Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) medical staff. including Captain Shirley Southwell ...

Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) medical staff. including Captain Shirley Southwell (second from left) and other members of the Army attend Australian wounded and sick Diggers being loaded into ambulances to be transferred to a RAAF Medevac flight to Australia from the Vung Tau Air Base. This was the fourth largest ever to leave Vietnam with Australian and New Zealand wounded and sick. A total of 24 litter cases and 12 walking cases were on the flight. Most of the casualties had come from the heavy contacts involving 8th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR) in the Long Hai hills, 10 miles south east of the 1st Australian Task Force Base (1ATF). The enemy suffered 39 killed and an unknown number of wounded in the contacts, while Australian casualties were two 2 killed and 18 wounded. The casualties came from five different fighting corps; 8RAR, B Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment, B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Field Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers and 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery and one civilian war correspondent (Graham McInerney, of Adelaide, SA.)