accepted by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove. Part 3 of my motion is to congratulate the commonwealth government on this initiative, which is certainly long overdue. Veterans of eligible units for the Unit Citation for Gallantry are encouraged to apply directly to the Department of Defence. Members of the units who flew missions in direct support of the battles or who were forward deployed to the fire support bases are also entitled to wear a citation insignia, including No. 9 Squadron RAA161 Reconnaissance Flight and 161 Reconnaissance Flight. Family members of deceased veterans are also encouraged to apply for the insignia.

The fourth and final part of my motion asks that the Legislative Council pays special tribute to the mothers of the fallen Australian soldiers at Coral-Balmoral, particularly those of the 11 men who died on the first night of the battle, which happened to start on the night of Mother's Day, 12 May 1968. Three South Australians were amongst the fallen, and these were Sergeant Peter Lewis and Private Alan Cooper, both Regular Army, and Private William Thomas, a conscripted National Serviceman.

I can only imagine the horror and grief that those mothers have felt over the years, and I am sure that the arrival of Mother's Day each and every year has only brought on more of those negative feelings and emotions. It is for this reason that I believe the mothers of our fallen soldiers at Coral-Balmoral deserve special recognition from this house of parliament.

In my first speech in this parliament I paid tribute to all Australian service personnel who served during the Vietnam War, in which 521 Australians, including 58 South Australians, paid the ultimate sacrifice. I use this opportunity once again to say thank you to all Vietnam veterans and their families, especially those who lost their sons. Thank you for your courage and sacrifice and thank you for everything that you did.

I complete my contribution by thanking the Governor the Hon. Hieu Van Le for the anniversary event for this battle that he held on 11 May at Government House. I note that the Premier attended and has also spoken to the other place about this very significant event in Australia's and South Australia's history. With that, I commend this motion to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.

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