The 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) was a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally established in 1965 it would serve two tours of South Vietnam before it was linked with the 7th Battalion to form the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in 1973. In late 2006 the two units were de-linked, and 5 RAR again joined the Australian Army's order of battle in its own right. It has since served in Iraq, East Timor and Afghanistan. The battalion was re-merged with the 7th Battalion to reform the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in 2024.
History Formation The 5th Battalion was formed at Holsworthy Barracks, New South Wales on 1 March 1965. According to historian Robert O'Neill, since both 5 RAR and 6 RAR were the first battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment 'to be composed of a mixture of regulars and national servicemen, their formation and development was a particularly vital experiment for this was to be the model for the infantry battalions of the Army from then onwards'.O'Neill 1968, p. 18.
This was a time of expanding commitments for the Australian Army: an infantry battalion serving on rotation in Malaysia since 1955; a training team deployed to South Vietnam since 1962, followed by the deployment of the 1st Battalion in 1965 and then the 1st Australian Task Force from 1966 to 1972; and a battalion commitment to Borneo from 1964 to 1966. To meet the challenges of these commitments, the Army needed to expand from four to nine battalions. In 1965, the 1st Battalion, organised on the Pentropic establishment (in theory some 1,300 men) was split to provide a cadre of regulars to the new 5th Battalion, whilst conscripts were used to bring the unit up to strength. When the battalion held its inauguration parade on 5 November 1965, some 250 conscripts from the first national service intake were present amongst the ranks. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were drawn on in a similar fashion to raise the 6th and 7th Battalions, respectively.O'Neill 1968, p. 18; Horner 2008, pp. 147–156.
Lieutenant Colonel P. H. Oxley was the first Commanding Officer, but when he was promoted colonel in September 1965 command passed to Lieutenant Colonel J. A. Warr. This was a challenging time for the new unit. According to O'Neill: "The First Battalion was in the final stages of its preparations for departure to Vietnam, and so the Fifth came in for more than its usual share of routine chores and administrative duties. In order to foster high spirit in the new battalion, the idea of becoming known as the 'Tiger Battalion' was introduced and this spread rapidly and spontaneously amongst its members. From that time on Fifth Battalion were the Tiger Battalion, from the gold of their lanyards to the tiger tails tied onto the kitbags leaving for Vietnam in April 1966."O'Neill 1968, p. 18
First tour of Vietnam Early in 1966 the battalion learnt that it was to serve in South Vietnam as one of two infantry battalions in the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF). As it was given only three months notice for its deployment, the training schedule prior to embarkation was hectic. 'Range practices began in the dawn hours and often went until 2200 hours. Nights and weekends were spent training in night movement and conducting lectures on Vietnamese customs, history, culture and language'. Each company trained at Gospers, in the Wiangaree State Forest in New South Wales, as well as at Canungra, Queensland. In March 1966 the battalion emplaned at Aero Paddock at Holsworthy and moved to Gospers for its final exercise, which included advances to contact, night movement, and defensive operations. After this C Company would deploy to South Vietnam on , whilst the remainder of the battalion flew by air.5 RAR, Standing Orders; 'History', 2008; O'Neill 1968, pp. 21–23.
Upon arrival in South Vietnam the battalion, under Warr's command, commenced operations on 24 May 1966 by participating in the clearance of the 1 ATF base at Nui Dat in Operation Hardihood. For this operation the battalion was under the command of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade and worked alongside two American parachute battalions to clear the area out to mortar range, so that the base could be established. It was on this operation that the battalion's first soldier, Private Errol Noack, a 21-year-old from Adelaide, South Australia, was killed. Noack was critically wounded by friendly fire during a water resupply and died of his wounds at 36th Evacuation Hospital on 24 May 1966, sixteen days after he said farewell to his family. He was also the first National Serviceman to be killed in Vietnam.5th Battalion Association, 'Honour Roll', www.5rar.asn.au/honour_roll/noack.htm, accessed 25 December 2008
Other activities followed: such as the reclamation of Bình Ba (Operation Holsworthy, 7 to 18 August 1966) – a village that would figure prominently during the battalion's second tour; clearance operations following the 6RAR's action at Long Tan (Operation Darlinghurst, 26 to 31 August 1966); clearance of the Nui Thi Vai feature to secure Route 15 (Operation Canberra, 6 to 10 October 1966); operations against the village cadres (such as Operation Beaumaris, 13 to 14 February 1967); and searches of the Vietcong (VC) base areas in the Long Hải Hills (Operation Renmark, 18 – 22 February 1967).5th Battalion Association, 'Operations conducted by 5 RAR 1966–67', www.5rar.asn.au/ops/opslist1.htm, accessed 25 December 2008. Note: This web article acknowledges that it draws heavily on O'Neill's book Vietnam Task.
