Operation Lancaster II was a
U.S. Marine Corps security operation that took place in northern
Quảng Trị Province from 20 January to 23 November 1968 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 operation followed on directly from
Operation Lancaster
Operation Lancaster was a U.S. Marine Corps operation that took place in northern Quảng Trị Province from November 1967 to January 20, 1968.
Background
In November 1967, the Operation Kingfisher, Kingfisher Tactical Area of Operations (TAOR) ...
. The Marines patrolled aggressively. The response of the
People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...
(PAVN) was mixed; Prolonged lulls alternated with fierce fighting. Broadly the Marines felt that they were successful in maintaining the supply route to Ca Lu, at the terminus of
Route 9, and in, at least intermittently, disrupting PAVN communications.
The operation ended with the Lancaster operational area being absorbed into the
Scotland II and
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
operational areas. By the close of the operation the Marines had lost 359 killed; they calculated that PAVN fatalities were in excess of 1,800.
Background
U.S. involvement in 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 ...
escalated from 1960 under President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, with troop levels gradually surging from just under a thousand in 1959 to 16,000 in 1963.
President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
authorization to increase U.S. military presence, deploying ground
combat units for the first time and increasing troop levels to 184,000.
Every year onward there was significant build-up despite little progress. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on
air superiority
Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...
and overwhelming firepower to conduct
search and destroy
Search and destroy, seek and destroy, or simply S&D is a military strategy best known for its employment in the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. The strategy consists of inserting ground forces into hostile territory, ''search''ing out ...
operations, involving
ground forces
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
,
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
and
airstrike
An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...
s.
Prelude
Following the conclusion of
Operation Lancaster
Operation Lancaster was a U.S. Marine Corps operation that took place in northern Quảng Trị Province from November 1967 to January 20, 1968.
Background
In November 1967, the Operation Kingfisher, Kingfisher Tactical Area of Operations (TAOR) ...
on 20 January 1968, the
2nd Battalion, 9th Marines
2nd Battalion, 9th Marines (2/9) was an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War I, the unit played an instrumental role in the defeat of the Japanese forces in the Battles of Guam and Iwo Jima during World ...
and the
3rd Battalion, 9th Marines
The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines (3/9) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War I it served until the early 1990s when it was redesignated as 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) during a realignment and ren ...
continued the operation in the same area now under the command of Col. William L. Dick's
4th Marine Regiment
The 4th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Based at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, it is part of the 3rd Marine Division of the III Marine Expeditionary Force.
Mission
Close with and destroy the enemy by fi ...
.
The Lancaster operational area included the Marine bases at
Camp Carroll
Camp Carroll (also known as Artillery Plateau, Firebase Tan Lam and Hill 241) was a United States Marine Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) artillery base during the Vietnam War. It was located 8 km southwest of Cam Lộ, Qu ...
(headquarters for the 4th Marine Regiment),
Ca Lu Combat Base
Ca Lu Combat Base (Vietnamese: ''Cà Lu'') was an Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and United States Marine Corps base located on Highway or Route 9, near Krông Klang, Đa Krông District, western Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam. ...
and
The Rockpile
The Rockpile (also known as Elliot Combat Base) and known in Vietnamese as Thon Khe Tri, is a solitary karst rock outcropping north of Route 9 and south of the former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Its relatively inaccessible location, re ...
and the main security responsibility was to keep
Route 9 open to Ca Lu.
[
]
Operation
January
On 20 January People's Army of Vietnam
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...
(PAVN) artillery and rockets firing from across the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) it became important as t ...
