Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

Post 1945, South East Asia, Vietnam, 161 Battery Royal New Zealand Artillery, 1966

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Overview

Digital image of photograph showing 105 mm L5 Pack Howitzer, high angle firing

Historical information

In 1966, when the area was part of the then Phước Tuy Province Nui Dat was the location of the 1 Australian Task Force military base in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The site was chosen by Lieutenant General John Wilton in 1966 and was built mainly by men from the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. The occupation of Nui Dat in Operation Hardihood required the removal of all inhabitants from within a 4,000-metre radius of the base in order to ensure the security of the facility. Ultimately this policy—which was an unusual step among allied bases in Vietnam—required the resettlement of the villages of Long Hải, with a population of 1000, and Long Phuoc, with a population of 3000. Both villages were subsequently destroyed and the villagers rehomed in brand new and improved villages built by Australian engineers; a task which was complete by July 1966.
From 1966 until 1972 the Australians and New Zealanders of the 1st Australian Task Force operated out of Nui Dat providing security and protection for the villages of Phước Tuy, while attempting to destroy the Communist forces headquartered in the Mây Tào Mountains and other Communist strongholds in the border areas of Phước Tuy Province, Long Khánh Province and Biên Hòa Province.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-57-619

Contextual Information

The original of this image is in the Collection of the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society of Western Australia.

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

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