Battle of Hat Dich

Battle of Hat Dich
Part of the Vietnam War
An Australian soldier from 9 RAR looking into a Viet Cong bunker during Operation Goodwood, January 1969.
Date 3 December 1968 – 19 February 1969 Location Hat Dich Secret Zone, near Hắc Dịch, South Vietnam Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Australia  New Zealand  South Vietnam  United States  Thailand	Viet Cong  North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Sandy Pearson (ANZAC Only)	Unknown
Units involved
1st Aust Task Force 1 RAR 4 RAR/NZ (ANZAC) 9 RAR 2nd Airborne Taskforce 1 Marine Brigade ARVN 52 Regt 4/12th Inf Battalion 3/11 ACR Royal Thai Army Expeditionary Division	HQ MR 7 274 Regt D440 Bn D445 Bn Thu Duc Regiment
Strength
~10,000 men	Unknown
Casualties and losses
31 killed 21 killed 1 killed	Allied claim: 245 killed 39 possibly killed 17 captured

The Battle of Hat Dich (3 December 1968 − 19 February 1969) was a series of military actions fought between an allied contingent, including the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) during the Vietnam War. Under the code name Operation Goodwood, two battalions from 1 ATF deployed away from their base in Phước Tuy Province, operating against suspected PAVN/VC bases in the Hat Dich area, in western Phước Tuy, south-eastern Biên Hòa and south-western Long Khánh provinces as part of a large allied sweep known as Operation Toan Thang II. The Australians and New Zealanders conducted sustained patrolling throughout the Hat Dich and extensively ambushed tracks and river systems in the Rung Sat Special Zone, occupying a series of fire support bases as operations expanded. Meanwhile, American, South Vietnamese and Thai forces also operated in direct support of the Australians as part of the division-sized action.

On 6 February 1969, two additional battalions from the Thủ Đức VC Regiment were reported to have entered the Hat Dich area and 4 RAR/NZ (ANZAC) which consisted of three Australian and two New Zealand companies, was subsequently redeployed with tanks and armoured personnel carriers in support, resulting in the heaviest contacts of the operation. The fighting lasted 78 days and was one of the longest out of province operations mounted by the Australians and New Zealanders during the war. Although there were few major actions, the fighting resulted in heavy PAVN/VC casualties and forced them to abandon their permanent bases in the Hat Dich, as well as disrupting their preparations for an upcoming offensive during Tết. Immediately following the operation, the ANZACs were redeployed to block the approaches towards key US and South Vietnamese bases in Biên Hòa, Long Binh and Saigon in anticipation of the 1969 Tet offensive, during Operation Federal.