(DMZ) hit Camp Carroll causing little damage. At 13:30 on 24 January elements of the PAVN 320th Division ambushed a Marine "Rough Rider" convoy on Route 9, from Camp Carroll (). The 4th Marines at Camp Carroll sent a reaction force of Company H 2/9 Marines, 2 M48s and an M67 Flame Thrower Tank
The Flame Thrower Tank M67 (also known as M67 "Zippo", nicknamed after a popular brand of cigarette lighter) is an American flame tank that was briefly used by the U.S. Army, and later by the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. It was the ...
from Company B, 3rd Tank Battalion
The 3rd Tank Battalion (3rd Tanks) was an armor battalion of the United States Marine Corps. It was formed during World War II and played a part in several Pacific island battles, most notably Iwo Jima, where its flame tanks played a key role i ...
and 2 M42 Duster
The M42 40 mm Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, or "Duster," is an American armored light air-defense gun built for the United States Army from 1952 until December 1960, in service until 1988. Production of this vehicle was performed by the ...
s from Company C, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment
The 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an Air Defense Artillery regiment of the United States Army, first constituted in 1918 in the Regular Army during World War I. During World War II the unit served as the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment
L ...
to assist the convoy. The PAVN were ready for the reaction force and immobilized the lead M48 with recoilless rifle
A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...
fire killing the company commander. The Marines engaged the PAVN who only withdrew at 18:30 with the arrival of two UH-1E
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of the prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below.
XH-40 and YH-40
The fir ...
helicopter gunships overhead. The Marines lost eight dead while only three PAVN were killed.[
]3rd Marine Division
The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together with th ...
commander MG Rathvon M. Tompkins responded to this threat to Route 9 by transferring 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines to the Lancaster area of operations to sweep Route 9. On the afternoon of 24 January the 3/4 Marines command group was landed at Camp Carroll and by 19:00 Company M, 3/4 Marines had established a perimeter at the ambush site.[ At 06:30 on 25 January Company M left its night defensive position and a platoon established a defensive position on a hill overlooking Route 9 (named "Mike's Hill") () while the rest of the Company policed the ambush site recovering 4 Marine dead. At 09:15 the Marines at the ambush site were hit by PAVN machine gun fire losing two Marines killed, the Marines quickly overran the PAVN position killing three and capturing a light machine gun. Company M then returned to its hilltop defensive position and Companies I and L arrived later that day forming a defensive perimeter on both side of Route 9 which the PAVN proceeded to mortar throughout the night. On 26 January the 3/4 Marines discovered that during the night the PAVN had destroyed the bridge over the Cam Lộ River just east of their night defensive position, they patrolled around Route 9 recovering abandoned PAVN equipment and then formed 3 night defensive positions on hills overlooking Route 9, including Mike's Hill. During the night of 26/27 January Company M on Mike's Hill could hear PAVN soldiers talking as they moved around the position. At 05:00 the PAVN attacked Mike's Hill from 3 sides in what was described as a "wild melee" that continued into the afternoon. The Marines on Mike's Hill fought back using up much of their ammunition while the other companies on the nearby hills supported them with mortar fire. A Company M ambush squad at the site of the destroyed bridge was surrounded and had to be rescued by Company L which killed 23 PAVN and captured three. Later that afternoon as Company I moved 1 km east to join up with Company L at the bridge site it was ambushed by an entrenched PAVN company and called for reinforcements. With the addition of the reserve platoon and the support of UH-1E gunships, Company I overran the PAVN position and joined up with Company L. The Marines had lost 21 dead while more than 130 PAVN had been killed and three 57mm recoilless rifles, two 60mm mortars and 33 ]AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
s captured. On 28 January 3/4 Marines continued to patrol Route 9 finding a tunnel complex containing PAVN dead, after destroying this complex 3/4 Marines returned to Camp Carroll following which B-52
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
strikes hit suspected PAVN positions nearby. On 29 January Company H 2/9 Marines returned to the area to provide security for engineers to repair the damaged bridge, they met little opposition and located 30 dead PAVN in the area. By 15:30 the engineers had constructed a bypass road and Route 9 was reopened.[
]
February–May
The Lancaster area remained relatively quiet throughout February with only harassment by fire as the PAVN concentrated their efforts in the Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
and Napoleon/Saline areas of operation.
