Operation Crimp was the largest allied military action in South Vietnam to that point, uncovering a 200 km Viet Cong tunnel network north of Cu Chi.
Key Facts
- Operation dates
- 8–14 January 1966
- Tunnel network uncovered
- More than 200 km km
- Australians killed
- 8
- Americans killed
- 14
- Total wounded
- 105 (29 Australian, 76 American)
- Location
- 20 km north of Cu Chi, Binh Duong Province
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Allied intelligence identified a key Viet Cong headquarters believed to be concealed underground in the Ho Bo Woods, approximately 20 kilometres north of Cu Chi in Binh Duong Province. The area was a significant communist transit and supply base, prompting the US 1st Infantry Division to plan a large-scale combined operation to destroy it.
Two brigades under the US 1st Infantry Division, including the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment attached to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade, conducted a joint US-Australian assault from 8 to 14 January 1966. Heavy fighting produced significant casualties on both sides, but the allied force uncovered an extensive tunnel network exceeding 200 kilometres in total length.
Despite partially clearing the area, allied forces could not permanently neutralise the tunnel complex, which remained a communist transit and supply base throughout the war. The tunnels later served as a staging area for the 1968 Tet Offensive attack on Saigon before being largely destroyed by US B-52 bombing in 1970.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Side B
1 belligerent