Troops shot by own men

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32425, 12 October 1970, Page 1

Troops shot by own men

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 11. Four New Zealand soldiers of Whisky Company, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, were wounded yesterday, when two sections of the company accidentially fired on each other in the Phuoc Tuy province of South Vietnam, the Army said in a statement.

Two of the soldiers are in serious condition. They are Private lan Robert Herd, aged 21, single, of Oamaru, and Private Thomas Cooper, aged 22, single, of Ngaruawahia. Lance-Corporal William John Samson, aged 26, single, of Devonport, and Private Ross Stevenson Dunlea, aged 20, single, of Rakaia, are in satisfactory condition. An N.Z.P.A. spepial corres-

pondent reports from Nui Dat that a delayed official report issued today said one patrol of New Zealanders fired on another in thick bamboo. Two sections of Whisky Company were moving through the area after a tracker dog had picked up a possible enemy scent, the report said. The two sections thought they were well apart, but were actually on converging paths. One section saw movement and opened fire.

The two men seriously injured were flown to an American Army hospital at Long Binh, 35 miles north-west of Nui Dat. The other two were taken to the Australian field hospital at Vung Tau. An Army spokesman said it was believed that a misunderstanding had occurred through a radio message between the two sections. Communications were poor at the time. The incident was being investigated, he said. Two companies of New Zealand troops and an artillery battery are based in Phuoc Tuy province, east of Saigon. One of the companies is to leave next month as part of the New Zealand reduction of its forces in Vietnam.