Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. 18 February 1970. Private (Pte) Darrell Hook of Redcliffe, ...

Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. 18 February 1970. Private (Pte) Darrell Hook of Redcliffe, Qld, passes out a Mosin-Nagant Carbine rifle from enemy weapons cache in a cave in the Long Hai mountains during Operation Hammersley. Pte Hook, a member of C Company, 8th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (8RAR), spotted the cave and suspected cache site during a sweep of the mountains by the Australians. A few days before, the Company had clashed with an estimated company of hard-core Viet Cong. The Australians withdrew and called in air and artillery support. This was stepped up to a three day bombardment of the Long Hai mountains culminating in a raid by the giant B52 bomber aircraft. C Company supported by armour, then swept back through the mountains searching for caches uncovered by the bombing.