General News
25 April, 2023
War that drove a rift through a generation
The Vietnam War caused the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War. Many draft resisters, conscientious objectors and protesters were fined or jailed, while soldiers met a hostile...
The Vietnam War caused the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War.
Many draft resisters, conscientious objectors and protesters were fined or jailed, while soldiers met a hostile reception on their return home.
In April 1965 Prime Minister Robert Menzies had announced in parliament that Australia would send a battalion of combat troops to Vietnam.
The decision was motivated by a desire to strengthen strategic relations with the United States and to halt the spread of communism in South-East Asia.
From 1962 to 1973, more than 60,000 Australians served in the Vietnam War.
They were part of an allied force led by the United States.
Australians fought alongside South Vietnamese Government troops against the Viet Cong, a communist-led insurgent force supported by the North Vietnamese Army.
In 1964, the National Service Act had introduced a scheme of selective conscription in Australia, designed to create an army of 40,000 full-time soldiers.
Many were sent on active service to the war in Vietnam.
By the time Australia withdrew its forces almost eight years later, 521 Australian service personnel had died and more than 3000 had been wounded.