| abstract | - The VC 275th Regiment, also known as the 275 Viet Cong Main Force Regiment, was a regiment of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. The regiment was formed in May 1965. The 275th Regiment was part of the VC Division 5 and operated in the Phước Tuy province now known as the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. On 11 November 1965, the Regiment ambushed the ARVN 52nd Rangers near Nui Thi Vai, in Phước Tuy province and inflicted heavy casualties upon the ranger battalion. The Regiment or its battalions participated alongside the D445 Battalion in the battle of Long Tần against Australian Army forces. 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 275 Regiment RCL detachment involved were killed in the Australian counter-battery fire and were buried nearby. Casualties among the Australians in the bombardment were 22 wounded. 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 the 275 Regiment and D445 Battlion suffered heavy casualties, with the official Australian body count reported to be 245 Vietnamese killed. 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. Several 275 Regiment soldiers received medals, letters of appreciation and commendation certificates for their part in the battle of Long Tan. The next major contact took place on 2 December 1966, when a US resupply convoy was attacked by the 275th Regiment south of Gia Ray. In this battle, the U.S. forces involved claimed to have killed at least 99 Viet Cong soldiers, while 1 U.S. sergeant from the 27th Engineer Battalion was killed and 22 were wounded in the Black Horse Regiment. During the start of Tet Offensive, the 274th and 275th Regiments of the 5th Viet Cong Division took part in the attacks on Bien Hoa, northeast of Saigon on 18 February 1968. The 275 Regiment took later part in the attack on Svay Rieng city on 11 August 1974. In 2010, as part of Operation Wandering Souls, Bob Hall and Derrill de Heer, both Vietnam veterans who are now academics at the University of NSW and Australian Defence Force Academy, presented to the Veterans Association of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, a list containing the full names, ranks and unit numbers of 535 Vietnamese soldiers buried by Australians.
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