The cordon moved forward over the last few yards to the outer houses in the grey light of the dawn. Colonel Warr had arranged for an aircraft equipped with loudspeakers to fly over Duc My at dawn to instruct the villagers to remain in their houses until our troops came through to guide them to a central assembly area. Quickly it became apparent that the cordon had succeeded in surprising several Viet Cong. Armed with rifles, some men dashed out of the houses and tried to break through the cordon by means of sheer speed. Some dived into trenches and attempted to shoot our men down. Some rapid actions overpowered them without loss to the battalion. Lieutenant Carruthers, commander of Four Platoon, B Company, personally captured two Viet Cong  at the point of his Owen gun. His knowledge of Vietnamese convinced the two enemy that their best course of action would be to lay down their arms. Another member of Four Platoon, who was investigating a trench was startled by a Viet Cong who jumped into the other end of the trench. A quick draw contest then ensued in which the Australian was the victor. During the afternoon some Viet Cong tried to escape by hiding in the midst of a herd of cattle being driven out of the village. Others hid in the backs of ox-carts, which were then pursued by armoured personnel carriers in one of the strangest races imaginable. Eventually the situation calmed down and the search was completed. After interrogation of the villagers it was clear that the night move had been a success. The Viet Cong had been taken by surprise, several of the members of the Binh Ba Guerilla Platoon had been captured and the Viet Cong in all the nearby villages were left to wonder whether it was safe for them to spend the night with their families and friends.

The cordon of Duc My was important also as it brought the soldiers of the Fifth Battalion close to the Vietnamese people for the first time and provided an opportunity to practice the many aspects of civil relations which had formed a large portion of the battalion's training. This opportunity had been looked forward to by most because of the general belief that this was a war for people, rather than for territory. Of particular interest was the attention paid to the two Viet Cong who tried to break through C Company's cordon. Members opened fire at two charging figures, killing one and wounding the other. The wounded man jumped into a nearby bunker. Colonel Warr ordered that he was to be taken alive if it were possible without endangering our men and Lieutenant Rainer's platoon was given the task. It would have been simple to kill the Viet Cong by lobbing a high explosive grenade into the bunker, but instead a tear gas grenade was thrown through the narrow entrance. A sapper, wearing a gas mask, then took the risk of going into the bunker after the fugitive. All was well, for the gas had overcome the Viet Cong and he was carried out into the open air and resuscitated by Tony White. The episode was swiftly circulated among the villagers and by the end of the day our soldiers were getting along very amicably with many of the inhabitants of this former Viet Cong village.

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