3 RAR's first Vietnam operation DPR/TV/767

Wind and dust whipped up by landing helicopters, gave troops of the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, their first taste of action since their arrival in Vietnam late last month. The troops were air-lifted on their first operation, code-named Balaclava - a one day mission held at the weekend. The helicopters, piloted by United States airmen and Australian Navy pilots, unloaded the troops at a disused airstrip in the Binh Ba rubber plantation, seven miles north of the Task Force base at Nui Dat. Once they had arrived a thorough and systematic sweep of the plantation began. Four rifle companies moved cautiously in an area where, only three weeks earlier, two Australian advisors and four Vietnamese soldiers were ambushed and killed. The assignment was a tough one for the newcomers. But the men have been well trained, and a wary eye was kept for snipers. All rubber workers had to be questioned and although most appeared innocent, it was possible they could have been Viet Cong or Viet Cong sympathisers. Private Rodney Walker of Gympie, Qld, checks the identity card of one worker. The sweep indicated the plantation was free of Viet Cong, so the troops headed back to the landing strip for their return to Nui Dat. With the operation successfully completed the ever-reliable helicopters took only minutes to pick up the troops and fly them back to relative safety at Nui Dat. Identified personnel: Lieutenant Norm Peatling, of Heightt, Melbourne; Signalman Private Peter Clark of Strathmore, Melbourne; Corporal Roger Saunders, of Manly; Private Rodney Walker, of Gympie, Qld.