The 6th Battalion caretakers of the Horseshoe DPR/TV/603

A bugle call, the dignified lowering and raising of company flags and sips of champagne from ration tins signified the change of ownership and defence responsibilities of the "Horseshoe". The "Horseshoe", an extinct 100ft volcano east of the 1st Australian Task Force Headquarters at Nui Dat, in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, is a strongly fortified outpost in Viet Cong territory. It anchors one end of a double barrier wire fence being constructed by the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, to cut off Viet Cong supply routes. For over a month it has been held by Delta company of the 5th Battalion, which has ringed the rim of the hill with heavily defended strongpoints, barbed wire, mines and machineguns. Delta Company, has been replaced by Alpha Company of the 6th Battalion. It took over a construction programme to make the site more liveable. The 5th Battalion's brass band was flown into the area by helicopter especially for the hand over. For an hour before the hauling down of the 5th Battalion flag, it played several brackets of soothing lullabies and belted out the latest in rhythms. Helicopters were used for the changeover. They ferried troops to and from the Task Force Base.