Cordon and search Hoa Long DPR/TV/1015

Three Australian soldiers were killed and five wounded accidentally during this cordon and search of the Village of Hoa Long, within sight of the Australian Task Force Base at Nui Dat, in Phuoc Tuy Province of South Vietnam. The village had been selected as the setting for the first cordon and search operation by 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, following its arrival in South Vietnam last month. After the cordon was thrown up around the village, its residents were moved to a compound near the main gate where they were screened by Australian soldiers and South Vietnamese officials. Although several people were detained for closer questioning most of the villagers moved on to receive medical treatment. Several people were treated for ear infections. During the operation the village was visited by the Commander of the 1st Australian Task Force, Brigadier C. M. I. Pearson, who flew in by helicopter from his forward headquarters in the Bien Hoa Province. All the while the cordon was maintained by the Australians. However, it did not prevent the accident in which three of their comrades died and five others were wounded after they detonated mines laid for the protection of a South Vietnamese regional military post and were mistakenly fired upon by the South Vietnamese. (Also identified: Corporal Stephen Hemming of Woody Point, Qld).