Armoured cavalry move out on patrol DPR/TV/716

Armoured personnel carriers from "A" Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, checked jungle verges along the South China Sea on Operation Kenmore in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. Carrying members of the Australian Task Forces' Defence and Employment Platoon they sped along beaches and edged their way across small inlets to check areas where Viet Cong had been reported. It was an early start for the patrol, but after they had dashed along the beach, it was not long before carriers had pushed into thick jungle of their operational area. During the patrol in Ho Tram Cape area 18 miles to the northeast of the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat, there were few signs to show VC had used the area recently. Once the carriers stopped while a soldier checked a suspicious object under a tree, but it turned out to be part of an aircraft canister. Before moving on, Troop commander, Captain Rod Earl, of Asquith, Sydney (NSW), checked a map and passed orders to the remainder of his small force. The APCs pushed on and knocked over trees to make a path. However one carrier ventured too close to a swamp and bogged. Other carriers extricated it by using tow ropes. The patrol over, and with little evidence to show that V.C. had been living in the area, the infantry reboarded. The carriers moved into a fire support base, manned by gunners from 108th Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery, on the beach. before the battery opened fire in support of infantry battalions which were patrolling farther inland, troops from the D and E platoon disembarked as more carriers moved into the area.