Combatant grief and military mourning: 6RAR in the aftermath of Long Tan, 1966–1969

Seventeen Australian soldiers were killed in the August 1966 Battle of Long Tan; another died days later. While the events of this landmark battle of the Vietnam War are well known, what is less clear is what happened in its aftermath – particularly from the perspective of the survivors and comrades of the battalion involved. This article considers the ways in which 6RAR personnel responded to, and made sense of, the deaths of their comrades in the years after the battle. It argues that 6RAR collectively formulated a multifaceted composure of sacrifice, duty, and victory, which inextricably bound the living to the dead. This composure was expressed through their reactions to the bodies of their (and enemy) dead, performative military and religious ritual, and the erection of a commemorative memorial – the Long Tan Cross – at the site of the battle. Examining 6RAR's articulation of combat grief provides emotional nuance to the history of the battle and offers significant new insights into the experience of Australian military mourning.