Names
Guide to the Vietnam Collection
IDs
AWM00008
http://www.awm.gov.au/findingaids/special/Ephemera/vietnam.xml
Descriptions
The Vietnam Collection consists of a range of printed media associated with and produced during Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War between 1962 and 1972. The majority of the collection is material produced by Australia, America and the Vietnamese for distribution to their servicemen and civilians. The collection includes propaganda material, anti-war material, articles about the war, and souvenirs collected by servicemen. The collection consists of approximately 500 items, housed in 8 folders, 2 postcard folders, and 1 oversize box.
SERIES 1: Certificates. Description: This series contains certificates presented to individuals and military units for service and assistance. The collection consists of certificates produced by South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and America.; SERIES 2: Australian Leaflets. Description: This collection consists of leaflets produced in Australia during the Vietnam War. It contains material published by Australian military bodies for recruitment, anti-war material by various organisations and committees, leaflets against conscription, and those associated with or published by various moratorium campaigns. The collection also consists of material opposing the war by groups and public performance, in addition to anti-American leaflets.; SERIES 3: American leaflets. This series consists of material produced in America, and are mainly psychological warfare leaflets printed for the 246 Psychological Operations Company and the Joint US Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) for distribution throughout Vietnam. Many use illustrations or images to aid understanding, and a number are untranslated. The collection also consists of other American leaflets on the subject of conscription and remembrance.; SERIES 4: British leaflets. Description: This series contains leaflets and small posters produced in England during the Vietnam conflict. The material is anti-war and somewhat anti-American.; SERIES 5: Canadian leaflets. Description: This series consists of leaflets and small posters produced in Canada during the Vietnam War. The material is anti-war and calls for peace in Vietnam, and is somewhat anti-American.; SERIES 6: South Vietnamese leaflets. Description: This series consists of leaflets produced by the South Vietnamese government. The collection is divided into material addressing the Vietnamese and is untranslated, and those addressing allied servicemen and civilians.; SERIES 7: Communist leaflets. Description: This series consists of communist propaganda leaflets produced in Vietnam primarily addressed to allied servicemen. The collection consists of leaflets in Vietnamese, some with translations. Many of the english leaflets also have Vietnamese translations overleaf.; SERIES 8: OTHER LEAFLETS. Description: This series consists of a collection of copies and prints of Vietnamese leaftets.; SERIES 9: Australian Souvenirs. Description: This series consists of printed souvenirs produced both in Australia and Vietnam by Australians during the war and years later. The collection contains material of a memorial and commemorative nature, along with souvenirs from special functions and those relating to specific engagements during the war, in particular the battle of Long Tan. Leaflets abdicating activities for recreation are also represented, as are humour, poetry and verse.; SERIES 10: Souvenirs (other countries). Description: This series consists of souvenir material produced by America, North Vietnam, Thailand, and South Vietnam, collected during the Vietnam war. The collection includes such items as menus, reproductions of works of art, and tourist publications.; SERIES 11: Pamphlets. Description: This series consists of pamphlets produced in Australia, America, Great Britain, South Vietnam, and communist pamphlets. The collections consist of material addressing allied nations' involvement in the Vietnam war, information about individual incidents in Vietnam, and material about the Viet Cong. The collection also includes pamphlets against Americas involvement in the Vietnam war, and material addressing revolutionary development in the country.; SERIES 12: Newspapers, journals and other published material. Description: This series consists of newspaper articles, booklets, journals, cartoons and illustrations related to the war in Vietnam, both during the conflict and in the years after. The collection consists of material produced in Australia, America, New Zealand and Vietnam. The material consists of articles discussing issues surrounding the Vietnam War and incidents in the conflict, and publications supporting servicemen. Also represented are articles about war crimes and details of stages of the war, as well as some information on communism. There is additional material aimed at assisting ex-servicemen.; SERIES 13: Stickers. Description: This series consists of stickers from Australia and America and are mainly produced by unit and service associations relating to the Vietnam War, in particular, the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia.; SERIES 14: Postcards. Description: This series consists mainly of scenic travel postcards of Vietnam which were printed in Hong Kong. A small number of them depict American service installations.; SERIES 15: Philately . Description: This series consists of items associated with postage produced by Australia, America and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.; SERIES 16: Posters. Description: This series consists of posters relating to the Vietnam war. The items were produced in Australia, though publishers and dates of production are unknown. The material details regiments involved in particular operations, and depict images of soldiers and military engagements during the war.; SERIES 17: Unpublished material . Description: This series is a collection of general memoirs, manuscripts, and presentations relating to service during the from the Vietnam War.; SERIES 18: Ephemera relating to the service of individuals. Description: This series consists of ephemera collections of items relating to the service of individuals.
Australian support for South Vietnam arrived during July and August 1962 and marks the beginning of Australia's involvement in the war in Vietnam. By early 1965 it became clear that South Vietnam could not stave off the communist insurgents and their North Vietnamese comrades for more than a few months. The US commenced a major escalation of the war, which included more Australian regiments. The following year the Australian government's concern grew to the point where it felt that, if Australia were involved in the conflict, its presence should be both strong and identifiable, and more troops were sent. August 1966 saw one of Australia's heaviest actions of the war near Long Tan. During 1968 US military planners began to question whether a decisive victory could ever be achieved, and by 1969 anti-war protests were gathering momentum in Australia. Opposition to conscription mounted as more people came to believe that the war could not be won. By late 1970 Australia had begun to wind down its military effort in Vietnam. The withdrawal of troops and all air units continued throughout 1971. In December 1972 the last Australian troops came home. Australia's participation in the war was formally declared at an end when the Governor-General issued a proclamation on 11 January 1973. From the time of Australia's arrival in 1962, some 50,000 Australians, including ground troops and Air Force and Navy personnel, served in Vietnam. 520 of those died as a result of the war, and almost 2,400 were wounded. The war was the cause of the greatest social and political dissent in Australia since the conscription referendums of the First World War. Many draft resisters, conscientious objectors and protesters had been fined or gaoled, while soldiers sometimes met a hostile reception on their return home. The majority of the collection is published material in various media produced by Australia, America and the Vietnamese for distribution to their servicemen and civilians. The collection reflects Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war, and includes material opposed to that involvement, material on the issues of conscription, and anti-war material. The collection also includes propaganda material, articles about the war, and souvenirs collected by servicemen.
Contact Senior Curator, Published & Digitised Collections, Australian War Memorial.
Open - Contact Senior Curator, Published & Digitised Collections, Australian War Memorial.
Selected additional and related material available at http://www.awm.gov.au/search/collections/ using the search terms described under 'subject _local'. Copies of many items from the Memorial's collections may also be purchased @ http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/sales/.
Subjects
Activism; Propaganda; War service
Archives; Maps
Map Collection: Vietnam; Vietnam War
Coverage Spatial
Vietnam
Coverage Temporal
1962
1974
Related Collections
Dates
2012-05-30 23:40