1.
SV PAN South Vietnamese defence post on bridge (2 shots)
0.16

2.
GV Damaged section of bridge PAN TO smoke in distance (2 shots)
0.29

3.
SV Tank repair depot in flames (2 shots)
0.38

4.
MV Armoured vehicles moving away from scene (3 shots)
0.58



Initials BB/0386 WLW/BOB/BB/0246


"MEI CHOU" IS PHONETIC SPELLING.
TELERECORDING original on 5950/72 50ft

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: South Vietnamese forces fighting against the North Vietnamese invasion have established a front line at Mei Chou, about twenty-five miles (40 kilometres) south of the demilitarized zone. With the help of United States air support they dug in at a bridge once destroyed twenty years ago when Ho Chi Minh forces ware fighting French troops. A few days ago, the bridge was damaged once again, as the two sides fought for control of the bridge and its route to the south.

A few miles away inside the front line at Mei Chou, a South Vietnamese tank depot was set ablaze by North Vietnamese artillery fire.

SYNOPSIS: South Vietnamese forces fighting the North Vietnamese invasion recently established a front line twenty-five miles south of the demilitarized zone at Mei Chou--at a bridge which was once destroyed, twenty years ago, in fighting between Ho Chi Minh forces and the French. Now, the bridge is damaged once again--but South Vietnamese troops, with the aid of United States air support, were preventing communist forces from crossing it to fight their way further south.

A few miles away, a South Vietnamese tank repair depot--once an American base--was damaged by North Vietnamese artillery fire.

Armoured vehicles in the depot were moved quickly away from fires that followed the attack--for after recent defeats, South Vietnam cannot afford to lose any more armour.