Battle of A Shau
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| Battle of A Shau | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Vietnam War | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
 United States South Vietnam |
 North Vietnam |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 395 | 2,000 | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| U.S: 8 killed, 12 wounded and 5 missing South Vietnam: 47 killed or missing |
Unknown (U.S estimates put the number at 800) | ||||||
| Vietnam War |
|---|
| Ap Bac – Binh Gia –Pleiku – Song Be – Dong Xoai – Gang Toi – Ia Drang – Hastings – A Shau – Duc Co –Long Tan – Attleboro – Cedar Falls – Tra Binh Dong – Junction City – Hill 881 – Ong Thanh – Dak To – 1st Tet – Khe Sanh – 1st Saigon – Hue – Lang Vei – Lima Site 85 – Kham Duc – Dewey Canyon – 2nd Tet – Hamburger Hill – Binh Ba – Cambodia – Snuol – FSB Ripcord – Lam Son 719 – Ban Dong –FSB Mary Ann – Easter '72 – 1st Quang Tri –Loc Ninh – An Loc – Kontum – 2nd Quang Tri –Phuoc Long – Ho Chi Minh – Buon Me Thuot – Xuan Loc – Truong Sa –2nd Saigon – Rolling Thunder – Barrell Roll – Pony Express – Steel Tiger – Tiger Hound – Tailwind – Commando Hunt – Linebacker I – Linebacker II – Chenla I – Chenla II – SS Mayagüez |
The Battle of A Shau was waged in 1966 during the Vietnam War. The battle began on March 9 and lasted until March 10 with the fall of the special forces camp of the same name. An outright victory for the North Vietnamese, it was nevertheless a costly battle that US estimates suggest cost the attackers almost half of their force.
Contents |
[edit] Prelude
The A Shau Special Forces Camp was located in the A Shau Valley, about 30 miles southwest of Hue in Thua Thien Province. It was strategically important for the North Vietnamese Army as a major infiltration route because it was adjacent to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Defending the camp were 10 Green Berets and 210 South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group, supported by Air Commando units equipped with vintage A-1 Skyraiders and AC-47 Spooky gunships.
The camp was routinely harassed by small Viet Cong formations leading up to the battle. Throughout February and March, platoon-sized troops from the camp were often sent out to conduct reconnaissance patrol, and were prepared to destroy any suspected enemy position in the surrounding area. On March 5, two defectors from the North Vietnamese Army turned up at the camp. Under interrogation, the two defectors indicated that four battalions from the North Vietnamese 325th Division were planning to attack the camp.
Based on the information given by the defectors night patrols were dispatched to confirm enemy positions. But no contact were made. In additional to ground patrols, the Air Commandos were requested to conduct reconnaissance flights, large build-up of North Vietnamese troops were reported each time, along with anti-aircraft emplacements. As a result of these findings airstrikes were called in to attack Communist positions.
On March 7, the A Shau camp was reinforced with seven U.S special forces, nine interpretor and a Mike Force Company in anticipation of the North Vietnamese attack.
[edit] Battle of A Shau
On March 8, the camp was placed on general alert and the camp's defenders had taken up their positions. During the night an enemy assault was thrown back.
Due to the presence of the Air Commandos, the North Vietnamese 325th Division decided to capitalize on the poor weather conditions that would hinder tactical air support and resupply efforts. The attack on the Special Forces Camp began during the early hours of March 9 with mortar bombardment, damaging the communication line and reducing defensive positions to rubble. Upon the request of the detachment commander, at 1300 hours an AC-47 circling the camp managed to attack North Vietnamese formations but was shot down and crashed about five kilometers north of the camp. The casualties were three killed.
Between 1630 and 1700 hours supplies of ammunition were flown in by C-123 and CV-2 aircraft, but the resupply drops often landed outside of the camp and couldn't be retrieved. At the same time, helicopters were called in to evacuate the wounded. Additional reinforcements from Hue and Phu Bai could not be deployed due to the bad weather, so the camp's defenders repaired their defensive wall as well as they could and dug in for the night.
On the morning of March 10, the North Vietnamese Army launched another attack with mortar and recoilless rifle fire. At 0500 hours an assault team penetrated the east wall of the camp, where hand-to-hand combat took place for three hours. By 0800 hours the defenders had withdrawn to the camp's north wall. Throughout the day USMC and VNAF bombers strafed North Vietnamese positions around the camp, but as fighting continued the situation deteriorated with ammunition supplies running short. As a result, a decision was made to evacuate all the personnel
[edit] Evacuation
At 1700 hours all communication equipments were destroyed. The survivors carried out their evacuation orders and destroyed all their weapons and withdrew further to the north wall of the camp. Leading the evacuation effort were fifteen H-34 helicopters supported by four UH-1B gunships. Many panic-strickened Vietnamese personnel mobbed the evacuation helicopters, while trampling U.S special forces as they abandoned the camp. The evacuation of the camp was complicated by heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire as two H-34s were lost.
The Camp was officially closed at 1745 hours, and finally overrun by enemy troops in the afternoon. In the aftermath of the battle the United States suffered 100% casualties on the ground: 5 killed and 12 wounded. Further losses were suffered during the evacuation efforts.
With their position consolidated, the North Vietnamese Army fortified their bunkers and reinforce it with anti-aircraft guns and artillery. During the Tet Offensive the A Shau Valley provided the Communist troops with an important base from which to attack South Vietnamese cities.
[edit] References
- An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present By David Eggenberger - Page 31
