Kim Bayly: Centurions at Long Khanh
Posted on: Mon 13 Sep 2021
National Service Conscription in 1970 didn’t really phase young Kim Bayly. He’d served in Army Cadets at school. His father had served in WWII in the Middle East and Burma. But what did the youthful Kim know beforehand about Vietnam, the country he arrived in just a year after being drawn into the Australian Army to serve with C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment? Kim tells us about his experiences, including during the battle of Long Khanh. The Centurion Tank that Kim was in during that battle is now on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Image: South Vietnam. June 1971. A Centurion tank of C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment, moving through the jungle. The Squadron supported soldiers of 3rd and 4th Battalions, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR and 4RAR), in Operation Overlord on the border of Phuoc Tuy and Long Khanh Provinces, to the north of the 1st Australian Task Force Base (1ATF) at Nui Dat. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C326104
