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Phuoc Tuy Province


'Perfect terrain for guerilla warfare'. Lance Corporal Robert Slater of Holsworthy, NSW searches vehicle loads for weapons or explosives at a road block check opposite the base area of 5RAR.

By 1966, when Australian troops moved into Phuoc Tuy Province, the area was controlled by the Viet Cong. The Australians' role involved setting up check points, clearing villages and controlling the transport of food, weapons and medical support to Viet Cong forces as well as their involvement in patrols and combat operations.  [AWM COL/67/0082/VN]

The first Australians deployed to Vietnam were members of the Australian Army Training Team who were dispersed throughout the country. They were followed by members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) who served in Bien Hoa Province with the United States 173 Airborne Brigade. However, Australia’s Chief of Army, Lieutenant General John Wilton, was keen both to field a force that could operate independently of United States forces, and to provide additional troops in support of the fight against the Viet Cong.

Wilton believed that deploying an Australian task force would achieve both these aims as well as allowing Australian soldiers to fight the war according to their own doctrine and techniques. The Government agreed and the expansion of Australian forces in Vietnam to a task force was approved on 8 March 1966.

Phuoc Tuy province was selected as the site of the task force base. Lying on South Vietnam’s southern coast, three quarters of Phuoc Tuy, in 1966, was covered with rainforest and grassland. There were hilly and mountainous areas but much of the province was flat. Those areas under farmland were mainly used to cultivate rice, Phuoc Tuy’s main industry, along with rubber. From a military point of view, the province was a suitable size for task force operations and it had access to the sea through the port of Vung Tau, which could serve as a logistics base.

A member of the 1st Australian Task Force checks for weapons and supplies being smuggled to local Viet Cong cadres 1966
Sapper Ken Lowdon of Vic climbs onto his bulldozer
Members of 1ATF close in on a known Viet Cong house during Operation New Life, December 1965
South Vietnamese troops march through Vung Tau, 1968
An APC patrols through a hamlet, Phuoc Tuy, 1969

Members of the Anzac battalion instructing troops on the loading of an M79 grenade launcher

Members of the Anzac battalion, 6RAR/NZ (ANZAC) instructing troops from the 3/43 Battalion, 18th Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), on the loading of an M79 grenade launcher at Horseshoe Hill, near Nui Dat, September 1969. [AWM COM/69/0623/VN].

The South Vietnamese Government’s authority over Phuoc Tuy was limited almost entirely to the provincial capital Ba Ria. In the countryside, the Viet Cong had built up an extensive cadre and political organisation that reached into every town and village. The province’s roads were dangerous, subject to ambush and passable only with heavy escort. The Viet Cong had established bases in Phuoc Tuy’s mountains and jungles. Military estimates placed the number of communist troops in the province at about 5,000. These troops relied on the support of many of Phuoc Tuy’s villages.

Related content

Phuoc Tuy Province map indicating province boundary, district boundary, minefield and rubber plantations

Map of Phuoc Tuy Province.

PDF icon II Field Force Vietnam booklet (pdf 4.83 MB) (4.83 MB)

Australia’s Task Force in Vietnam operated under the command of the United States II Field Force Vietnam, a corps-level headquarters. This booklet was provided to soldiers serving with II Field Force, including Australians. [AWM PR30502]

PDF icon The Commander’s Diary Narrative (pdf 572.58 KB) (572.58 KB)

The Commander’s Diary Narrative, 1-31 May 1966, pp 4-9 records the early days of the First Australian Task Force in South Vietnam. The complete file can be read on the Australian War Memorial website. [AWM 95 Item 1/4/1/ - Headquarters Ist Australian Task Force]

Captain Anthony Williams interview

Captain Anthony Williams, Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, 7 RAR, Australians at War Film Archive, Interview No.1751

Captain Anthony Williams, RMO, 7RAR, served in Vietnam between 8 April 1967 and 9 January 1968. He was asked whether he had ever treated any enemy soldiers during his service in Vietnam.

Vietnam Scene [AWM F03412]

This excerpt from a longer Defence Public Relations film shows scenes of Vietnamese people going about their daily lives apparently in peace, despite the presence of military vehicles in some shots. Helping to establish this peace, says the films narrator, are the Australians whose bases at Vung Tau and Nui Dat appear in the film which also shows Australian soldiers carrying out their routine duties.

Interview 1 Lieutenant Peter Aspinall

Lieutenant Peter Aspinall, 5RAR, Australians at War Film Archive, Interview No.1972

Lieutenant Peter Aspinall, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, 5RAR, describes his feelings about being posted to Vietnam, his departure from Australia and arrival at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport and then Vung Tau in May 1966. Aspinall served in Vietnam from 14 May 1966 until 7 February 1967.

Interview 2 Lieutenant Peter Aspinall

Lieutenant Peter Aspinall, 5RAR, Australians at War Film Archive, Interview No.1972

Lieutenant Peter Aspinall, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, 5RAR, describes his departure from Australia and arrival at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport and then Vung Tau in May 1966. Aspinall served in Vietnam from 14 May 1966 until 7 February 1967.

Interview 3 Lieutenant Peter Aspinall

Lieutenant Peter Aspinall, 5RAR, Australians at War Film Archive, Interview No.1972

Lieutenant Peter Aspinall, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, 5RAR, describes his departure from Australia and arrival at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport and then Vung Tau in May 1966. Aspinall served in Vietnam from 14 May 1966 until 7 February 1967.

Interview 2 Sergeant Bob Buick

Sergeant Bob Buick, 6RAR, Australians at War Film Archive, Interview No.2181

Sergeant Bob Buick, 6RAR, describing the battalion’s arrival in Phuoc Tuy Province.

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