Metal fragments from Viet Cong anti personnel mine : Captain R G Althaus, 1 Field Regiment , Royal Australian Artillery

Eighteen metal fragments from a Viet Cong anti personnel mine. Thirteen of the metal fragments are cylindrical in shape and two of them have concretions, possibly clay. The five other pieces formed the outer casing and are thin with sharp edges.

These metal fragments are associated with the service of Captain Rodney Graeme Althaus during Operation Portsea, 21 March to 16 April 1967. Operation Portsea, the first task force operation closely coordinated with United States ground forces, took place in two phases. The first phase, 21 to 30 March 1967, was a search and destroy operation in the area between Nui Dat and Xuyen Moc to the East, and from Binh Gia southward to the sea. The second phase, 31st March to 16th April, was mainly the protection of Engineers who were repairing and re-opening Route 23 from Dat Do to Xuyen Moc. Captain Althaus was sent from Malaysia to Vietnam, arriving on 21 March to be a liaison officer with 1 Australian Task Force (1ATF) for about a month. He had originally been trained and equipped for service in Borneo, but the deployment was cancelled. Operation Portsea had already commenced and Captain Althaus spent a week of orientation at Nui Dat. He was an additional duty officer in the Regimental Command Post for 1 Field regiment Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) and prepared to be a Forward Observation Officer, if required. At the beginning of the second phase, 1 Brigade 9 US Division joined the operation and Captain Althaus became the liaison officer, stationed with the Battalion Direction Centre 1/84 Artillery Battalion. One night, a few days after Captain Althaus arrived at their Fire Support Base (FSB), north of Nui Dat, a Viet Cong anti personnel (claymore) mine was fired close to the perimeter. At first the soldiers thought it was an incoming mortar, and responded to what they thought was a full attack. However only one mine was fired. In the morning Captain Althaus found and collected the 18 fragments on the ground and embedded in nearby rubber trees. The fragments are mostly made up of cut up metal rods. These rods were thought to have come from long bolts form US artillery wooden boxes. Each box contained two rounds. The ends were secured with a long rod inserted lengthwise between the rounds and fitted with a butterfly nut for quick unpacking of the ammunition. When a FSB was vacated all disposable equipment was burnt, including the boxes. However the rods would survive the fire and were scavenged by the Viet Cong who would cut them down and use them in their mines.