Long Tan CrossPrint Page

A replica of the Long Tan Cross commemorates those from Macclesfield who served in the Vietnam War and those who gave their lives in the battle of Long Tan in 1966.

The Battle of Long Tan (18 August 1966) took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tan. Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.  The action was fought between Viet Cong (VC) and People`s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units and elements of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF). 

Eighteen Australians were killed in the Battle of Long Tan and 24 wounded, all but one of the dead were from D Company.

Note: The Long Tan Cross is a memorial which was erected by the 6th battalion, Royal Australian Regiment on 18 August 1969 to mark the site of the Battle of Long Tan, which was fought three years earlier during the Vietnam War. While the cross was removed following the Communist victory in 1975 and used to commemorate a priest, it was recovered by the Dong Nai Province Museum in 1984 and placed on display. A replica cross was also erected on the battlefield during the 1980s, and is frequently visited by Australian Vietnam War veterans.

Australia's military involvement in the Vietnam War began with the arrival of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) in South Vietnam during July and August 1962.  Australia's participation in the war was formally declared at an end when the Governor-General issued a proclamation on 11 January 1973.

However, the end-date of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War has officially been amended to 29 April 1975 to reflect Australia’s further involvement in the war during the fall of Saigon in 1975.  The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Australian War Memorial, in Canberra now recognise this new date.

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