Battle of Binh Ba

Battle of Binh Ba
Part of the Vietnam War
Australian troops and armour during Operation Hammer.
Date 6–8 June 1969 Location Binh Ba, Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam Result Australian victory
Belligerents
Viet Cong  North Vietnam	Australia  South Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Colin Khan
Units involved
D440 Battalion 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.