Battle at Ngok Tavak: A bloody defeat in South Vietnam, 1968

AUSTRALIAN MILITARY Vietnam War

This is the story of the three Australians, members of AATTV, who commanded and led a company of Nungs in the western jungle of Vietnam near Laos to report on the 2nd NVA Division. After joining forces with an American Marine artillery detachment they were attacked by the North Vietnamese in what was to become a bloody battle for both sides.

In 1968, in the western jungle of Vietnam near Laos, a Special Forces Company, under the command of an Australian Army Captain, supported by a Marine artillery detachment, occupied an old French fort, on a hill known as Ngok Tavak.

The circumstances of the battle that ensued, and the subsequent retreat from Ngok Tavak, left in their wake issues that cried out for resolution for decades after the event. A number of American bodies were left where they had fallen during the battle, and another American, the nephew of Katharine Hepburn, went missing.

After speaking extensively to the battle survivors and loved ones of the American warriors, and searching through accounts from official reports that included Vietnamese documents, eyewitness statements and war diaries, Bruce Davies has pieced together the evidence that will bring resolution to the questions that still haunt many of those connected to the battle.

A story that needed to be told for the veterans who survived and for those who did not, for their families and for the sake of history.’ Lieutenant Colonel Brian Cooper (Retd), Australian Infantry, South Vietnam 1971-72

• xx, 242 p., [8] p. of plates : ill., maps, ports. ; 21 cm.
• Bibliography: p. 232-235.
• #150524 First Edition
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• Vietnam War, 1961-1975 — Participation, American
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• Ngok Tavak (Vietnam) — History
• (Name on prelim) SCARCE