1 RAR return to Bien Hoa DPR/TV/862

Troops of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, this week returned to Bien Hoa Province to join Allied units in the search for enemy troops who may be attempting to set up rocket and mortar bases in the area. The return to Bien Hoa, after a week's rest at the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat, is the latest phase of operation Toan Thang in which the Allied troops are combined in a counter-offensive against communist troops attempting to infiltrate into the Bien Hoa-Saigon areas. The battalion is based with elements of armoured personnel carriers from A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, and guns from 12th Field Regiment, north of the giant US installation at Long Binh. They have the task of protecting Long Binh from North Vietnamese and VC rocket and mortar attack. 1 RAR moved into an area just vacated by US troops and immediately began an intensive patrolling programme to probe the area for enemy bases. One platoon from C Company 1 RAR moved out from base in armoured personnel carriers just after dawn, the day after their move in, on a sweep to the south of the base. From the base, the patrol moved through the nearby village of Ho Nai before sweeping through dense country between their base and Long Binh. To take a closer look for any signs of enemy, the platoon later left the APCs and patrolled on foot. The nine-hour sweep revealed no enemy. It proved one thing, however. For the time being, at least, that area is not hiding any VC, an important factor in the battalion's task of protecting Long Binh. (Also identified: Troop Commander Captain Pat Poulson of A Sqn 3 Cav Regt and from Cardiff, Wales; Pte Malcolm Tunstan of Wollongong, NSW, 1 RAR)