I am just finishing the book When the ScorpionStings by Paul Anderson. It is about the Australian 3rd Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam 1965-72. The book is almost like an operational diary except that it does discuss the organization of the unit, the mission, some political problems, tactical use of the M113-A1 and the use of tanks in Vietnam by the Australians.
The topic of armor in Vietnam tends to be rather obscure, as all of the pulicity seems to have been on the Air Cav and Infantry and Green Beret units. The 11thCav and other US Armored Cav, as well as straight armor battalions, also saw a lot of action in Vietnam.
The Australian armoured corps appears to have been highly professional, and in the spirit of Cavalry, aggressive and given to maneuver as the first option. I, for one, had never heard of Aussie armor in Vietnam, but in reading this book I find it a lot like "Ringed in Steel" in its analysis of tactics but more detailed. There are numerous mentions of mine attacks, in fact a lot of them, describing damage and injuries/death and other descriptions of run of the mill operations. That is not what makes the book so good; it is the detailed description of pitched battles between the Aussie Infantry/Cav/Armor team that get the attention of any armor soldier, including an intense battle during the 1968 TET battle for Baria.
These are harrowing fights, involving volleys of RPG's, grenades and heavy machine guns on the part of the VC and NVA, returned by the massed firepower of the APC's, tanks and infantry. In some cases the enemy hold their own, but usually the massed firepower of the cav and tanks are more than enough. The maneuver element comes into play many times, with the cav and armor outflanking and devastating the NVA and VC.
This book is a wothy addition to any armor buff's library. There are also several good web sites about the Australian armour corps in Vietnam.