The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
While American armoured vehicles patrol the area surrounding Tram Bong Village, in Bien Hoa Province, Vietnam, Australian troops and Vietnamese civilians are working together to rebuild homes destroyed in a recent Viet Cong action. About 100 homes in the village were destroyed, in a fight to dislodge enemy troops who had occupied the area. Australian officers and village councillors inspected prospective sites for new houses, to replace those that had been burned out by the Viet Cong during savage street fighting. The Australian Task Force Commander, Brigadier Ron Hughes of Stafford Heights, Qld, inspected the village after the Viet Cong had been driven off, and commented, "It was one of the most depressing sights I have ever seen." After suitable building sites had been selected by the Australians and Vietnamese village officials, the construction work got under way and Australian Engineers began unloading prefabricated housing sections from a fleet of trucks. No time was wasted in the construction work, and in 10 days more than 60 homes have been erected. The work is being carried out by members of 1st Field Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers, who are constructing the timber frame houses at the rate of one every hour and a half. As an indication of the esteem in which the Australians are held, hundreds of children mill around the construction site shouting "Uc Dai Loi (Australians) Number One - Viet Cong Number 10." (also identified: Captain Viv Morgan of Three Springs, WA; Second Lieutenant Terry Properjohn of Lindisfarne, Tas; Sapper Peter MacDonald of South Perth, WA; Sapper Brian Hopkins of Victoria Park, WA)
Task Force base at Nui Dat, Vietnam has been given an official name and Diggers of the Task Force are spending most of their spare time improving the hamlet and helping the villagers to become settled
Australian troops, tanks and armoured personnel carriers swept through Hoa Long village in Phuoc Tuy province this week seeking a group of Viet Cong who entered the village in the early hours of the d
In a combined Australian and Vietnamese project, the civil affairs unit with the Australian Task Force in Vietnam, has been given the task of building 139 houses in the Long Dien district. The houses
Trang Bom, South Vietnam. 1968-02. Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt) Terry Properjohn of Lindisfarne, Tas, is surrounded by Vietnamese children at Trang Bom village in Bien Hoa Province. 2nd Lt Properjohn, a
Troops of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, moved into the village of Hoa Long at first light to start the search which followed recent reports of Viet Cong activity in the village. It was
Troops of the 5th Battalion, RAR, moved in at night to surround a Viet Cong dominated village. The troops tied themselves together with ropes to avoid losing contact during the night manoeuvres. At
