Service to remember Coral Base fighters

The service marked 45 years since the first flares were fired to signal the start of the assault that lasted 26 days and cost 25 Australian lives.

Some 109 Australians were wounded as they fought off a massive North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong attack.

RSL vice president Arthur Stanton said it would go down as the biggest and bloodiest conflict fought by Australians in Vietnam but described the Battle of FSB Coral as the forgotten battle from a forgotten war.

‘This is the first attempt to enlighten the community on the sacrifices made by Australian soldiers and some of the hardships that they endured,’ he said.

‘In reading some of the history of the Battle of Coral, it is evident that there were many acts of bravery including the decision of a unit commander to call in rocket fire on to his own mortar position, which helped stem the flood of enemy soldiers over-running the position.’