11/05/2026
The 12th of May, marks the 58th year since the Battle to Fire Bases, Coral and Balmoral.
While setting up Fire Support Base Coral, the troops realised that they were under supplied; intelligence received had been incorrect. 1RAR Motar Platoon position was over-run by North Vietnamese Forces, so too was 102 Field Battery's six 105 mm M2A2 howitzers in Coral.
As the night passed into day, 28 Australians were wounded and 11 were killed. By the 14th May, another three Australians had perished. On the 16th of May after four hours of fighting another five Australian soldiers had died and 19 were wounded.
Almost 3000 Australian personnel took part in this intense 26 day battle that would involve Fires Bases Coral and Balmoral. In total 26 Australian personnel had lost their lives and over 100 had been wounded.
Despite initially having equipment shortages, and having gaps in the front line defences, Australia held its ground and the perimeter remained strong. The carnage for both sides was a heavy burden to bear. It was estimated that the North Vietnamese, including the Viet Cong lost 276 people, 9 were wounded and 11 were captured, however witnesses in the battle have mentioned that those figures were possibly higher.
Battles that we remember, remind us that the cost of war falls short of the emotional cost of loss, grieving and suffering. Almost 3000 families of Australian soldiers had to endure the indignity of public opinion thrown at their husbands, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and cousins over the participation in the Vietnam War.
Over 3000 Veterans had to endure the wrath of not being welcomed home, of not being welcomed into the RSL community in the earliest stages. These brave soldiers were left to carry the burden lain at their feet; for newsreels made the world a witness, in their living rooms, to what na**lm could inflict. It was harrowing; so too was what human nature could once again inflict on each other.
It was a time where warfare changed, in the jungles of Vietnam it was difficult to identify who was friend and who was foe. It was a time when there were not always uniforms to identify a soldier to a civilian, a civilain to the enemy. Today, the hardware has improved, but identifying who is who in wars is still blurred.
It would be later that the public learned about Australian battles of Coral / Balmoral, of Long Tan, of Operation Marauder, of the Tet Offensive, and Operation Coburg, to name a few, and they could be proud of the contributions to obtaining peace for the Southern Vietnamese people.
We take this opportunity to say Lest We Forget to those that died in the pursuit for peace, and all those that served, those that were conscripted, and those that volunteered to join the services of the time.
May 1968.
All images belong to original owners, the Australian War Memorial and the Archives of SA.
