take advantage of a temporary lull in the fighting to achieve a clean break. Intending to withdraw west to regroup, on his signal the platoon rose to their feet. One of the Australians was immediately shot and killed as he did so, while two more were wounded before they reached a position of temporary safety. From this location Buick could see yellow smoke away, and believing it to be Smith's headquarters, 11 Platoon moved towards it in what Buick described as a "mad scramble" in his autobiography, calling out to identify themselves as they approached. Locating 12 Platoon instead, but still finding themselves heavily engaged, the two platoons then moved back to the company position covered by the artillery and torrential rain. By 18:10 D Company had reformed, and the VC appeared to have momentarily broken contact. Having concentrated his company, Smith began to re-organise it into a position of all-round defence. Smith attempted to place his depleted platoons into a defensible position, but D Company's location had been dictated by the actions of the VC and the need to care for the wounded, and as a result they had little choice of where to make their stand. However, with the Australians occupying a shallow fold in the ground on a reverse slope the terrain proved decisive. The VC found it difficult to use their heavy calibre weapons effectively and could only engage at close range. The jungle covered Nui Dat 2 feature lay to the north-east, and an impenetrable wall of thick bamboo and scrub abutted the lower slopes to the west. The remainder of the position faced the relatively open rubber plantation. Believing the northern approach unsuitable for a major assault, Smith assessed the most likely VC courses of action to be a frontal assault from the east, or a flanking attack from either the south or south-west. As a consequence, he placed 10 and 12 Platoons in positions on the southern and eastern flanks, while the badly mauled 11 Platoon was allocated a position to the north-west. Company Headquarters was located in the south-west. During the lull, Smith walked around the position to gain an understanding of the situation and check the wounded. With one platoon almost destroyed, and the other two at approximately 75 percent strength, D Company had been battered but morale remained high. Kirby completed the distribution of ammunition and Stanley plotted new defensive