The weapon pit in the foreground was one of the pits used by the detachment from Headquarters 1st ...

The weapon pit in the foreground was one of the pits used by the detachment from Headquarters 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF). This weapon pit has been constructed with weather protection provided by light press-studded and eye-letted rubberised sheets known as 'hoochies' rigged over a tensioned cord. Each weapon pit comprised a pair of side-by-side slit trenches, one for each weapon pit occupant. The light overhead cover (roof support timbers, corrugated iron and one course of sandbags) indicate the relatively temporary nature of the defensive position. By day hoochies were normally dropped, but within temporary defensive positions such as fire support bases they could be left in place. Except at stand-to at dawn and last light, or when under attack, soldiers when not otherwise committed would normally rest or sleep on top of the sand-bagged roof over their weapon pits, under the hoochies. The other hoochies indicate the probable presence of weapon pits below. The tents in the background are part of the Headquarters 1ATF (Main) command post. The photograph was taken after the second attack on Fire Support Base (FSB) Coral, before dawn on 16 May 1968. FSB Coral was the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) base for Operation Toan Thang I, within its Area of Operations (AO) Surfers; the FSB included Headquarters 1ATF (Main), with arms and services units supporting the infantry operations of 1RAR and 3RAR within the AO. North Vietnamese Army, (NVA), and Viet Cong, (VC), forces had been moving through the AO as well as adjoining allied AOs to conduct their May offensive against Saigon and were expected to withdraw on the same routes. AO Surfers was centred some 10 km NW of Tan Uyen on the Song Dong Nai, and 30 km NNE of Saigon.