The commemoration will come hot on the heels of the publication of findings from the latest Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal inquiry into whether a joint unit citation for gallantry should be awarded to the Diggers who took part over the 26 days of fighting.

The report must be released by May 3.

While some veterans, such as former 2nd Lieutenant Norm Peatling, think there is only a "snowball's chance in hell" the tribunal will come down on the side of the Diggers, he said he owed it to the men he served alongside to roll the dice.

Mr Peatling – who took over organisation of the 50th-anniversary commemoration following the recent death of Canberra's highly regarded Lieutenant-Colonel Mark John MC – is concerned that unless some form of group recognition is granted soon, the opportunity for a meaningful gesture will be lost.

"This could well be the last occasion this many veterans of the battle will be able to get together," he said. "Mark's death came as a wake-up call."

Mr Peatling, like many of the men who made submissions, is of the view no one unit should be singled out.

He said all the units that took part – 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment; 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment; A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment; C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment; and the 12th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery – contributed to the success of the taskforce against the numerically superior North Vietnamese Army Force.

Ray Payne OAM, who fought with Charlie Company, 1 RAR, spoke for many of the veterans in his submission last October.

"We have maintained ... that all of the sub-units that came together in this operation, from May 12 to June 6, 1968, performed as a combined force," he said.

"Each sub-unit functioned as a cog in a wheel. Without any one of these the outcome would not have been possible in the way it was.

"We achieved a strategic win over the NVA, forcing them to move. This was from an initial position of somewhat dire circumstance."

That is an understatement, as anybody who was present during the first assault on Fire Support Base Coral by the NVA, in the early hours of June 13, 1968, can tell you.

The Australians, handicapped by poor preliminary reconnaissance and a late arrival at the site, did not have time to set up adequate defences before the enemy attacked in force.

FSB Coral came within an ace of being overrun. Eleven of the 25 Australians who lost their lives over the 26 days of fighting were killed that first night.

Given Australia has only awarded four unit citations for gallantry dating back to 1942, it would be unprecedented for the tribunal to recommend honouring five separate units for a single action.

That said, there is an argument that acts of unique courage and gallantry deserve to be recognised in unique and unprecedented ways.