Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Mollison. Long Tan & Beyond: Alpha Company 6 RAR in Vietnam 1966-67.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Mollison. Long Tan & Beyond: Alpha Company 6 RAR in Vietnam 1966-67, 430 pages with more than 100 illustrations many in full colour, hbk $44.00, pbk $33.00, postage $8.00 anywhere in Australia for up to two books, Cobb's Crossing Publications PO Box 82, Woombye, Qld, 4559 phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] email: [e-mail]

This self-published book fits straight into the mould of 'vanity press', and like most self-published works could have done with a good editor and more conventional usage of source attribution such as footnotes or chapter endnotes. At 427 pages it is a lengthy tome that could probably have been written in a less verbose manner and saved a few trees at the same time. However, the book does have an index, which is a useful guide for those wanting to use the book as a source reference. The quality of the paper, printing and images are very good.

The author has had a difficult time getting his story into print having been excluded from a recent release entitled The Battle of Long Tan--As told by The Commanders to Bob Grandin (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2004). Charles Mollison's first attempt to tell his Alpha Company story did not pass critical review or examination by this reviewer (who had been tasked to edit that same manuscript by the commanders) as Mollison's views and accounts on certain aspects of the battle of Long Tan varied with the other contributors to the point of the ridiculous.

So it was with some trepidation that this reviewer undertook to review Long Tan and Beyond and it is hoped that any bias or prejudice has not managed to find its way into the review.

The style of the writing is uncomplicated with the exception that the author has included source details into the text, with the result that it clogs up the flow of the narrative. In the prologue are some personal views on why Australia came into the American war in Vietnam that are somewhat naive or poorly phrased, as senior historians both within and outside Australia would quickly point out. His rationale for the establishment of the AATTV is also off the mark.

The overuse of italics and bold print whilst relating events is a common failing of most self-published books, and the author has fallen into the trap of 'shouting' at the reader by using bold typeface when it is not required. A good copy editor would have made the tome less of a challenge for the non-military reader. The maps in some places are amateur and contain typographical errors that detract from their purpose.

Generalisations litter this account from throw away lines such as 'reconnaissance of the whole of South Vietnam ...' with no factual source to complement and account for who did any such 'recce', and when it was done, and in what report the results could be located.

Apart from the impression that the reviewer felt as if this book served nothing more than a vindication of why Mollison or any of his fellow officers in Alpha Company were not immediately decorated for their part in the battle (which did not warrant distinctive recognition), there was little to recommend this book to readers of military history. At worst it is flawed and at best it is inaccurate. To describe the Viet Cong D 445 Battalion as 'Regional Force' is misleading and inaccurate. It was a Provincial Mobile Force battalion. Regional Forces were the ARVN militia that also worked in the Australian area of operations.

However, the majority of the book survives close examination and it is really only Part Three of the book regarding the Battle of Long Tan that draws severe criticism.

Members of the APC troop and others in Delta Company, who this reviewer interviewed, seriously dispute some events about the relief force and the actions of the commander of Alpha Company. The author's version of events does nothing but muddy the waters. The OC of the APC troop has a totally different account of what occurred during the transit to the battlefield and who was doing what to whom. Unfortunately the author has taken some information from personal hindsight, and from other sources, and has it appear as 20-20 vision on the battlefield. For example he claims he knew how many men were missing from Delta Company on the night of 18 August when in fact the number was not known until very early the next morning on 19 August (approximately 0100 hours). There are other errors of fact that detract from the narrative, and other misleading statements on the conduct of the battle.

There are other statements that defy belief. The author claims he saw shrapnel coming towards him, and this, as most physicists would explain, is highly improbable given the speed with which even 'dead' shrapnel travels. It fails into the category that if you say something often enough, you will eventually believe it.

It must be understood that Alpha Company's part in the battle was not as dramatic as has been implied, nor was it Sergeant Frank Alcorta's premature dismounting short of the battle field that swung the tide of the battle. It was the APC troop with their .30 and .50 calibre machine guns, and the threat of the tracked 10-tonne vehicles crushing the enemy foot soldiers that changed the ultimate tide of battle. A peek at the after Alpha Company after action report (p. 379), written and signed by the author, will show the relatively miniscule number of small arms rounds that were fired by his company indicating a lack of infantry engagement.

Probably what was most disappointing of all in this easily read but disappointingly inaccurate account of some aspects of the battalion's tour of South Vietnam, is the inclusion of a highly inflammatory image of a skull with a bush hat upon it, that does nothing to enhance the reputation of the Australian soldier, and is an indictment on the author for a lack of professional judgement and sensitivity.

Gary McKay is a full time non-fiction writer and historian. He served for 30 years in the ARA and retired in 1998 as a lieutenant colonel. He was a rifle platoon commander in South Vietnam where he was seriously wounded and subsequently awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. He is the author of nine books (Allen & Unwin) on the Vietnam War and has been military reviewer for the Queensland Courier Mail newspaper.