Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral during the Vietnam War;

(b) on 12 May 1968 two battalions, 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) and 3rd Battalion RAR with Attachments, were deployed as the 1st Australian Task Force (Forward) to Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, approximately 20 kilometres north of Biên Hòa City, and were involved in a series of actions until 6 June 1968; and

(c) the series of battles were incredibly fierce and costly, claiming the lives of 26 Anzacs, with up to 100 wounded and an estimated 300 North Vietnamese combatants killed during the almost one month of fighting;

(2) acknowledges all of the units and elements that comprised the 1st Australian Task Force (Forward) that deployed to Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral;

(3) notes that:

(a) the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal recently wrote to the Minister for Defence Personnel recommending: '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 and 6 June 1968.';

(b) on 13 May 2018 the Minister for Veterans' Affairs announced that the Governor-General had approved the awarding of the Unit Citation for Gallantry to the 1st Australian Task Force (Forward) group and all those associated units who participated in that battle;

(c) this announcement had been long awaited and much anticipated;

(d) on this day, the 50th anniversary of the commencement of fighting, the Commanding Officer of the 3rd RAR during the battle, Brigadier Jeffrey James 'JJ' Shelton DSO MC passed away while watching the ceremony from his hospital bed;

(e) 'Jim' Shelton, who had been unwell for some time, closed his eyes and passed away peacefully at 92 years of age; and

(f) the RAR Association noted that Brigadier Shelton will be remembered by those who knew him and those who served with him as a true gentleman and a soldier's soldier;

(4) remembers those who lost their lives serving our country and all who came home wounded, or bearing the hidden scars of war; and

(5) recognises those who returned to life in Australia, that their journey from battlefield to towns and suburbs can be a difficult one and we must continue to support those who served and the people who love and care for them.

I thank the member for Solomon for promoting this very important motion. Today, in this place we honour Australia's Vietnam veterans and their involvement on the battlefield in Vietnam, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral.

I am proud to represent Townsville, a garrison city and a city that hosted and honoured 250 1RAR veterans, many of whom were at the Battle of Coral and Balmoral, as we came together to pay our respect for their sacrifices. We commenced the formal commemorations with a mayoral reception held at the Jezzine precinct on the Strand on 15 May. The attending veterans were also awarded their unit's citation for gallantry, for extraordinary gallantry in action at the battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral.

On the morning of 16 May, I attended the ceremonial parade at Lavarack Barracks, where the Governor-General presented the new colours to 1RAR. This was an outstanding parade delivered with precision and skill. On the evening of the 16th, I attended the 1RAR regimental dinner, where nine previous 1RAR commanding officers were in attendance, including the Governor-General, General Cosgrove, and retired General John Caligari and his father, who both commanded 1RAR and are both now local veterans. Finally, on 17 May, I attended the very emotional memorial service where the Vietnam veterans marched proudly along the Strand to the Townsville Cenotaph, where wreaths were laid in respect of the sacrifices made by the soldiers. This was a very different scenario to what these soldiers endured when they returned home from Vietnam.

We remembered the Australian combat units that were engaged in the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1973 in response to a request for support from the Republic of Vietnam to the United States and its allies. We know the stories of the Vietnam War and the infamous song I Was Only Nineteen, depicting the effects of the war and Agent Orange, but few know the details regarding these particular battles and their significance. The Battle of Coral and Balmoral took place between May and June 1968. Over the 25 days of fighting, this was one of the largest and most protracted battles fought by Australians during the course of the Vietnam War. The battles involved almost 3,000 men, and this was the first Australian all arms brigade-sized operation since World War II. The 1st and 3rd battalions Royal Australian Regiment, 102nd Field Battery Royal Australian Artillery, 161 Field Battery New Zealand deployed to FSB Coral on 12 May 1968. During the mini-Tet offensive mounted by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in May 1968, the Australian task force was deployed to an area 20 kilometres north of Bien Hoa to intercept and disrupt enemy forces withdrawing from the capital, Saigon, and the Bien Hoa Long Binh base complex. Several fire support bases were established to defend firing points for artillery and mortars, which covered foot patrols sent out by the battalions.

