Balmoral

Intoduce self
Introduce Balmoral, Coogee, Coral became known as battle of Coral
Instead patrolling Ambushing to Enemy came actively looking for them
Will talk about Political background, lead-up to Balmoral, FSB Balmoral and lessons learnt

Background
The time is May 1968 and North Vietnam's strategic aim is win at the Paris peace talks what she had been unable to win militarily-ousting the United States and taking over South Vietnam. To strengthen her bargaining position she needed a victory capable of psychological exploitation on the world scene. Saigon was the obvious target and while military activity was directed to keeping pressure on all cities and base complexes, Saigon was the main centre of attention.

Since the TET offensive three months earlier, major reinforcement and retraining of both VC and NVA units had been necessary. Many units had been withdrawn to Cambodia for this purpose. Other formations were reinforced by infiltration groups direct from North Vietna...