Incident during Christmas truce DPR/TV/997

At fire support base Julia in Phuoc Tuy Province, Xmas dinner for the Australian soldiers was rudely interrupted when Viet Cong fired a rocket at a US vehicle travelling along Route 15 about one mile from the base. Within minutes dinner was forgotten as tanks of C Squadron 1st Armoured Regiment, armoured personnel carriers of A Squadron 3rd Cavalry Regiment and infantry soldiers of the Task Force Headquarters defence platoon scrambled to respond to the attack. Because of the action of the Viet Cong, civilian traffic was held up on both sides of the danger area and one of the tasks of the Australian force was to secure both sides of the road and clear any enemy from the area. With spotter aircraft overhead, the armoured column passed the damaged US jeep with its slightly injured driver and swept across open country in its search for any enemy. As the aircraft sighted movement in the dense scrub to the front of the armoured personnel carriers, the area was engaged with fire from the vehicles. A subsequent sweep of the area by the infantry located tracks of a small group of enemy who apparently fled immediately after they had fired upon the US vehicle. Nothing further was found. With the road once again secure, the Australians returned to Julia to their interrupted Xmas dinner.