Military operations in South Vietnam in September and October 1965.  Australian and New Zealand military involvement in South Vietnam in 1965.  A biography of Major Charles Beckworth an American special forces soldier serving in South Vietnam in 1965.

At first American troops in South Vietnam simply protect American bases but General Westmoreland get permission to change their role to include search and destroy operations to go out an fin the enemy and kill them.  One of the first is Operation Starlite carried out by American Marines in the north of  South Vietnam.  

In this episode, I deal with the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army their effective use of ambushes and bobby traps..  I compare their main gun the AK47 and the American M14 rifle and why the more rugged AK47 proved to be a better weapon in the jungle of South Vietnam.

In this episode I look at the American Army in South Vietnam in 1965 as it builds up its resources in the country and begins to fight the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army.  I shall deal with how the American Army is organised from the command of MACV down to the battalion and company.  I deal with some of the weapon of the American Army and look at the Huey helicopter.

American ground forces build up in South Vietnam, air fields and barracks are built, to cope with the needs of an army from across the Pacific Ocean.  A biography of key figure in the Government of South Vietnam General Ky is given.  The American Navy cuts the supply of arms and equipment across the coast in Operation Market Time.

President Johnson orders the bombing of North Vietnam first during Operation Flaming Dart and then Rolling Thunder which would last until 1968 to force North Vietnam to give up its war in the South, The Communists would refuse to do so and the bombing campaign failed to destroy the North Vietnamese military.  There was also bombing in Laos.  The story of one American airmen captured by the North Vietnamese. 

President Johnson decides to commit American Ground Troops to South Vietnam and to bomb North Vietnam, that is despite his own doubts as to whether a war in South Vietnam can be won, that is shared by Secretary of Defence Robert Mac Namara.  There are those in the American Government who oppose this including under secretary of state George Ball, his biography is given.

A biography of General Westmoreland the commander of the American military in South Vietnam from 1964 to 1968.  The Viet Cong launch several attacks in the latter part of 1964 but for the first time, regular North Vietnamese Army regiments take to the field in South Vietnam. 

North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack an American Destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin, the attack fails.  However it is reports of a second attack which did not take place which makes the congress pass a resolution which allow President Johnson to take what have military action he wishes to in Vietnam, it would be the legal base for the Vietnam War.

A profile of American Secretary of Defence Robert Mac Namara.  The gap between the positive view of how the war was going by General Harkins and MACV using doubtful data and that far less rosy view presented by journalists and junior Army officers who had served in South Vietnam and who witnessed the growth of the Viet Cong revolt in the countryside.

Following the murder of Diem there is political chaos in South Vietnam, there is a second coup within just two months as the South Vietnamese Army Generals struggle for power between themselves.  This leaves support for the Government of South Vietnam even weaker among the people.  President Kennedy is killed and replaced by President Johnson.

As Buddhist protests against President Diem grow in South Vietnam.  After much debate President Kennedy agrees to the demand of ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge to arrange a coup to bring down president Diem.  As a result of that coup, Diem is murdered in cold blood shot in the back of an armoured personnel carrier.

Even with the Viet Cong revolt in the south going badly for the Government.  President Diem now picks a fight with the majority Buddhist population, this leads to violent protest in the Cities of South Vietnam and monks burning themselves to death.  The American Government begins to question its support to Diem.  A biography of American ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. 

Events in Vietnam and Laos in 1962 and the first week of 1963.  Despite the increase in American military support for the South Vietnamese Government, the Viet Cong revolt grows in scale.  This is shown in the first week of 1963, when the Viet Cong inflict a serious reserve on the South Vietnamese Army Army near the village of Ap Bac.

Event in Vietnam and Laos in 1961.  A biography of President Kennedy.  President Kennedy greatly increases the number of American military personnel from less than  thousand to over sixteen thousand by November 1963 in order to help the South Vietnamese Government to resist the Viet Cong revolt in the country.

Events in Vietnam and Laos in 1959 and 1960.  In 1959 the National Liberation Front is formed by the Communist they became commonly known as the Viet Cong with aid from North Vietnam the Communist revolt in the South becomes much more serious.  Details of events in Laos up to the end of 1960 is told.  The corruption of South Vietnamese President Diem's brother and sister in law shocks the nation.

In this first of twenty episodes dealing with Vietnam between 1955 to 1965.  I look at the history of South Vietnam up to 1958 and its leader President Diem, for a short the country seemed stable but the underlying problems within Diem regime was clearly there.  Lack of land reforms, corruption and a Government that favoured the minority Catholic community.

Season six of this podcast season begin on Saturday September 4th.  It will deal with the military and political events in Vietnam and Laos between 1955 and 1965.  From the end of the First Indochina War to intervention of American ground in 1965.

This episode deals with the Civil War in North Yemen and the final years of Nasser's rule in Egypt and the two subjects are highly interconnected because seventy thousand Egyptian troops would sent to the country to fight an unwinnable guerrilla war against the Royalist forces.  Nasser would die in 1970 his reputation much lower than it had been ten years earlier.

This episode deals with the Civil War in the Congo between 1960 and 1965 following independence from Belgium.  It became a proxy war of the cold war with the United States and the Soviet Union supporting different political factions in the Congo.  A biography of Mobutu who would become the dictator of the Congo for over thirty years from 1965.

The British Army fought three guerrilla wars in the middle eastern region.  In Cyprus the British Army was involved in a guerrilla war against EOKA who fought for your union between Cyprus and Greece.  A biography of Sir John Harding the Government of Cyprus.  The British Army always fought in wars in Oman and Aden.

Nasser reaps the rewards from the Suez Crisis.  British and French power in the middle east declines.  A biography of the new British Prime Minster Harold Macmillan.  The end of the British Empire.  The distrust between the French and British Government after the Suez Crisis.  The American military involvement in the Lebanon in 1958.

After just two days of fighting, the British Prime Sir Anthony Eden orders a cease fire, this would be followed by a humiliation withdraw from Port Said by British and French Forces.  Why, well the American Government created a run on the pound which caused Eden to panic.  United Nations Peace keepers are sent to region, this is proposed by Canadian Foreign Minister Lester Pearson, his biography is given. 

British and French para-troops are landed around Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal.  Landings by a Royal Marine Brigade are brought forward to the next day, helicopters are used for the first time in a seaborne invasion. the Egyptians put up a firm resistance at several locations.  A cease fire is called for by British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden. 

The Royal Air Force and the French Air Force strike at the Egyptian military quickly destroying the Egyptian Air Force as an effective military force, helping the Israeli military in their campaign in the Sinai as well as preparing for the Anglo - French invasion of Port Said.  A biography of General Stockwell the commander of the Anglo - French military invasion force.