Contact close to home DPR/TV/784

Troops of 2nd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, who had just finished a search of Hoa Long Village, about a mile from the Australian Task Force Base area at Nui Dat, Vietnam, suddenly found themselves in contact with enemy forces. As they moved along the road near the village, officers at the tactical headquarters of Bravo Company of the Battalion, sited in an armoured personnel carrier, received information on enemy movement, and the Bravo Company troops quickly lined up in a culvert near the village perimeter to forestall any Viet Cong attempt to escape from the area. Army Sioux helicopters hovered overhead, checking the area, and the Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel "Chick" Charlesworth flew in one of the "choppers". When his aircraft landed he immediately returned to tactical headquarters to view the battle area. Australian mortar fire kept the enemy pinned down in their positions, and as the dust and smoke cleared, a number of the enemy surrendered. Here, two of the Viet Cong who surrendered, blindfolded for reasons of security, are interrogated - but not before they received gifts of cigarettes - a luxury they cannot often afford. The Hoa Long operation was completed successfully on Tuesday afternoon (February 20). Also identified: Major Pip Newman of Blackburn, Melbourne, Vic; Major Ian Maclean of Kenmore, Brisbane, Qld; Sapper Harold Klopcic of Newcastle, NSW.