RSLs (Returned and Services League) and Vietnam Veterans across the country are preparing to gather ahead of this Friday’s commemoration.

August 18 is Australia’s annual Vietnam Veterans’ Day commemorating the Battle Of Long Tan and Australian soldiers lost in the Vietnam war.

The famous battle lasted 5 hours in 1966 and saw Australian soldiers battle Viet Cong forces in a rubber plantation.

Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered, more than 100 members of Delta Company, 6th Battalion (6RAR), won the battle against a vastly superior North Vietnamese force, estimated between 1,500 and 2,500.

After the battle, the bodies of 245 enemy soldiers were found.

18 Australians lost their lives and 24 soldiers were wounded.

Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war lasted ten years and was marked with significant public opposition to conscription and concern about casualties.

The war ended in 1975 when the North Vietnamese tanks crashed into Saigon’s Presidential Palace.

On Friday, RSLs around Australia will hold their own service for veterans.