LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Viet Cong
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An Important element in the Viet Cong's guerrilla warfare was the widespread use of booby traps. Ingeniously contrived from readily available materials - sometimes from captured or recovered mines and ammunition - these unseen weapons were often made by old men and women and children. So effective were they that in some areas they were said to account for up to 50 per cent of allied casualties. Australian soldiers on patrol were trained to look for anything that might indicate the presence of a hidden mine or booby trap near by disturbed foliage, an unnatural arrailgement of sticks or stones, and any wires, rope, string or vines that could spring a trap or trigger an explosion. They were ... warned against relaxing their vigilance; unwariness when approaching their own base or taking advantage of some shade trees for a rest could result in sudden death or injury.
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The People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF), more popularly known as the Viet Cong (VC), was the military arm of the National Liberation Front (NLF). Established at the end of 1960, the VC was created by the North Vietnamese communists to escalate the armed struggle in South Vietnam. In the early 60's they grew rapidly and by 1964, totaled over 30,000 soldiers.
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The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces had another problem, the solution to which they had to solve quickly. With the command of the air and superior firepower enjoyed by their armies, resupply was difficult. That which originated in Russia, China and Europe was channeled through North Vietnam and had to enter South Vietnam either across the border between North and South Vietnam, come down the Ho Chi Minh Trail which ran just inside the Cambodian border with South Vietnam, or come by ship down the eastern coast of North and South Vietnam. All these supply lines were tenuous, being subject to ferocious interdiction. So there had to be other lines of supply. And this is where the story of the 'Revolutionary' aspect of the Revolutionary Guerrilla warfare begins.
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The Viet Cong attack on Pleiku airbase (aka Camp Holloway Airfield) occurred on the night of February 6, 1965. The attack left nine Americans dead and 128 wounded,[1] and it prompted the United States to launch Operation Flaming Dart against North Vietnam in retaliation. The Pleiku attack and an attack on positions the same day at Qui Nhon were used by the Johnson Administration as justification for committing combat troops to South Vietnam, ostensibly to provide security for U.S. installations.[1]
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On the night of 16/17 August 1966, the Viet Cong fired a barrage of shells into Nui Dat, wounding 24 Australians. Prior to this event, the Australians had become aware, from radio intercepts and sightings, that a large enemy force was operating close to the base. Australian patrols sent out specifically to find the Viet Cong had not encountered the force.
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In the early stages of the Vietnam conflict, the Viet Minh and later the Viet Cong were equipped with a variety of leftover W.W.II weapons supplemented by what they could fabricate in their underground factories. Communication equipment was ... in short supply. This began to change and by 1967, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army were equipped with sets made in China. The X06, copied in part from the US WW II SCR694, the Mercury Talk Set which resembled a W.W.II Japanese set and the Type 63 backpack set which looked like an ANIPRC-1O mounted in a BC-boo were among the sets that were captured. Occasionally, a Soviet radio would show up but these were few and far between.
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Viet Cong