Whose Name We Share

36 Operation Wollongong / Renmark 1967 The battery would continue to support 5 RAR to the west of Nui Dat, along Route 15 and in one instance on Long Son Island, however little is recorded before their participation in Operation Caloundra in January of 1967. Locals in Binh Bah had described Viet Cong moving into the area and another cordon and search was considered over the Christmas period, however the Viet Cong had illusively vanished – so the Task Force stayed their hand until a better opportunity of success presented itself having learnt from its mistakes in Operation Darlinghurst. In the New Year however, the Viet Cong had begun re-establishing a presence in Binh Bah. There were problems with mounting the operations, however and that was the Viet Cong would be very cautious about the presence of Australian troops or any mention of Australian operations. It would take one word to slip out and the Viet Cong would disappear once more. The Operation was made more carefully, first with a search utilising a different route than with Darlinghurst, then by interrogating locals about the Viet Cong. In the end a twelve year old boy would state that he had been carrying messages for the Viet Cong and identified several members in the village. The battery then moved to new position near La Son, a small village, as a part of Operation Wollongong – which was yet another series of patrols conducted by 5RAR. At the end of January, the battery moved to another position North West of Nui Dat for the same operation. 5 RAR would face heavy fire in Operation Renmark, which was a search and destroy-style operation in the Long Hai hills. The battery deployed to two locations during Renmark, first in the wilderness surrounding the hills of Long Hai and then near the village of Hoi My. The artillery fire provided, was accurate, consistent and played a key part in securing the hills of Long Hai. Leftennant Michael Langley was attached to B Company in 5RAR during the operation, acting as an FO. B COY was travelling in APCs, adjacent to a track headed south east. The APCs avoided tracks and roads because of the danger that mines presented. According to the 5RAR Association’s website and the AWM, the lead vehicle suddenly went up in flames – which resulted in multiple casualties as the explosion engulfed the vehicle. The explosion was enough to hurl a twelve tonne vehicle into the air and blew a hole right through the hull. The shockwave was powerful enough to tear the rear door off the APC and the occupants were sent out the back straight after it. Its suspected the explosion was a five hundred pounder, which were known to fail to detonate. When the VC came across these they absolutely added them to their arsenal, crafting homemade pressure plates and utilising them as mines. There’s no way to be sure, but the force of the detonation leads the 5RAR association to believe that this was the case. In response to the explosion, the APCs had swung round in an all-round defensive posture. Their priority was to get to the wounded. A large group, including the acting CSM, made their way to the lead vehicle to tend to the wounded when a second explosion was set off.