Long Dien relief DPR/TV/902

Australian troops in Vietnam last week battled with more than one hundred Viet Cong who attempted to take over the village of Long Dien, about ten miles south of the Task Force base at Nui Dat. The attack coincided with similar offensives against other towns and villages throughout South Vietnam. This was the scene early the following morning when Australian troops, supported by Centurion tanks and armoured personnel carriers, swept into the village. The inhabitants...most of them women and children...were ordered out of their houses and along the main road to safety. The Viet Cong, who made their raid in the early hours of the morning, were concentrated in the centre of the village at the market place and on the outskirts of the built-up area. South Vietnamese troops and their American advisers fought alongside Australians from the 1st Battalion as they began to drive the enemy out. For two days before the attack, Australian troops had been positioned close to Long Dien in anticipation of an enemy move. There had been no significant action in Phuoc Tuy Province for over a week, but intelligence reports indicated that the Viet Cong were preparing to launch a major attack. While two companies of the 1st Battalion fought at close range with large groups of Viet Cong just outside the village, the armoured units took up positions in the market place to ensure that no enemy could break out. United States helicopter gunships were called in to break up enemy concentrations within the village. Down a side street, the tanks and armoured personnel carriers were deployed in support of infantry as they made contact with groups of Viet Cong trying to escape. Fighting continued throughout the day...but with darkness, contact with the enemy was lost. An intensive sweep of the area next morning revealed nine shallow graves in which the Viet Cong had buried eleven of their dead. Twenty-nine enemy soldiers were confirmed killed during the fighting, but heavy blood trails and numerous drag marks indicated that other bodies had been removed. Australian casualties amounted to thirteen wounded of whom three remained on duty and two returned to their units the following day. Identified are: crew of Centurion tank 33A (ARN 169196) of 'C' Squadron 1 Armoured Regiment 16782 Sergeant Jack (Jock) McConnell (in the turret behind the.30 Calibre Browning Machine gun) and beside him is 3791916 Trooper Arthur John Booker.