Colin Nicholas Kahn as Commanding Officer 5 RAR interviewed by Greg Swanborough for The sharp end

Scene 37 takes 1 Roll 3. The village of Binh Ba was a well known resupply and staging type of village for North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) troops; the battle shouldn't have taken place. 5RAR was out of the line having just completed an operation the day before and were resting in Nui Dat; armoured vehicles were fired upon by enemy in Binh Ba which alerted the Task Force commander to send in a ready reaction company this being D Company 5RAR which commenced initial operations at Binh Ba under 6RAR; they found many more enemy than they could handle so the Task Force Commander ordered Khan to take the whole of 5RAR out to Binh Ba; the following two days was almost a continuous battle; it was unique battle almost classical armoured infantry action from the Second World War; almost a set piece battle; operation was in a village not the jungle; large number of National Service soldiers particularly in leadership roles and they did brilliantly; the National Servicemen were the cream of the nation and performed magnificently at all times; after a while National Servicemen and regulars became one; describes fighting the enemy within a civilian occupied village; the efforts to clear the civilians out were unique in the annals of warfare; the village chief and I went up in a helicopter and he broadcast a warning to both the enemy and any civilians to clear out an attack was about to take place on hearing civilians at far edge of the village; Australian attack was halted, Vietnamese troops attack they could tell civilians from enemy; we warned the enemy of the attack; Scene 37 Take 2 Roll 3. We were carrying out the directions of our elected government and what we did then was correct.; Kahn currently trying to contact some of my opposite number so we can commence to heal the wounds of war even further; details the purpose and benefit of Centurion tanks in the battle- they saved us there. Scene 37 take 3 Roll 4. On coming home we had a tumultuous reception in Sydney; we dressed our two hundred to three hundred former returned soldiers in uniform with magnificent long hair and beards and they marched with us through Sydney.