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→Body count
The official Australian Army history ''To Long Tan'', by the Australian military historian Ian McNeill, lists the number of Vietnamese killed in action as 245 and three enemy captured. However, new research shows that the Australian claim of 245 enemy soldiers killed in the battle to be a highly inflated body-count.<ref>''"The VC divisional planners estimated that four to six labourers would be needed for every wounded soldier requiring evacuation. A 30 percent casualty rate at Long Tan would mean a force of 1,200 would take 360 casualties. Using an 80:20 split for the casualties, 288 would be wounded and 72 killed. To get the seriously wounded and dead off the field, a labour force of something like 800 would be needed. If the casualty figures were increased to 245 dead, the wounded would be 980. Under the 30 per cent rule that would mean an attacking force of just over 4,000, plus a clearance labour force of 3,500. These are unimaginable numbers ..."'' (Vietnam: The Complete Story Of The Australian War, Bruce Davies, Gary McKay, Allen & Unwin, 2013)</ref>
The official Australian Army history ''To Long Tan'', by the Australian military historian Ian McNeill, lists the number of Vietnamese killed in action as 245 and three enemy captured. However, new research shows that the Australian claim of 245 enemy soldiers killed in the battle to be a highly inflated body-count.<ref>''"The VC divisional planners estimated that four to six labourers would be needed for every wounded soldier requiring evacuation. A 30 percent casualty rate at Long Tan would mean a force of 1,200 would take 360 casualties. Using an 80:20 split for the casualties, 288 would be wounded and 72 killed. To get the seriously wounded and dead off the field, a labour force of something like 800 would be needed. If the casualty figures were increased to 245 dead, the wounded would be 980. Under the 30 per cent rule that would mean an attacking force of just over 4,000, plus a clearance labour force of 3,500. These are unimaginable numbers ..."'' (Vietnam: The Complete Story Of The Australian War, Bruce Davies, Gary McKay, Allen & Unwin, 2013)</ref>
Derrill de Heer, part of a University of NSW team at the Australian Defence Force Academy that has undertaken a major research project on the Australian experience in Vietnam, has admitted ''"...we have some doubts about the number of enemy killed and wounded. In talking to D Coy veterans over the years, the number killed or wounded seems to have risen."''<ref>[http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/3866695/fifty-years-after-the-battle-of-long-tan-the-truth-is-still-elusive/?cs=5 Fifty years after the Battle of Long Tan, the truth is still elusive]</ref>
==Controversies and conclusions==
==Controversies and conclusions==