One of these fire support bases was dubbed 'Coral'. It was situated seven kilometres north of the town of Tan Uyen. The 1st and 3rd battalions, RAR began preparing defensive positions, but these were incomplete when a North Vietnamese regiment attacked the base during the early hours of 13 May. The North Vietnamese, having penetrated the artillery positions and briefly forcing the defenders to abandon one of their guns, were forced back after heavy fighting. Coral came under attack for a second time at 2.15 am on 16 May when an estimated three battalions of North Vietnamese infantry assaulted the base, which was defended by armoured personnel carriers of A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, as well as 1RAR's infantry. Fighting lasted several hours before the attackers were forced to withdraw. Further attacks on Coral followed on 22 May and again on 26 and 28 May, but the base was not seriously threatened again. Having had the opportunity to establish a strong, defensive perimeter, the Australians were able to launch their own attacks against the North Vietnamese, and did so on 26 May with infantry and tanks, destroying a North Vietnamese bunker system that had been discovered in the vicinity. The Australians continued to launch aggressive patrols from Coral, engaging in combat against the North Vietnamese forces and experiencing some fierce actions until the end of May.

At this time, we pay tribute to all Vietnam veterans. We recognise their service to our country.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I thank the member for Herbert for that fantastic speech. She has the great honour, as she has just articulated, of being in Townsville, where the 1st and 3rd battalions are both homed. It would have been fantastic to be part of those 50th anniversary commemorations. The battles of fire support bases Coral and Balmoral during the Vietnam War were a very big deal, and it's fitting that this year, being their 50th anniversary, we look back to when those two battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment and attachments were deployed forward as the 1st Australian Task Force to just north of Bien Hoa city. In May and June 1968 there were a series of incredibly fierce and costly battles that claimed the lives of 26 Anzacs, with up to 100 wounded, and an estimated 300 North Vietnamese combatants killed during that period of fighting. There's a long list of the attachments to the battalions as part of the task force, and I acknowledge everyone who was there as part of those battles.

On 13 May 2018, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs announced that the Governor-General, himself a former commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, was awarding the unit citation for gallantry to the 1st Australian Task Force forward group and everyone associated in that battle. That announcement has been long awaited and much anticipated. In fact, on 13 May, the 50th anniversary of the commencement of fighting, which was also Mother's Day here, that the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment during the battle, Brigadier Jeffery James 'JJ' Shelton DSO, MC, passed away while watching the ceremony from his hospital bed. Jim Shelton had been unwell for some time, but he closed his eyes and passed away peacefully, knowing that his old battalion had been recognised for its gallantry in that battle. It is extraordinary.

Brigadier Shelton was the commanding officer, but battles are fought by soldiers, and one of Jim's soldiers was Brian Cleaver, a nasho who had been reinforced to the 3rd Battalion. On 26 May, 20-year-old Brian Cleaver, just living his life in Australia, got caught up in the ballot, as my father did, and headed over to Vietnam to serve his country. At the Battle of Coral-Balmoral, this young 20-year-old Australian was in the thick of it. He described the battle as numbing. It was either kill or be killed. The fighting was so intense that the machine-gun barrels ran red-hot through the night and the Aussie diggers were forced to urinate on the machine guns to cool them down because they were under such fierce attack. When the smoke cleared in the dawn light, in front of Brian Cleaver's pit and with him and around him four of his mates lay dead, and 42 North Vietnamese soldiers lay dead in front of their pits. These young Vietnamese men were bulldozed into a mass grave in a large bomb crater. Brian Cleaver, all this time later, suffering from post-traumatic stress from his experience as a young man in Vietnam, went back to try and find those men buried in that mass grave, because he knew that the strong tradition of the Vietnamese is to find the remains and bring them home to be buried properly. So I just want to acknowledge Brian and his work, which has been captured by the award-winning Australian filmmaker David Bradbury. I want to acknowledge all those who serve our country, and I hope that we as a parliament can recommit to always making sure that we support our veterans.

Debate adjourned.