Night move on village DPR/TV/419

During a recent operation in Vietnam, soldiers of the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, moved at night to surround a Viet Cong dominated village. The troops tied themselves together with ropes to avoid losing contact during the night manoeuvre. At first light next morning they entered the village of Duc My, after brief clashes with Viet Cong who tried to escape the cordon. A wounded Viet Cong was seen fleeing into a village house which served as the main entrance of a hidden tunnel. On inspection troops found that the man had gone to the short end of the tunnel, which had an escape hole outside the house. Sapper Barry Harford, of Broken Hill, had the task of bringing him out. When captured the Viet Cong was found to have a leg wound and soldiers had some difficulty in lifting him to the surface. Troops kept a careful watch on the surrounding area as the prisoner was searched. The search completed, Army medics gave on-the-spot treatment to the wounded man. At the same time, Lieutenant Dennis Rayner, of Armadale, Western Australia, and Corporal Hylton Frugtniet checked over other documents and arms found in the village. More suspects were gathered from other parts of ths village and brought in for routine questioning. One man was blindfolded before being lifted into an armoured personnel carrier and taken back to Task Force Headquarters for further questioning. While sporadic shooting continued in other sections, Army doctors Captain Tony White, of Sydney and Captain John Taske of Brisbane commenced medical aid for the people many of whom were suffering from advanced diseases. Meanwhile a Vietnamese interpreter summoned the villagers on the arrival of hundreds of pounds of rice. The Australians will give continued aid to the people of this and other villages in their area in Phuoc Tuy Province as part of the comprehensive civic action programme undertaken by our troops.