Vietnam

5RAR Mortar Platoon on the Horseshoe 1st Tour

Mortar Platoon on the 'Horseshoe'

March-April 1967 The Horseshoe was an extinct small volcano, a crater rim roughly circular in plan, 550 metres across and rising to a height to about 76 metres above the surrounding plain. It was ideally located as an observation post allowing unlimited view of the eastern approaches and also for launching operations into the east.
5RAR mortar pit is in the foreground and the mortar rounds can be seen in the sand bagged bin in the pit. Just to the left is a canvas bag filled with water with a 'Hootchie' guyed over the top to shade the bag from the heat.
Members of the US 11 Cavalry can be seen in the distance. It was constantly manned by a rifle company and a troop of field artillery and sometimes a troop of tanks.

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