North Vietnamese Army peaked field cap : Captain J E D White, Australian Army Training Team in Vietnam

North Vietnamese Army khaki wool twill peaked field cap with self fabric chinstrap held in place by two fabric covered buttons. The peak is lined with khaki synthetic fabric and the crown and sides of the cap with khaki cotton. The front of the cap is stiffened and has a painted metal badge for the People's Army of Vietnam pinned to it. The sides of the cap, which are constructed in four pieces, bear three white metal ventilation eyelets on each side. The cap has a black vinyl sweat band.

This North Vietnamese Army peaked field cap was given to John White, during a visit to the battlefield of Ngok Tavak, Vietnam in 1995, by Major Mai, who had been his North Vietnamese Army (NVA) counterpart at the battle at Ngok Tavak during the Vietnam War. Captain John White, serving with the Australian Army Training Team in Vietnam (AATTV) arrived to take over 11 Mobile Strike Force (Mike Force) Company in Da Nang in February 1968. The 2 NVA Division was moving from Laos into South Vietnam and his mission was to establish contact with the division and trace its movements south. In mid March the company was air lifted to the Special Forces camp of Kham Duc, near the Laotian border. They used an old French Foreign Legion fort as a temporary base from which patrols could be sent out. White called it Ngok Tavak, after a nearby mountain. Initially patrols failed to find the enemy, but in late April a patrol clashed with the enemy. At the same time, White received intelligence that the NVA division was closing in. At night they could hear explosions in the distance heading toward them. White decided their best chance was to leave the fort and take to the jungle to adopt guerrilla tactics. However, in the meantime a platoon of United States Marine Corps artillery arrived bringing with them two howitzers and a stockpile of ammunition. To abandon the fort was to abandon the guns. White contacted Da Nang, explaining the predicament, and was ordered to remain where he was. A Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) platoon was sent to reinforce his numbers. This was a para military force comprised mainly of indigenous highlanders, trained by United States Special Forces. They also brought with them two mortars and their crews. At 3.15am on 10 May 1968 some members of the CIDG chose to assist the NVA to attack the fort instead of supporting Mike Force, and close hand to hand fighting followed, along with grenade attacks and heavy machine gun fire. Air support offered a brief respite from the NVA attack, and some NVA forces were pushed back outside the perimeter by counter attacks, but at 9am White contacted Da Nang to advise that his position was untenable. A second attack was imminent and they could not withstand it, so they would have to withdraw. The wounded were evacuated by helicopter (under orders from Major Mai, the NVA had not attacked the previous medical helicopters that collected the wounded under the cover of air strikes) and at 1pm the rest of the force evacuated east, into the jungle. The NVA did not notice their withdrawal, and continued mortar attacks on the fort for another ninety minutes. Seven kilometres from the fort White called for a helicopter withdrawal of his forces. The force was successfully lifted to Kham Duc and then Da Nang.