Operations east of Saigon June to Oct 1967

Hát Dịch secret zone (mật khu Hát Dịch, chiến khu Hát Dịch) was an area within

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

. It covered the area where the borders of Phước Tuy,

Long Khánh Long Khánh is a city of Đồng Nai Province in the Southeast region of Vietnam. It covers an area of 194 km² and had a population of 171,276 in 2019. Long Khánh city's predecessor was Long Khánh town A town is a human settlem ...

and

Biên Hòa Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam and part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area and located about east of Ho Chi Minh City, to which Biên Hòa is linked by Vietnam Hig ...

Provinces met (today in Đồng Nai and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Provinces). During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, the area was the headquarters for the

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

(VC) 274th Regiment and was known as the Hat Dich secret zone and Base Area 301. From Hát Dịch, the VC could harass

Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

, the main supply route between

and Xuân Lộc District and all points further north. They could also interdict Highway 15 to

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is the largest city of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province in southern Vietnam. The city area is , consists of 13 urban wards and one commune of Long Sơn Islet. Vũng Tàu was the capital of the pr ...

, Highway 2 into Phước Tuy Province and

Highway 20 Route 20, or Highway 20, may refer to: International * European route E20 Australia * Sturt Highway (NSW/VIC/SA) * Yarra Bank Highway Brazil * BR-020 Canada * Alberta Highway 20 * British Columbia Highway 20 * Manitoba Highway 20 *New B ...

Da Lat Da Lat (also written as Dalat, vi, Đà Lạt; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbian Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mos ...

. In the first week of December 1968, the

1st Australian Task Force The 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was a brigade-sized formation which commanded Australian and New Zealand Army units deployed to South Vietnam between 1966 and 1972. 1 ATF was based in a rubber plantation at Nui Dat, north of Bà Rịa i ...

which consisted of Australian and New Zealand forces launched ''

Operation Goodwood Operation Goodwood was a British offensive during the Second World War, which took place between 18 and 20 July 1944 as part of the larger battle for Caen in Normandy, France. The objective of the operation was a limited attack to the south, ...

'' in response to intelligence obtained that suggested a Tet offensive for 1969 was being planned. U.S, Thai, and South Vietnamese forces were put under 1 ATF command to seek out and destroy the Communist forces in the Hat Dich secret zone. After 78 days ''Operation Goodwood'' concluded on 19 February. Australian casualties in ''Goodwood'' amounted to 21 killed and 91 wounded. South Vietnamese casualties amounted to 31 killed and 81 wounded. One New Zealander was killed with no others wounded. The Americans suffered seven wounded. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong losses amounted to at least 245 killed, 39 possibly killed, 45 wounded and 17 captured, during 274 separate contacts. Nearly 2,000 bunkers were uncovered and many destroyed, while more than 280 rocket propelled grenades, 70 anti-personnel mines, 490 grenades and 450 pounds of explosives were captured overall.. Although there were few major actions, the operation was considered a success by 1 ATF Command and the VC were forced to abandon their permanent bases in the Hat Dich as a result.

References

Geography of Vietnam Base areas of the Viet Cong {{Vietnam-geo-stub

See also

References