Image above: Vision from the 1968 documentary: Australian Diggers in Vietnam War.
Primary sources – propaganda or necessary communication?
Australian Diggers in Vietnam: an original source
After
viewing the US focussed documentaries on the Vietnam War I thought it
was worth referring you to some documentaries developed (official -
funded by the Australian Government) to inform the Australian population
about what our troups were experiencing and doing in Vietnam. Although rather dry, as primary sources these videos give a real insight to the attitudes and events of the time.
Australian Diggers in Vietnam is a documentary made in 1968 for publicity purposes to give
insight into the Australian soldiers' experience. The film follows a group of
Australian soldiers transiting into Vietnam, onto helicopter and into a contact
with the VC, involving gunfire and capture of a Viet Cong fighter.
The narrator provides information about Australian and Viet Cong communications, tactics, supply lines, operational planning and other related matters. Other scenes include the gunners' command post, Army Air support, gun detachments firing, 20 pounder guns firing, river-bourne operations, troops tracking VC and wading through mud, creeks and moving through similar obstacles, use of APC's on the beach, inspecting villages for VC, detaining suspects for questioning.
This documentary covers the work of the units supporting the Australian
infantry battalions in Vietnam - showing 105mm Howitzers of the artillery;
Centurion tanks and M113 Armoured personnel carriers; Cessna fixed wing spotter
aircraft and Sioux observation helicopters marking targets; signallers using
various types of communications equipment in the field; the establishment of an
artillery Fire Support Base; Bushranger gunships of 9 Squadron RAAF in action
firing rockets and machine guns, the work of intelligence units; destruction of
Viet Cong tunnels by the engineers; re-supply of units in the field; tanks and
APCs supporting 5 RAR the battle of Binh Ba; a cordon and search of a
Vietnamese village; winning the hearts and minds through the Civic Aid program;
road building; repair of a bridge blown up by the Viet Cong.
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