Content note: Drawing of a dead fighter lying between two grieving faces, aimed at the enemy soldiers who received the leaflet. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Ấp Tây quick-reaction contact leaflet ATF-047-70 (After the Ap Tay Contact)
Small typewritten leaflet. One side reports an engagement at 0315 on 9 October at Ap Tay hamlet in which two prisoners were taken and many comrades killed or wounded, over a drawing of a dead fighter with a rifle between two grieving faces. The other side recalls earlier appeals to rally and asks how many more will be killed. The tell: a same-day account of a specific engagement is used as the evidence for a standing offer to rally.
- Date
- October 9, 1970
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- 1st Psychological Operations Unit, 1st Australian Task Force (Nui Dat), for the South Vietnamese Chieu Hoi programme
- Region
- Oceania
- Country
- Australia
- Medium
- Leaflet
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Gorton Government
- Leader
- John Gorton
- Audience
- Enemy forces
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- Vietnam War
- Techniques
- Fear appeal
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- Australian War Memorial (Official Records, 1st Psychological Operations Unit leaflets), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain per holder (AWM: 'Copyright expired. Permission for reproduction not required'; issued 1970)
1st Psychological Operations Unit, 1st Australian Task Force, 1970; Australian War Memorial RC02860 (ATF-047-70).
Text on the object
[Side 1] 03 GIỜ 15 SÁNG NGÀY 9 THÁNG 10 MỘT SỐ ĐỒNG-ĐỘI CỦA CÁC BẠN KHI DI-CHUYỂN RA KHỎI ẤP TÂY XÃ HÒA-LONG, MỘT LẦN NỮA CÁC CHIẾN-SĨ ĐỒNG-MINH ĐÃ TẤN-CÔNG HỌ. CHÚNG TÔI BẮT ĐƯỢC HAI TÙ BINH VÀ NHIỀU ĐỒNG-ĐỘI CỦA CÁC BẠN BỊ GIẾT VÀ BỊ THƯƠNG.. [drawing: a fallen man with a rifle between two faces] ATF-047-70 [Side 2] CHÍNH-PHỦ VIỆT-NAM CỘNG-HÒA ĐÃ TỪNG KÊU GỌI CÁC BẠN RA HỒI-CHÁNH BAO NHIÊU LẦN RỒI.. BAO NHIÊU ĐỒNG-ĐỘI CỦA CÁC BẠN ĐÃ BỊ CHẾT VÌ KHÔNG ĐỂ Ý ĐẾN NHỮNG LỜI KÊU GỌI NÀY.. CÒN BAO NHIÊU NỮA SẼ BỊ GIẾT.. MỘT LẦN NỮA CHÍNH-PHỦ VIỆT-NAM CỘNG-HÒA DÀNH CHO CÁC BẠN THÊM MỘT CƠ HỘI ĐỂ HỒI-CHÁNH.. ATF-047-70
[Side 1] AT 03:15 ON THE MORNING OF 9 OCTOBER SOME OF YOUR COMRADES, WHILE MOVING OUT OF AP TAY HAMLET, HOA-LONG VILLAGE, WERE ATTACKED ONCE MORE BY ALLIED FIGHTERS. WE CAPTURED TWO PRISONERS AND MANY OF YOUR COMRADES WERE KILLED AND WOUNDED.. [drawing: a fallen man with a rifle between two faces] ATF-047-70 [Side 2] THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM HAS CALLED ON YOU HOW MANY TIMES TO RALLY.. HOW MANY OF YOUR COMRADES HAVE DIED BECAUSE THEY PAID NO ATTENTION TO THESE CALLS.. HOW MANY MORE WILL BE KILLED.. ONCE AGAIN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM GIVES YOU ANOTHER CHANCE TO RALLY.. ATF-047-70
Both sides read from the AWM scans. The AWM identification strips ('AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL' and the accession number) at the foot of each scan are part of the scan and are omitted. The hosted image places the two sides of the leaflet one above the other (or side by side), joined by FRAME from AWM's two scans of the same object. Translation is FRAME's own literal rendering, machine-assisted and not verified by a fluent reader; AWM's English translation was consulted.