On the afternoon of 14 February after completing an unsuccessful search for suspected PAVN mortars on the high ground in the hills 3 km west of Ca Lu Combat Base, Company K, 3/9 Marines had started down towards Route 9. PAVN 60mm mortars and small arms fire caught the company in the open () resulting in 13 killed and over 40 wounded. While evacuating all of the wounded, the helicopters received heavy small arms fire and the Marines had to leave behind four of the dead. Marine reconnaissance team DELMAR finally retrieved the bodies on 6 March.
On 28 February PAVN antiaircraft fire shot down a Marine CH-46
The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotors, tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft aircraft engine, engines. It was designed by Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Helicopters, Bo ...
near Ca Lu Combat Base killing all 22 passengers and crew. During February the Marines lost 58 dead while killing 85 PAVN.[
During March the Marines lost 13 dead while killing 60 PAVN.][ On 28 March, in preparation for ]Operation Pegasus
Operation Pegasus was a military operation carried out on the Lower Rhine near the village of Renkum, close to Arnhem in the Netherlands. Overnight on 22–23 October 1944, the Allied military forces, MI9, the British intelligence organization, ...
, the relief of Khe Sanh Combat Base
Khe Sanh Combat Base (also known as Ta Con) was a United States Marine Corps outpost south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) used during the Vietnam War.
History
US Army Special Forces (Detachment A-101, Company C, 5th Special Forces Gr ...
, the 1st Cavalry Division took over Ca Lu Combat Base and established Landing Zone Stud in the Lancaster II operational area.[
On 30 April the 3/9 Marines were moved by helicopter to the Kentucky operational area near ]Con Thien
Con Thien (Vietnamese: Cồn Tiên, meaning the "Hill of Angels") was a military base that started out as a U.S. Army Special Forces camp before transitioning to a United States Marine Corps combat base. It was located near the Vietnamese Demi ...
.[
By late May Col. Edward J. Miller had assumed command of the 4th Marine Regiment and the forces deployed in the Lancaster operational area comprised the 3/4 Marines and 2/9 Marines at Camp Carroll and ]BLT
A BLT is a type of sandwich, named for the initials of its primary ingredients, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. It can be made with varying recipes according to personal preference. Simple variants include using different types of lettuce, toastin ...
3rd Battalion, 1st Marines
3rd Battalion 1st Marines (3/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Horno on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed the "Thundering Third", the battalion consists of approximately 1,220 ...
, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines
1st Battalion, 4th Marines (1/4) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. They fall under the command of the 1st M ...
and BLT 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines
2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4th Marines) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed the ''Magnificent Bastards'' from the Vietnam War, is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and ...
at the Rockpile and Ca Lu Combat Base.[
On 6 June the ]9th Marine Regiment
The 9th Marine Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War II, it served until 1994, when it was deactivated during the post Cold War drawdown. Battalions of the Ninth Marine Regiment, but not the ...
assumed control of the Lancaster operational area from the 4th Marines. May–June saw minimal PAVN activity with occasional mines and small ambushes along Route 9 and rocket attacks on Camp Carroll and LZ Stud. On 21 June 1/9 Marines secured the village of Thon Duc Kinh 4 km southeast of Camp Carroll for the resettlement of Montagnard villagers. In late June control of the Lancaster sector passed briefly to ''Task Force Hotel'' commanded by BG Carl W. Hoffman.[
]
June–November
On 9 July 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines
1st Battalion, 3rd Marines (1/3) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Nicknamed the "Lava Dogs", the battalion consists of approximately 800 Marines and sailors and falls under the comm ...
arrived at LZ Stud to replace the 1/4 Marines.[ On 10 July the ]3rd Marine Regiment
The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment is a regiment of the United States Marine Corps that is optimized for littoral maneuver in the Indo-Pacific Theater. Based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the regiment falls under the command of the 3rd Marine Divisi ...
