 Before the battle, a section from the 2 RAR Medium Machine Gun Platoon had been stationed within the American perimeter near Hill 111 to provide covering fire across the area between the positions occupied by the US Marines and the Australians. Commanded by Sergeant Brian Cooper they soon found themselves in the thick of the fighting, firing their Vickers machine-guns in support of the Australian positions and to defend themselves from the weight of the Chinese main attack which fell on the Marines. Three men were wounded during the night but the machine-gunners continued to fire in support, while the remainder of the section repelled Chinese assaults from the left. Ultimately the Chinese were unable to dislodge them, with the Australians calling-in artillery on to their own positions during repeated Chinese attempts to overrun them as the US Marines withdrew past their position, leaving them isolated. When dawn came dozens of Chinese bodies were found strewn in front of the Australian machine-gunners. As the US Marines worked to clear the Chinese stragglers from their position the Australians had endeavoured to coax a Chinese soldier from a bunker, yet when he resisted they were forced to kill him with a grenade. Cooper was later awarded the Military Medal for his leadership, with the stubborn defence of the Australians contributing to the break-up of the Chinese attack which at one stage had threatened to overrun the Marine position. Large groups of Chinese remained though, occupying a number bunkers and trenches, and they were not finally dislodged by the Marines until the following afternoon.
