Battle of Binh Ba

Battle of Binh Ba
Part of the Vietnam War

Australian troops and armour during Operation Hammer.
Date6–8 June 1969
Location
Result Australian victory
Belligerents
Viet Cong
 North Vietnam
 Australia
 South Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Colin Khan
Units involved
D440 Battalion
North Vietnam 33rd Regiment

5 RAR
1st Armoured Regiment

3 Cavalry Regiment 105th Medium Battery
No. 9 Squadron RAAF
Strength
Two Companies, Light Infantry Two infantry companies
Casualties and losses
Australians claim: 107 killed
6 wounded
8 captured[1]
1 killed
10 wounded[1]

The Battle of Binh Ba (6–8 June 1969), also known as Operation Hammer, took place during the Vietnam War. The action occurred when Australian Army troops from the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) fought a combined force of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC), including a company from the PAVN 33rd Regiment and elements of the VC D440 Battalion, in the village of Bình Ba, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy Province. The battle was unusual in Australian combat experience in South Vietnam as it involved fierce close-quarter house-to-house fighting, although the majority of enemy killed was through heavy artillery and air-bombardment. In response to PAVN/VC attempts to capture Binh Ba the Australians assaulted the village with infantry, armour and helicopter gunships, routing the VC and largely destroying the village itself. Such battles were not the norm in Phuoc Tuy, however, and the heavy losses suffered by the PAVN/VC forced them to temporarily leave the province. Although the Australians did encounter PAVN/VC Main Force units in the years to come, the battle marked the end of such large-scale clashes, and ranks as one of the major Australian victories of the war.

  1. ^ a b McKay & Nicholas 2001, p. 212.