assumed responsibility for the Lancaster sector.[ On 11 July ''Task Force Hotel'' took control of 1/3 Marines at LZ Stud and they were transported by helicopter to Hill 715,] west of LZ Stud which was the suspected base area of the PAVN 8th Battalion, 29th Regiment. One CH-46 was shot down during the assault with no Marine losses. 1/3 Marines swept the area over the next 4 days locating abandoned PAVN positions and suffering loses due to sniper fire and command-detonated mines before returning to LZ Stud on 15 July. On 25 July 1/3 Marines returned to Hill 715 to recover the bodies of 2 Marines killed in the earlier operation, they were met by heavy PAVN fire, mines and booby-traps but were unable to close with any PAVN forces, after recovering the 2 dead Marines and destroying PAVN supplies they returned to LZ Stud on 4 August. Also on 25 July BLT 2/4 Marines was landed on Hill 679 12 km west of LZ Stud to patrol the area to the north. On 29 July as 2/4 Marines approached Hill 606 () 4 km north of Hill 679 they walked into a PAVN ambush losing 4 Marines killed.[ After securing Hill 606 2/4 Marines then searched the Khe Giang Thoan Valley locating PAVN rocket launch site and destroying 20 tons of supplies. An attack on Company G's night defensive position resulted in four Marines killed. On 6 August 2/4 Marines was extracted and returned to LZ Stud, now renamed Vandegrift Combat Base.][
In mid-June ''Task Force Hotel'' received intelligence that the PAVN were infiltrating the area north of the Rockpile and began planning a sweep of the area, however due to a shortage of forces an operation could not be launched until mid-July. On 17 July 2/3 Marines, 2/9 Marines and 3/9 Marines were landed in "Helicopter Valley" while 1/9 Marines established blocking positions to the east and the ]Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; french: Armée de la république du Viêt Nam) composed the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon in April ...
(ARVN) 1st and 2nd Battalions, 2nd Regiment established blocking positions in the Cam Lộ Valley northwest of the Rockpile. As Company K 9th Marines moved north from its landing zone towards Mutter's Ridge
Mutter's Ridge was the name given by U.S. Marines to the Núi Cây Tre ("Bamboo Mountain") ridge, in Quảng Trị Province. The ridge was formed by Hills 461, 484 and 400 and overlooked the southern edge of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DM ...
they were engaged by an entrenched PAVN company-sized force, following airstrikes the Marines overran the position killing 38 PAVN for the loss of 9 Marines. On 21 July as 2/9 Marines moved north towards the DMZ they were hit by mortar fire killing one Marine, they subsequently located the mortar team killing 20 with small arms and airstrikes. Denied permission to enter the DMZ the Marines swept the area locating PAVN bunkers and supplies including 2 75mm pack howitzers. On 27 July 1/3 Marines and 3/3 Marines were landed at Landing Zones Margo, Joan and Becky in the upper Cam Lo basin and on Dong Ha Mountain, establishing Firebase Fuller
Firebase Fuller (also known as Dong Ha Mountain or Hill 549) is a former U.S. Marine Corps, Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) firebase in central Vietnam.
History
The base was established on Dong Ha Mountain northeast of The Rockp ...
there, but the PAVN avoided contact.[ The unnamed "July Action" operation concluded on 3 August and was regarded as a success as the Marines adopted new more mobile tactics aimed at disrupting PAVN supply lines rather than being tied to the defense of large bases along the DMZ.][
From September to November apart from mines on Route 9 and the occasional mortar attack on the large bases, most of the PAVN activity in the Lancaster area was centered on Landing Zones Mack and Sierra on Mutter's Ridge. On 21 November 1/3 Marines was redeployed from its positions on Mutter's Ridge to Strongpoint C-1 north of the Cửa Việt River.][
]
Aftermath
Operation Lancaster II concluded on 23 November 1968 and the Lancaster operational area was absorbed into the Scotland II and Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
operational areas. Marine losses were 359 killed while PAVN losses exceeded 1,800 with 913 weapons captured.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Operation, II
Lancaster II
The Avro Lancaster is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the S ...
United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War
Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1968
History of Quảng Trị province