Attempt to trap the Viet Cong (VC) D445 Battalion. 105mm M2A2 guns of the 101 Field Battery Royal ...

Attempt to trap the Viet Cong (VC) D445 Battalion. 105mm M2A2 guns of the 101 Field Battery Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) at Fire Support Base Baton, softening up a landing zone (LZ) before the Diggers go in to cordon and search the area where VC D445 Battalion were supposedly located. The Viet Cong soldier talking with the Australian is Lieutenant (Lt) Nguyen Van Nhuong, the ex Company Commander of Company 2, D445 Battalion, who Chieu Hoi’d to the Aussies and gave the locations of the D445 Companies. The Australian officer is 215835 Lt. Ernest Patrick Chamberlain, of Balgowlah Heights, NSW, and he is the liaison Officer at the Phuoc Tuy Province Military Headquarters. The VC in black pyjamas, being carried by the Digger is Nguyen Van Sac, of Dat Do, he was captured by the 2/48th ARVN Battalion during the initial stage of the sweep through the areas designated as being D445 company areas by Nguyen Van Nhuong. The other images are general shots of the New Zealanders who went into the fray against the D445 areas only to find the Viet Cong had left, in great haste leaving booby traps, food and ammunition.