On May 12, the 1 ATF was redeployed to intercept the withdrawing enemy forces from Saigon, with two battalions establishing a Fire Support Base named FSB Coral, just east of Lai Khê in the Bình Dương Province. By May 12, the fighting was over, and the PAVN/VC were forced to withdraw after suffering heavy casualties. During three days of intense fighting, the attacks were repelled by US and ARVN forces. The PAVN/VC successfully penetrated the capital on May 5, plunging Saigon into chaos in an attempt to influence the upcoming Paris peace talks scheduled to begin on May 13. Soon after the failed TET offensive in January-February 1968, the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC) launched another phase of their offensive (also known as the May Offensive, Little Tet, or Mini-Tet) against targets throughout South Vietnam, including Saigon on 29 April 1968. The Australian government, under criticism in Parliament, decided to send a squadron of Australian Centurion tanks to South Vietnam. Although they successfully conducted combat operations in their areas of operations, reports from the field stated that their lightly armoured M113A1 APCs were unable to force their way through dense jungle limiting their offensive actions against enemy forces and they did not have enough firepower to deal with enemy bunkers. In 1967, the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC), 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) Squadron was transferred to A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment in South Vietnam. The 1 ATF commanded the Australian and New Zealand Army units in South Vietnam and was based at a rubber plantation at Nui Dat along Route 2, 8 km (5.0 miles) north of Bà Rịa in the Phuoc Tuy Province. In March 1966, the Australian government decided to increase its commitment to the Vietnam War, announcing that the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR), which had been serving as the third infantry battalion of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade in Biên Hòa since June 1965, would be replaced at the end of its tour by a two battalion brigade, the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) with armour, aviation, engineers and artillery support, in total 4500 men. The unofficial designation for these upgraded tanks was the Centurion Mk.5/1 (Aust). In Vietnam, the IR search light was not employed much due to the high ambient temperatures. An infra-red (IR) illumination system was also installed for improved night vision with a rear turret bustle rack which carried the dismounted IR search light. The introduction of the Type B barrel was accompanied by other modifications including the addition of a ranging machine gun (which required the additional counter weights on the fume extractor), a number 4 reflector sight/periscope within the turret and an external 100-imperial-gallon (450 L) long range fuel tank mounted on the rear hull. Later a modification program replaced the early Type A barrels with the Type B barrel which had a fume extractor. In 1956, the Centurion Mk.3s were upgraded to Mk.5 standards. The first batch of 60 Centurion Mk.3 tanks with early Type A 20-pounder gun barrel (no fume extractor) replaced their aging WWII era Churchill tanks.
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