total, primarily by artillery fire. Another estimate was 150 according to Colonel Bao who was overall district commander, but did not directly participate. The Australians estimated the VC had evacuated up to a further 350 casualties, including an unknown number of dead buried along the withdrawal route. With such losses representing the operational strength of two battalions, Australian intelligence assessed that the 275th Regiment, which had borne the brunt of the fighting, would be incapable of mounting a regimental-sized operation for several months, but the 275th Regiment carried out attacks against the ARVN 18th Division a week later. D445 Battalion, thought to have played a supporting role and to have suffered less heavily, was assessed as still capable of engaging forces up to company size, with a remaining strength of 300 men. McNeill states that this was based on the capture of the diary of the battle commander Nguyen Thoi Bung, who later became the Deputy Defense Minister of Vietnam; but according to Ernest Chamberlain this has not been corroborated. A captured soldier stated D445 Battalion's casualties had been 70 killed and 100 wounded. Whether the combat effectiveness of D445 and the 275th Regiment was eroded is in dispute, as the D445 were redeployed in September and October against the newly deployed 11th Armored Cavalry Taskforce, while the 275th were combat-capable a week later. Weapons captured included 33 AK-47s, seven RPD light machine-guns, five SKS assault rifles, four RPG-2 launchers, two 57 mm RCLs, two M1 carbines, a PPSh-41, Thompson submachine-gun, Browning Automatic Rifle, M1 Garand and an SGM heavy machine-gun. More than 10,500 rounds of small arms ammunition was recovered, as well as 300 hand grenades, 40 mortar bombs, 28 RPG-2 rockets and 22 RCL rounds. Australian losses were 17 killed, one died of wounds and 24 wounded: approximately one third of the initial force engaged. A high proportion were National Servicemen, drawing criticism in Australia where conscription for overseas service was increasingly controversial. The government later limited the number of conscripts to no more than 50 percent of a unit, requiring a rapid and disruptive reorganisation within 1 ATF. Recognition In the aftermath, both sides claimed success. Heralded as an Australian victory against overwhelming odds, the battle was widely covered in the Western press, making headlines in Australia and the United States. 1 ATF received congratulatory messages from the US, South Vietnamese and Australian military commands in Vietnam,