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 area, border of the Bien Hoa, Long Khanh and Phuoc Tuy provinces, South Vietnam Result Anti-Communist victory
Belligerents
Australia  New Zealand  United States  South Vietnam  Thailand	Viet Cong  North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
Sandy Pearson	Unknown
Units involved
1st Aust Task Force 1 RAR 4 RAR/NZ (ANZAC) 9 RAR 4/12th Inf Bn 3/11 ACR 2 Airborne Bde A Marine Bde 52 ARVN Regt Royal Thai Army Volunteer Force	HQ MR 7 274 Regt D440 Bn D445 Bn Thu Duc Regiment
Strength
~10,000 men	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Australia: 21 killed 91 wounded South Vietnam: 31 killed 81 wounded New Zealand: 1 killed US: 7 wounded	245 killed 39 possibly killed 45 wounded 17 captured

1st Aust Task Force

HQ MR 7

The Battle of Hat Dich (3 December 1968 − 19 February 1969) was a series of military actions fought between Australian and New Zealand forces of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) and the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Under the codename Operation Goodwood, two battalions from 1 ATF deployed away from their base in Phuoc Tuy Province, operating against suspected communist bases in the Hat Dich area, in western Phuoc Tuy, south-eastern Bien Hoa and south-western Long Khanh 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.

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