6/14/2023 0 Comments Naval action map apc![]() ![]() That morning on 6 June, with one RPG round, the Regional Force compelled the Australians to fight for Binh Ba. ![]() Neither the Task Force nor the South Vietnamese forces, which had day-to-day responsibility for the village’s security, had been able to rid the area of insurgents. The situation persisted into the middle of 1969, by which time Binh Ba’s security had been placed in the hands of local Regional Force soldiers. One VC soldier recalled his unit being divided into cells of a few men each and sent on a ‘proselytising mission’ to Binh Ba, during which they met their local counterparts in various village houses. Their activities were mostly covert, though. In late 1967, the VC ambushed and killed 2 Australian Army Training Team Vietnam members just outside the village of Binh Ba. When they were over, the insurgents returned. In early 1967, cordon and search operations, such as Holsworthy and Operation Caloundra, were fleeting. ![]() Within 2 months, a VC cadre and guerrillas were once again in residence, collecting taxes and recruiting. But Binh Ba’s proximity to Nui Dat did not ensure its continuing freedom from insurgents. In August of that year, the village was the target of a cordon and search operation, Operation Holsworthy, in which the Australians apprehended a number of Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas and sympathisers. Less than 10 km from Nui Dat, the village of Binh Ba and its hamlets - Duc Trung and Duc My - had been familiar to the Australians since the Task Force base was established in 1966. This provocative shot heralded a battle that raged for 2 days, left much of Binh Ba in ruins and resulted in the Australian Task Force winning one of its most comprehensive victories of the Vietnam War. The unlikely happened when a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fired from a nearby house struck the Centurion’s turret, wounding the operator and inviting retaliatory machine-gun fire from both vehicles before they left the scene. Classified as ‘amber’, the route was considered one on which enemy contact was possible but unlikely. How it happenedĮarly on the morning of 6 June 1969, a Centurion tank and an armoured recovery vehicle were making their way along Route 2 towards the village of Binh Ba. Map showing the location of Binh Ba relative to Nui Dat and the major centres in Phuoc Tuy Province. ![]()
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