Unidentified members of 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), on patrol somewhere ...

Unidentified members of 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), on patrol somewhere in Phuoc Tuy Province. Some of the men are inspecting a deactivated anti personnel mine which had been placed near a jungle trail by the Viet Cong (VC). According to a newspaper report published in the Sydney SUN, on 30 November 1966, these soldiers made contact with a single Viet Cong (VC) fighter, who immediately dropped his weapon (a Mosin Nagant Model 1944 carbine, visible, extreme left) and ran to detonate an anti personnel mine from a remote location. The photographer Sean Flynn, who was travelling with the Australian patrol, began to photograph the unfolding event when he discovered the mine (partially visible left, foreground) which was wired and ready to detonate. Flynn shouted "Claymore!" whereupon the patrol leader raced to the mine, ripping out the wiring before the VC could detonate it. Other members of the patrol pursued the fugitive VC into the jungle, where he was shot dead. The Australians suffered no casualties and are seen here after the contact. They are armed with a variety of weapons, including two M79, 40 mm grenade launchers (left and centre), a 9 mm L9A1 pistol (holstered, left), several 7.62 mm L1A1 self-loading rifles (right) and a 5.56 mm M16A1 automatic rifle (background). One of the soldiers (right) has two 100 round belts of linked 7.62 mm ammunition slung around his chest.