A sand bagged gun pit with 'C' gun, 105 Field Battery, at the 1st Australian Task Force Base, Nui ...

A sand bagged gun pit with 'C' gun, 105 Field Battery, at the 1st Australian Task Force Base, Nui Dat. The gun is an Italian made (OTO-Melara) 105 mm L5 Pack Howitzer, a type used by Australian artillery units since 1963 and during the early years of the Vietnam war. They were light enough to be lifted by a UH-1 Iroquois helicopter and could be transported inside an M113A1 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC). To make these guns lighter and more manoeuvrable, the protective shields were generally removed, as shown here. To the left of the gun pit is the canvas covered ammunition bay, a below ground bunker, used to store the 105 mm rounds. The gun is resting on perforated sheets of steel matting to prevent it from sinking into soft ground during the wet season and tent lines are visible in the background. The L5 Pack Howitzer could fire a variety of shell types, including high explosive, high explosive squash head, smoke and illumination out to a maximum range of 10,000 metres. This gun fired in support of Australian troops in 1965 - 1966, including the battle of Long Tan, and is now part of the National Collection held by the Australian War Memorial.