VC D445 Battalion The VC D445 Battalion , also known as the " Viet Cong D445 Provincial Mobile Battalion " of the " Ba Ria Battalion " , was a Local Force battalion of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War . The battalion operated in the Đồng Nai river basin and also the Bien Hoa , Phước Tuy and Long Khánh provinces . It recruited principally from Dat Do , Long Dien and Hoa Long . The battalion was formed on 19 May 1965 . It consisted of three rifle companies and one weapons company with a total strength of approximately 350 men and was commanded by Nguyen Van Kiem . The battalion fought initially against American units and in the battle of Long Tần fought against Australian Army forces . Between 17 and 25 May 1966 , the battalion at the cost of 10 killed and 20 wounded claimed to have killed a total of 423 Americans and shot down seven helicopters . According to D 445 Battalion political officer , the unit provided " guides for the units that mortared the Task Force " at Nui Dat base on 17 August 1966 . A Viet Cong medic , Chung , reported that three of the Viet Cong RCL detachment were killed in the Australian counter - battery fire and were buried nearby . During the battle an 80 - strong Vo Thi Sau civil labour company commanded by Chin Phuong , comprising mainly women and children , lent support by evacuating the casualties . Australian veterans and historians , in the main , claim that at Long Tần D445 Battalion suffered heavy casualties , with captured personnel reportedly later stating that D445 Battalion ' s casualties had been 70 killed and 100 wounded , or approximately 50 percent of its strength . Only one member of D445 was captured at Long Tan ( reportedly a 57 mm RCL gunner ) ; and two members of 275 Regiment were captured who declared themselves to be members of " Doan 45 " as their cover story . During the retreat , Nguyen Duc Thu , the commander of D445 ' s rearguard force , was seriously wounded by a bullet that passed through one ear lobe and went out the other and Tran Van Chien , and the commander of the 1st Company was killed . Several D445 soldiers were awarded Letters of Appreciation ( Giay Khen ) for their actions in the battle at Long Tan including Dao Van Trung ( section 2ic / 2nd Company ) , Tran Van Tranh ( section 2ic / 2nd Company ) , Pham Van Duong ( 2d Company ) . One Australian APC was hit by two rounds from a D445 recoilles rifle detachment , killing the driver and wounding the crew commander and several soldiers . In 1968 a second local force unit was formed in Phước Tuy , known as D440 Battalion . The unit generally performed poorly against Australian forces however , and it was eventually disbanded in August 1970 with most of its personnel transferred to D445 Battalion . In September 1979 , the battalion was involved in operations against armed FULRO guerrillas in the Chua Chan Mountain / La Nga River area of Xuan Loc that were seeking independence for ethnic minorities in Vietnam and Cambodia . On 23 February 2011 , at a formal meeting to discuss arrangements for a memorial for D445 by surviving veterans and government officials , it was stated that during the war the battalion " had wiped out more than 10 , 000 enemy soldiers , destroyed 120 military vehicles , shot down 20 aircraft , and seized more than 1 , 800 weapons of different types . More than 1 , 000 cadre and soldiers of the battalion had heroically sacrificed themselves . "