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New Zealand Artillery Unit Begins Operations In Vietnam

July 16, 1965

1965-07-16_RNZA_fire_mission_Vietnam
1965-07-16_RNZA_fire_mission_Vietnam
Members of the Royal New Zealand Artillery conduct a fire mission. (U.S. Army Center of Military History)

The 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery, begins combat operations in Vietnam. The 161 Battery is attached to the U.S. 173d Airborne Brigade with the primary mission of supporting the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, based at Bien Hoa Air Base outside Saigon.1

1“New Zealand’s Vietnam War: On Operations,” http://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/nz-vietnam-war/on-operations (link is external) (accessed 4/1/14), notes that they fired their first shot on 7/16/65 and that they were attached to the 173d Airborne Brigade (like the Australians). Also note that New Zealand renders the battery as “161 Battery,” not “161st Battery.” See above website and John M. Carland, Stemming the Tide, May 1965–October 1966, United States Army in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 2000), 26; “Timeline, New Zealand’s Vietnam War, 1963–75,” http://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/resources/timeline (link is external) (accessed 4/1/14); Spencer C. Tucker, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 471.