Books
Phase
Australian Operations in Phước Tuy Province
1966–1972 CE
Australia established its principal Vietnam War base at Nui Dat in Phước Tuy Province in 1966. Infantry battalions, armoured personnel carriers, artillery, engineers and aviation units carried out patrols, cordon-and-search missions and larger sweeps intended to separate Viet Cong units from local bases and supply networks.
The province became the defining operational area for the 1st Australian Task Force. Fighting included ambushes, bunker clearances, mine warfare and cooperation with American and South Vietnamese forces, while the dispersed population and long-established insurgent infrastructure made military control difficult to measure.
