"I'll never forget it. Never ever.": Patricia Thompson (Little Pattie) reflects on the Battle of Long Tan, 60 years on

Little Pattie in Vietnam. IMAGE: Supplied.

Australian singer Patricia Thompson, known at the time as Little Pattie, was just 17 years old when she travelled to Vietnam with Col Joye and the Joy Boys to perform for Australian troops during the Vietnam War.

About a week into the trip, the group was performing their second of three concerts for the day at the Nui Dat task force base when the sound of bombs and explosions from a nearby rubber plantation began growing louder and more frequent.

“During the second show, it was all terrific, but I could hear - well, we could all hear -bombs and explosions going off a few kilometers away,” Ms Thompson said.

"It began to increase in volume and frequency but nothing much was said about it, so i thought 'what would I know? I don't know anything'"

"Turns out I did know something though because I figured there was something bad going on."

By about 10 to four that afternoon, Ms Thompson said the magnitude of the fighting nearby had became impossible to ignore.

“We got that sign, the finger across the throat - which in the entertainment world means get off, get off the stage, which we did,” Ms Thompson said.

"(It all happened in) blinding rain, I'll never forget that."

In that rain, with alarms and sirens sounding around them, the performers were rushed into waiting jeeps, that took them to a nearby runway, where an Iroquois helicopter was waiting to evacuate them back to Vung Tau.

As the helicopter flew away, it passed over the rubber plantation, where the fighting was taking place, a sight Ms Thompson said was "really troubling".

“We could see thousands and thousands of red lights which I found out later were tracers, lots of explosions too and, yeah, lots of ashen faces on our helicopter," she said.

By the time the group reached safety, Ms Thompson said it had become clear they had all witnessed something incredibly significant.

In actuality, the Battle of Long Tan would go on to become Australia's fiercest engagement in the Vietnam War, and the event with the highest number of Australian causalities.

The fighting lasted about three-and-half-hours, as 105 Australians and 3 New Zealanders faced an assembled force of well over 1000 North Vietnamese and Viet-Cong soliders.

By the end of the battle, 18 Australian soldiers were dead and 24 wounded. Over 240 "enemy" bodies were found the next day, with the victory going on to secure the Nui Dat base. The date of the battle was initially commemorated as Battle of Long Tan Day, before later being expanded to Vietnam Veterans' Day.

The following morning, August 19, Ms Thompson and Col Joye visited wounded Australian soldiers at the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vung Tau.

Little Pattie with Col Joye in 1966. IMAGE: Supplied.

She said she remembers waiting outside the ward with Col Joye as the reality of the previous day's fighting began to sink in.

“I remember looking at Colin thinking, 'he's just about crying,’ and he's saying to me, ‘You're not crying, are you?’ And I said, ‘No, I'm not crying. Are you crying?’ - you know how a lot of people don't like to admit when they're crying?"

"Anyway,  we sort of gave each other some courage and realized that we were pretty well-trained performers. And when that door opens, we were told, ‘You are on. You'll be in that ward. You better start singing.’ Col had his guitar in his hand. The door opened. No more tears. And we sang.”

Ms Thompson said she was struck by the response from the wounded soldiers, who, despite all they'd been through, smiled as the performers arrived.

“We were hero-worshipping them, really, because they were so severely injured, some of them badly injured,” she said.

“And yet, we walked in and they were smiling.”

For Ms Thompson, the concerts had always been about giving Australian troops a brief escape from the realities of the war.

She had been performing professionally for about three years by the time she was invited to Vietnam, having started singing at 14 and already achieved several hit records.

She said the decision to send a 17-year-old into a war zone was initially difficult for her family.

“At first Dad said, ‘Oh no, that's not our war, you're not allowed to go, I don't want you to go.’ And Mum was positive about me going because she realised that we'd probably be able to put a big smile on the faces of the young boys and girls in our audiences.”

Eventually, her father gave her his blessing, an exciting moment for the 17 year-old, who was not frightened in the slightest by the prospect of going to Vietnam.

“I was so fearless at age 17,” Ms Thompson said.

“I said, ‘Oh, that'll be good. Yeah, that'll be lovely. And we'll be doing something good for our fellows.’”

Ms Thompson said she and the musicians did not speak about the Battle of Long Tan for years after returning to Australia.

“We didn't talk about that day, that battle, for years,” she said.

“We just took it in our stride or we hid it away.”

She said the experience helped her understand why soldiers returning from war often did not talk about what they had been through.

“It made me understand a little bit why soldiers come back from wars, particularly the Second World War, and don't talk about it with their family or talk about it at all. It was some sort of secret business or something that they didn't think they could talk about, but nowadays, I realise that when they can talk, that's really a fabulous thing to be able to do.”

Sixty years on from the Battle of Long Tan, Ms Thompson said the experience had changed her outlook on life and deepened her respect for those who have served in war zones.

“I think I grew up in so many ways,” she said.

“It made me truly aware of other people and instead of just a little bit, I like to think I care about other people a lot.”

That respect later led to a three-year appointment on the Australian War Memorial Council, which Ms Thompson described as an honour and an opportunity to learn more about Australia's military history.

Ms Thompson singing at a Vietnam Veterans' Day event last year. IMAGE: Supplied.

She said remembering the sacrifices of Australian service personnel remained important.

“We mustn't forget the sacrifices that have been made and are still being made by our people overseas,” she said.

That said, this Vietnam Veterans Day, Ms Thompson is encouraging Australians to take the time to learn more about the Vietnam War and those who served.

“Even if you don't know anything about the Vietnam War, please do me a favour and when you get up on the 18th, you'll hear it all over the radio and people will be talking about it,” she said.

“Have a little look, Google it and give a thought and a lovely message mentally, spiritually, to our boys who sacrificed their lives for us.”

To hear Ms Thompson's full interview with FlowFM's Jessica Dempster, visit FlowFM.com.au and check out the Vietnam Veterans' Day Podcast - which also includes an interview with Vietnam Veteran Dave Sabben, who fought in the Battle of Long Tan.