In June 1971, as Australia was wrapping up its 10-year commitment in the Vietnam War, the Australian Army launched Operation Overlord. The men needed to stop enemy forces from establishing a base in the region of Phuoc Tuy. Working with Kiwi and American troops, the Australians used tanks and helicopters to scout through thick, tangled jungle. On 7 June, they stumbled upon a massive hidden underground base. This sparked the Battle of Long Khanh, where Australian troops were pinned down by heavy fire. The fighting was intense. The enemy managed to slip away into the bush under the cover of night, leaving behind a huge network of bunkers that included sleeping quarters and 'classrooms'. A few days later, more Australians were killed when an armoured vehicle exploded after being hit by a rocket. When the operation ended on 14 June, 10 Australians had died, and over 20 were wounded. It was a final, high-stakes battle for the Australians before they headed home.
Situation in Phuoc Tuy
In mid-June 1971, Australian newspapers reported that the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) in the Republic of South Vietnam had suffered casualties during a major operation against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Vietcong. After almost 10 years, Australia’s commitment to the war in Vietnam was entering its final months, but still the fighting continued.
Since 1966, Australia’s operations in South Vietnam had been concentrated in Phuoc Tuy Province, the Australian area of operations and the site of the Task Force base at Nui Dat and the logistics base at Vung Tau.
As 1ATF was winding down and preparing to hand responsibility for Phuoc Tuy to local South Vietnamese troops, it seemed that NVA and Vietcong forces were planning an offensive in the province. Intelligence reports and Special Air Service (SAS) patrols found that the enemy, described by one SAS veteran of a 1971 tour as ‘very good soldiers, very good fighters’, were concentrating in the area where Phuoc Tuy borders Long Khanh. They were also believed to have moved into Phuoc Tuy and established a base near the Courtenay rubber plantation.
Plan for Operation Overlord
The commander of 1ATF, Brigadier Bruce McDonald, initiated Operation Overlord to prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold in Phuoc Tuy. The operation was named for the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944, with whose anniversary it coincided. Overlord encompassed a large area of territory reaching north from the Courtenay rubber plantation into Long Khanh.
Overlord would involve:
- 2 infantry battalions – the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) and the 4th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment/New Zealand (4RAR/NZ – the ANZAC Battalion)
- one battalion of the United States 1st Air Cavalry Division’s 3rd Brigade
- Australian tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs), artillery, mortars and engineers
- No 9 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
- 161 (Independent) Reconnaissance Flight.
While 3RAR and tanks from C Squadron 1st Armoured Regiment searched the operational area, 4RAR/NZ, along with the United States troops and A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, would act as a blocking force to prevent the enemy from escaping.
This area selected for Operation Overlord was based on signals intelligence indicating that the 3rd Battalion, 33rd NVA Regiment and the D445 Vietcong Battalion were based there and frequently moved from camp to camp.
Late in the day on 6 June 1971, 3RAR discovered a suspect bunker system. 3RAR withdrew to a night defensive position to allow a plan to be developed for a follow-up first-light action against 3rd Battalion, 33rd NVA Regiment, which commenced at 6 am on 7 June and became known as the Battle of Long Khanh.
Start of the operation
Members of 4RAR/NZ moved into their blocking positions early on the morning of 5 June 1971. The next day, the Australians established their main operational headquarters atop the 210 m high Courtenay Hill.
Two of 3RAR’s rifle companies, mounted in APCs, were sent to secure the site of the battalion headquarters about 4 km north of the hill. Another company, with 2 troops of tanks, deployed to a blocking and reserve position in Long Khanh.
Helicopters flew 3RAR’s B Company to the landing zone from which it would begin patrolling the search area. The officers and soldiers were shot at as they came in, while helicopter gunships flew overhead, directing suppressing fire onto the perimeter. As one gunner recalled:
making sure that if there were any heads down there, they were ducking for cover.
As the Australians moved through dense undergrowth, hidden from above by the thick jungle canopy, they saw signs of the enemy’s recent presence and, at times, small groups of enemy troops. One officer said:
Everyone was quite tense as contact was expected at any time.
The Australians had been dropped about 500 m from a large enemy bunker system, and although evidence of enemy activity was clear, the bunkers’ existence only became apparent late in the afternoon – too late to launch an assault.
As they moved towards their night defensive positions, the infantry had some contacts, further evidence of the enemy’s presence in the area.
During the night, mortars and artillery fired on the area in which the bunkers had been located in an attempt to prevent the garrison from slipping away. B Company’s commander recalled later that he expected the enemy to escape:
it was clear that he had been found; he had been targeted by directed artillery and mortar fire with more to come; and other sub-units were being used against him. I believed he would use the night to move away.
Battle of Long Khanh
Early the next morning, after a 30-minute mortar and artillery barrage on the enemy’s position, B Company’s 5 Platoon moved forward.
