The action occurred when Australian Army troops from the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) fought a combined force of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong (VC), including a company from the PAVN 33rd Regiment and elements of the VC D440 Battalion, in the village of Bình Ba, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy Province.

The battle was unusual in Australian combat experience in South Vietnam as it involved fierce close-quarter house-to-house fighting, although the majority of enemy killed was through heavy artillery and air-bombardment.

Situated north of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) base at Nui Dat on the western side of Route 2, the village of Bình Ba had a population of around 3,000 people—mainly farmers and rubber plantation workers.

A rocket propelled grenade (RPG) struck the Centurion penetrating the turret, and causing damage to the tank and severe injuries to one of the crewman.

Initially the tanks were effective for close action, however by the time the marketplace had been reached in the centre of the town concealed RPG-7s had caused external damage to two Centurions, whilst another was penetrated.

Blake subsequently decided to swing the attack left, in order to clear the southern edge of the town before moving out to western side of Bình Ba.

As the Australian armour moved through the rubber trees they clashed with a company forming up to counterattack, inflicting heavy casualties on the PAVN/VC in the process.

[10] By 14:00 the Australians were bolstered by additional troops from B Company 5 RAR, under Major Rein Harring, which took up blocking positions to south and east.

[12] This type of action was typical all along D Company's assault line and every time the Australians received fire from a building, tank rounds were used to breach the walls and a small team of infantry would conduct room clearance until all resistance was quelled.

The continued presence of civilians in the village required the Australians to expose themselves to extreme danger while trying to usher these groups to the rear of the battle zone.

Later in the morning South Vietnamese forces in the northern hamlet of Duc Trung came under attack, and B Company and the Assault Pioneer Platoon were deployed to provide assistance.

[15] During the afternoon D Company continued to clear Bình Ba and further close-quarter fighting followed before the Australians withdrew to allow the South Vietnamese to complete the clearance.

[1] The battle was one of the major victories of the Australians in South Vietnam and although they would occasionally encounter PAVN/VC Main Force units in the future, it effectively marked the end of such large-scale clashes.

Indeed, as a result of such heavy losses suffered at Bình Ba the PAVN were temporarily forced to move out of Phuoc Tuy and into the adjoining province of Long Khánh.