5RAR Binh Ba
Operation Hammer.
Reprinted here with the kind permission of "ARMY MAGAZINE"
Managing Editor- Maj. Rod Horan
ACCIDENT or ambush - a single RP67 warhead hits a passing Centurion. The chain of events that followed set the scene for one of Australia's most successful actions during the war in Vietnam - Operation Hammer.
The Battle of Binh Ba occurred 30 years ago, commencing on June 6, 1969, and ending on June 8. it is less well known than Long Tan but is one of the truly great engagements by Aussie soldiers in the Asian conflict.
As the Centurion approached the village of Binh Ba on the morning June 6, 1969, the RPG7 round penetrated the turret, wounding the operator and preventing the turret from being traversed. The crew commander engaged the point of fire with his flexible .3Ocal while an armoured recovery vehicle, accompanying the tank, halted behind and opened up with its two machine guns.
The initial intelligence estimate on Binh Ba, gathered from captured documents, prisoners and other sources, suggested an enemy strength of up to two platoons - the reality was a com-pany of 1 Bn 33 NVA Regt, guided by a local guerilla unit and supported by a company 1200m to the west and another 1200m north west.
The district chief at Duc Thanh dispatched the two regional-force platoons to Binh Ba. But as they approached the village from the north, they were pinned down by intense RPG and small-arms fire. The force was unable to continue into the village and stayed in location in a blocking position.
Following the initial contact and briefing, lATF reaction force consisting of the under strength D Coy 5RAR, a composite troop from B Sqn 1 Armd Regt and 3 Tp B Sqn 3 Cav Regt, headed toward Binh Ba. Operation Hammer was underway. To this end, Operation Hammer was unplanned - it evolved naturally to meet an immediate threat.
Binh Ba was situated about three miles to the north of task force headquarters, just off Route Two in Phouc Tuy Province. It was home to about 1000 plantation workers and was well known to Australian forces. After the assault on the Centurion, a warning order was sent to the Ready Reaction Force, which pre-pared to engage the enemy in the hamlet.
After a warm up by 9 Sqn gunships, the reaction force assaulted the village from east to west with tanks. D Coy formed up in extended line with 10 P1 on the right flank, 11 and 12 Pls in the centre and left flank and Coy HQ plus in reserve to engage in a detailed search of houses. The initial sweep began at a cautious rate,
with the tanks moving slowly so as not to out-distance the infantry because heavy small-arms fire was being encountered.
Concealed RPG7s, concentrating on the armoured advance, moved from house to house in an attempt to escape detection. Siniple observation enabled the tank crews to successfully estimate where the next round would appear from and pre-empt the attack with their 20 pounders. The HE rounds were effective against the houses - blowing out walls and collapsing roofs on the enemy within.
The fighting was furious, with small-arms fire and RPG7 rounds flying thick and fast. Within hours three tanks were disabled -mainly through the wounding of crew members. The tanks, providing imposing targets of opportunity for the NVA, undoubtedly saved the infantrymen taking casualties.
By the time the force had broken out of the village to regroup, the tanks had expended all their ammunition. RAAF helicopters ferried in replacement crews and ammunition resupply for the tanks.
After the initial sweep, OC D Coy and Ready Reaction Force commander Maj Murray Blake (later to become Commander Land Comd Maj-Gen Blake) moved the force out of the village and to the westem side of Binh Ba.
Here, with the arrival of 4 Tp B Sqn tanks and B Coy blocking the exits and entries into the village, the company conducted a second assault on the village. Infantry platoons led the assault with one tank and two APCs for each in close support.
The amount of fire coming from the enemy Indicated that they were either extremely well equipped, or the intelligence estimate was something less than accurate. That the enemy was prepared to stand and fight against a combined infantry/armour force was a reasonable indication of what lay ahead.
With the enemy battalion taking up defensive positions, it was going to be a long hard slog to clear the village - searching every house, bunker and likely area of concealment.
On request, the USAF's Forward Air Control (FAC Jade 5) fired rockets into houses in the southeast corner of the village, whereupon groups of up to 20 enemy soldiers were seen to withdraw from that area and move into the southern row of buildings. The tanks engaged them and Bushranger 71, the RAAF Light Fire Team, who had arrived on the scene poured rockets and minigun fire into the houses.
The tanks moved In with the infantry interspersed between them and the APCs to the rear. The team quickly developed a systematic drill - individual enemy soldiers engaged the advancing force with automatic fire from deep within a house and then jumped into an adjoining bunker or tunnel. The infantry soldiers returned fire and called forward a tank to blast a hole In the wall and then put canister and machine gun fire into the area The infantry would then assault the house and clear it using grenades and small arms fire.
During the initial battle on that first morning Pte Wayne Teeling, 10 P1 D Coy, was shot through the neck and killed instantly as his team approached the first line of houses. Pte Teeling was the only Australian death throughout the action.
Operation Hammer concluded with a sweep through the village at 8am on June 8, 1969. It is estimated that at least 91 enemy soldiers were killed during the battle, with six wounded and eight taken prisoner. The Australian forces listed one dead and eight wounded.
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