Attempting to restore the control of the South Vietnamese Government to the areas of population which had been cut off by the VC, who controlled many of the villages and the supply routes between the towns, was a key focus for the battalion. It therefore attempted to drive out the village cadres and VC through cordon and search operations, numerous successful ambushes, and by establishing a good local intelligence network – largely through close relations with the senior members of each village. Many of the villagers did not support the VC due to the heavy taxes they levied, the manner in which they restricted civilian travel to the various markets for trade and because they conscripted those of military age. As the battalion did not have the manpower to patrol the areas in the north of the province in search of regular VC units, they chose to concentrate on the villages in an attempt to destroy the VC power base. This resulted in cordon and search operations of Duc My, Binh Ba, Ngai Giao, Phuoc Hoa, Xuyen Moc and on Long Sơn Island. These operations were largely successful and the techniques developed in their execution were to be accepted and used throughout the Australian Army.
Another sign of the innovations used by the battalion was the raising, in October 1966, of the first specialist Reconnaissance Platoon to be used in Vietnam. 'Prior to the arrival of 5 RAR only 24,775 of the inhabitants of Phuoc Tuy Province were under South Vietnamese Government control in 24 hamlets. However, by April 1967, 98,408 villagers were under Government control in 105 hamlets. 5 RAR killed 70 Viet Cong... Many hundreds more Viet Cong were captured either in conventional operations or during cordon and search operations. However, the important statistics of the battalion's tour remain the number of Vietnamese people who supported the Vietnamese Government and the degree of Government control established by 5 RAR during their first tour of Vietnam. 5 RAR had laid a sturdy platform for future battalions due to their innovative use of tactics, hard training, the professionalism with which they carried out their tasks and the subsequent respect won from the Vietnamese people'.
In total the 5th Battalion conducted eighteen separate operations before it handed responsibility over to 7th Battalion. The battalion returned to Australia in April 1967 and marched through the streets of Sydney on 16 May 1967; 25 men were killed in action or died of wounds, while 79 were wounded in action.
Second tour of Vietnam The 5th Battalion commenced its second tour of South Vietnam in February 1969, this time under the command of Lieutenant Colonel C.N. Khan. After shaking out for two weeks, the battalion began a reconnaissance in force in the northern and eastern parts of the rugged Nui Dinh mountain complex on 1 March 1969 – Operations Quintus Thrust I and II. Other activities followed: reacting to a significant threat against US forces in the Long Binh and Bien Hoa areas (Operations Federal and Overlander, 10 March to 8 April 1969); ambushing in the Nui Thi Vai mountain complex (Operation Twickenham I, 2 to 13 May 1969); the Battle of Binh Ba, for which the Royal Australian Regiment received a battle honour for its action against a battalion of the PAVN 33rd Regiment (Operation Hammer, 6 to 8 June 1969); operations to locate and destroy the VC D445 Battalion (Operation Kingston, 14 September to 15 October 1969); and cordon and searches of the hamlets of Duc Trung, Binh Ba and Duc My (Operations Bondi I and II, 27 December to 16 February 1970).5th Battalion Association, 'Operations conducted by 5 RAR 1969–70', www.5rar.asn.au/ops/opslist1.htm, accessed 25 Dec 08. Note: This web article acknowledges that it draws heavily on The Year of the Tigers, the Battalion's year book for its second tour which was edited by M.R. Battle.
'During the second tour the emphasis [of operations] turned more towards route denial and conventional operations involving seeking out and closing with the guerilla and Main Force units such as D445 Battalion and 274 Regiment. Ambush and reconnaissance tasks were also conducted at platoon and company level. Attacks and the clearance of bunker systems played a major part of operations... The tour [also] saw the extensive use of Australian and United States M113 APCs in support of tasks... Towards the end of the tour, elements of the battalion also contributed to the pacification process through the construction of schools and housing and through the provision of medical and dental support to such villages as Ong Trinh and Phuoc Le'. Operations were also characterised by a higher number of mine incidents than had been experienced previously. 'The majority of the mines were taken by the VC from a barrier minefield laid by the Australians between the Horseshoe and Phước Hải. The enemy used these mines offensively rather than using them to protect their bases. The VC would lay the mines on tracks, in likely ambush and harbour locations, and around houses and villages. During Operations Esso I, II and III in June and July 1969, special precautions were taken to counter the problem of mines. Special training was conducted, all vehicle floors were sandbagged, flak jackets and helmets worn whenever possible, and mine detectors used by all patrols. Despite these precautions, seven soldiers were killed and 43 were wounded by mines on these operations alone'.