Acclaimed Australian battlefield historian, author and history presenter Mat McLachlan will lead two special tours next year: exploring the Australian battlefields of Vietnam in June 2026 on the eight-day Mat McLachlan’s Vietnam Signature tour featuring Dave Sabben MG, before returning to France and Belgium in September for the nine-day Western Front Signature Tour with Mat McLachlan – 2026.
Mat McLachlan’s Signature Tours are the only battlefield tours led by McLachlan himself and include the most luxurious accommodation available in the heart of the battlefields (four- to five-star), travel by premium coach, exclusive behind-the-scenes visits and dining experiences, and more. McLachlan personally designs his Signature Tour itineraries to visit the places that define the “Australian spirit of mateship and sacrifice,” organising a host of special inclusions.
Vietnam With Dave Sabben
This will be the first time McLachlan takes his Signature Tour to Vietnam. Joining the group will be Dave Sabben, a platoon commander at the Battle of Long Tan and recipient of the Medal of Gallantry. Travellers will spend eight days exploring the former Australian battlefields of the Vietnam War.
Said McLachlan: “Significantly, we will be at Nui Dat on the 60th anniversary of 6RAR’s arrival at the former Australian base in Nui Dat, hearing about the arrival of these troops from one of these men themselves—Dave Sabben.”
Travellers will also visit the battlefield of Long Tan with Sabben to hear his experiences in this battle firsthand. Other sites visited over the itinerary include the Cu Chi Tunnels, Vung Tau (including Back Beach), the former site of an Australian logistics group and the Peter Badcoe Club, and the Long Hai hills—also called ‘Minh Dam secret zone’—a major Viet Cong base during the war.
Mat McLachlan’s Vietnam Signature Tour featuring Dave Sabben departs 11 June 2026 from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours’ is also offering a seven-day historic and cultural Extension Tour: Central & North Vietnam led by an expert local guide that’s available to book as an extension.
The Western Front
In Europe, 2026 will be the 110th anniversary of the arrival of the Anzacs on the Western Front and the 1916 Anzac battles, including the Battle of Fromelles and the Battle of the Somme. The 2026 Western Front Signature Tour will spend nine days exploring behind-the-lines sites such as Talbot House in Poperinge, which, according to McLachlan was “an every-man’s club” during WWI, established by Australian-born Tubby Clayton; the venue remains in operation “and is like stepping straight into the past.”
Travellers will also visit Naours Caves, where the Anzacs left their names in graffiti on the walls, and Château de Bertangles, which Sir John Monash used as a headquarters to plan his great Anzac battles and was then knighted on the steps after the war.
The Western Front Signature Tour with Mat McLachlan – 2026 departs 31 August 2026 from Paris.
