Battle of Suoi Chau Pha
The Battle of Suoi Chau Pha (6 August 1967) was fought during the Vietnam War between Australian troops and the Viet Cong. The battle took place during Operation Ballarat, an Australian search and destroy operation in the eastern Hat Dich area, north-west of Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy province. Following a covert insertion the day before which had caught a number of Viet Cong sentries by surprise, A Company, 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7 RAR) had patrolled forward unaware of the presence of a large Viet Cong main force unit nearby. Clashing with a reinforced company from the Viet Cong 3rd Battalion, 274th Regiment, a classic encounter battle ensued between two forces of roughly equal size. Fought at close quarters in dense jungle amid a heavy monsoon rain, both sides suffered heavy casualties as neither was able to gain an advantage. Finally, after a battle lasting several hours, the Australian artillery proved decisive and the Viet Cong were forced to withdraw, dragging many of their dead from the battlefield after having suffered crippling losses.
New Year's Day Battle of 1968
In late 1967, Pope Paul VI had declared 1 January 1968 a day of peace and persuaded the South Vietnamese and the Americans to observe a truce. In a released statement, the Viet Cong (VC) also agreed to observe a 36-hour ceasefire. The 25th Infantry Division had been patrolling the Vietnamese-Cambodian border in Operation Yellowstone to interdict PAVN/VC coming down the Ho Chi Minh trail. The 25th Infantry Division had set up a two-battalion perimeter, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, with artillery from the Cambodian border in Tay Ninh Province outside a village called Soui Cut. The fire support position, named Fire Support Base Burt (), was located near the junction of Highways 244 and 246, close to Black Virgin Mountain. Troops had that day recently set up a landing zone (LZ) for supply helicopters. Once the helicopter pad had been constructed, supplies could be flown in, and on 1 January the 25th Infantry Division's Christmas mail had arrived. Soldiers spent the day opening packages from their families. The battle was known as the Battle of Fire Support Base Burt, or the Battle of Soui Cut.