As the men approached the bunkers shortly before 7 am, a huge number of bullets were fired on the lead section. Two Australian soldiers were seriously wounded, and 2 more were wounded as the fire intensified. The platoon was pinned down just 15 m from the enemy. One soldier recalled:
It was clear we were heavily outnumbered and trapped by the NVA on three sides.
The men returned fire and were ordered to remain where they were until the rest of the company could get to them.
As one section moved forward, keeping the enemy’s heads down while the wounded were rescued, their leader was also hit. Soon afterwards, the forward artillery observer was killed. When dust offs (air ambulance helicopters) reached the scene, they came under heavy fire. This prevented the last of the 5 wounded from being winched out.
At the same time, tanks were moving to attack the bunkers from the rear. No 9 Squadron and United States Army helicopter gunships joined the fighting, firing their rockets into enemy positions several metres from the beleaguered infantry.
After 2 hours of intense fighting, 2 more platoons came up to provide support, but the tanks were still engaged in the bunker system a few hundred metres away.
They fought their way into the complex as fire from United States gunships burst ahead of them. One troop commander recalled that the air strike improved visibility, but he said:
There were so many bunkers … we didn’t have enough ammunition to engage them all
Early in the afternoon, the tanks were joined by infantry. The sweep continued, but as the soldiers moved over ground already cleared by the tanks, they found only empty bunkers.
Less than 400 m away, the battle continued around the B Company position. One resupply helicopter had managed to get some ammunition to the infantry, but a second attempt ended in disaster when the helicopter was hit by enemy fire, turned on its side and crashed in flames. The pilot and door gunner were killed, and the 2 other crewmen were wounded.
By the time the tanks and infantry resumed their advance later in the afternoon, the enemy had escaped.
About 300 m south of the scene of the armoured assault, infantry found more empty bunkers. Warm cooking fires, uneaten meals and tracks leading away from the complex indicated very recent occupation. The enemy was making a successful withdrawal, and it seemed that after 8 hours of fighting, those who had inflicted so much damage on the Australians had been carrying out a holding action as the main body slipped away.
The following day, a search revealed an extensive bunker system that included:
- training areas
- lecture rooms
- dressing stations
- sleeping bays for more than 120 people
- assault courses.
It took engineers the best part of 4 days to destroy the complex. The Australians found just 3 enemy bodies, along with evidence that others had been wounded in the fighting.
As was so often the case, no one could be certain how many NVA or Vietcong had become casualties. The fighting in the bunkers had killed 3 Australians and left 10 others wounded. The officer commanding 5 Platoon, which had borne the worst of the battle that day, recognised that the survivors had been ‘lucky to get out of that with our lives’.
Over the following days, as they searched likely enemy escape routes, rifle companies had some fleeting contacts, but there was little sign of the enemy.
The fighting around the bunkers was over, but Overlord continued.
On the morning of 12 June, 3 APCs carrying a 12-man infantry section were patrolling along the western edge of the Courtenay rubber plantation. When the lead APC slowed to avoid an artillery illumination canister lying on the track, the column came under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire. Then the rear vehicle exploded, showering those in front with metal shards and shattered equipment. Thick black smoke billowed from the vehicle.
Inside the stricken APC, the driver and crew commander were dead. Five of the men riding on top were killed; the other 3 were severely wounded.
Other APC crews heard the explosion from 500 m away and were ordered to the scene. They arrived to find what remained of the burning vehicle and the distressing sight of body parts on the ground. Helicopter gunships were called in, and dust offs carried the wounded and dead away.
It seemed at first that an enemy soldier had got close enough to throw a satchel bomb into the carrier, but it turned out that an RPG round had hit a claymore mine fastened to the APC’s turret, detonating about a dozen others.
Five hours later, and some 400 m away, other APCs came under attack as well. One was penetrated by an RPG round, wounding the crew commander and driver. Another crew commander was wounded when his APC was also hit.
The Australians returned fire as helicopter gunships flew in support. The enemy withdrew before a napalm strike incinerated the area. An APC driver remembered it as ‘the day we got our arse kicked’.
Operation Overlord ended on 14 June 1971.
The enemy had been driven from base areas in Phuoc Tuy and could no longer consider the border between Phuoc Tuy and Long Khanh a sanctuary. The Task Force’s combat elements had been engaged for 10 days and confirmed the deaths of 6 enemy.
Twenty-two Australian soldiers were wounded, and 8 had been killed, while the No 9 Squadron, RAAF, had suffered 2 deaths and had 2 more airmen wounded.
Overlord was 3RAR’s most significant contact during its 1971 tour. At least 6 Australians received decorations for their part in the operation and battle, with one Mentioned in Dispatches.
Glossary
- dust off