Why did England not fight in Vietnam?

Answer 1

Prime Minister Harold Wilson was a very clever man who could see that Vietnam would be a disaster.He refused to allow any British troops to become involved. The British Army had enough on its plate at the time, Malaya, Cyprus, the Arabian Peninsula, Brunei, Borneo, Radfan, South Arabia, Malay Peninsula to name but a few.

Units were sent from Britain to Fort Dix. At Fort Dix they "resigned from the British Army and re enlisted in the US Army. After completing their tour in Vietnam, the returning "G. I's" were discharged from US Forces and re enlisted in the British Army on their return to the UK. This mechanism allowed Harold Wilson, the British Prime Minister, to stand up in Parliament and announce "No British Troops are in Vietnam".Another ploy was for SAS men to be seconded to the Australian army,and enter Vietnam as Australian troops.The Aussies did this because they were defending the Mekong Delta,and knew that the South Vietnamese troops (ARVN) would run away if the Viet Cong attacked,and needed the SAS to plan escape routes for the outnumbered Aussies.

Twenty-Two British Servicemen were killed in action in Vietnam.