YOUR MEMORIES
If you have any memories that you would like to share or want to add your own memory of a thread already started, please email me and I will include them.
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The beginning from Alan Rigg
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The following are recollections of my time in Borneo in 1963 I had just completed a course at Lee on Solent and was sent on leave and draft to join 706B at R.N.A.S.Culdrose. After a short while we got four Wessex helicopters the nucleolus of the Squadron separate from 706 Squadron After working up doing field training I.E. living under canvas and working with both Army and Marines we joined H.M.S .Bulwark and set sail for the Far East. On reaching Aden we we took of stores and aircraft off H.M.S. Albion Bulwarks sister ship which was returning to the U.K. and we took on the role of 845 Squadron and set sail for Singapore and Borneo. There was a shortage of Aircrew men and Maintainers were used to fill the gap and I was one of them I was sent to Sibu which was our main base as senior aircrew man. .I had only been at Sibu a short time when I was crewman to Lt Stewart Thompson when we went to a village called Mukha where a woman was having a difficult pregnancy and had to be rushed to hospital at Sibu transport by long boat would have taken about two days as by helicopter about 45 minutes on reaching the hospital landing site the woman gave birth she called the baby Helicopter. On another occasion we were lifting troops off Mount Gunong Spali my job was to load the helicopters but bad weather set in and the last sick could not be loaded and I had to spend the night with only the clothes I stood up in needless to say I never travelled without s change of clothing. Another occasion happened around about 7 o'clock at night when a call came through for a casevac at a village called Entabia it was dark and raining hard and the only landing site was a small football pitch cut in the side of the river bank' on entering the communal hut there was a young lad with a arrow stuck in his head he had been fishing we took him back to Sibu where they took the arrow out successfully. and he returned to his village.. Another incident occurred when we were called to recover a member of the R.U .Rifles who were clearing a new landing site went one had been cut across the back side with a machete, he had to lay on he stomach all the way back to Sibu .My worst experience was we had been doing an Hearts and Minds display with the R.U.R.s over Sibu on completion two helicopters Golf and Bravo were deployed to take the R,U.R. band back to a village called Song which was their base on the return trip there were no passengers in my helicopter so Isat in the cockpit with the pilot on our return we landed and was being parked up when the other helicopters rotor blades caught ours which caused ours to turn over . there were three members of the R.U.R.s in Bravo I've often wondered want happened to them. Edward Smith tedsmith75@btinternet.com |
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My Time With the Kiwis
On the recent trip, Merdeka Parade and PJM Presentations in KL I met up with some veterans from the 1st RNZIR who knew of the following incident that occurred whilst on exercise in the jungle near Malacca.
I asked the whereabouts of a certain soldier that I remembered well from an exercise that I was sent on, as a young 7 stone L/Cpl Medic with a section of about 12 ‘Giants’ of Maori infantrymen none of them seemed to be under 7 feet tall and about 15 stone in weight!! .
The one man that I remember, a Pte Danny Warachini (Excuse the spelling) happened to slip and badly sprain or even break his ankle – but was completely unable to walk with it. We were at this stage of the exercise 3 days into the jungle- quite a long way from the nearest road or track that a vehicle could meet up with us. I carried out the necessary first aid treatment and then suggested that we ask for a ‘volunteer’ stretcher party to carry him out of the jungle. The response was not very promising and I was firmly told to be quiet by one of the patrol and he then asked us all to empty one of the two water bottles we all carried and pass it over to him. He then proceeded to tie this dozen of so empty water bottles to Danny – and with help, carried him to a nearby river and floated Danny downstream for a mile or so to the nearest track where they were met by a vehicle and transported back to Terendak BMH.
This was the last I heard or saw of Danny ‘till meeting up with his old comrades in KL, but I did on one occasion speak with a relative who was working for a medical supplies company in Cambridge some years ago. Sadly – I was told that Danny has now passed away. |
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Ipoh 1948 -1949
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Malaya 1952
I have just been reading with great
interest I might add, some of the stories of soldiers who
served in Malay during the 50s.
I say with interest because I was
posted to Singapore in 1952 at the tender age of 22, and ended up
in Tangling Barracks. I was in the Royal Signals. I had been
there for a couple of days when I was asked by an officer if I would
like to volunteer for either the 'Malay Regiment' or the 'SAS', the
SAS wanted specialist tradesmen, (Wireless operators).
Not knowing much about either of them
at that time I plumpt for the SAS, solely because the stint was only
two years, and I was keen to get back home as soon as possible, the
Malay Regiment was three years and they wanted senior ranks, (
Sergeants), at that time I was only a L/Cpl although I did rise to the
dizzy height of Corporal while in the SAS.
I was duly posted to a place called
Klang and that was when I realised what I had let myself in for. The
men were talking of an operation that they had been on called Bloom
Valley, but it was too late then to say, can I please change my mind,
I was Committed.
The first patrol that I went on was
with a Rhodesian squadron that was attached to the SAS, I
was their wireless op, and as green as they come, straight from the
training camp at Catterick to the jungle, how I got through that
operation without getting everyone lost I will never know, but they
were a great bunch of chaps, and we did get through the operation, and
I had matured quit a bit by the end of it all.
From Klang we moved to Sungie Besi and
from there to Coronation Park in Kuala Lumpur, were I did my Parachute
Course and finished off my two years stint. Knowing
what I know now, if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would,
it was the best two years of my life, I just wish that I had
volunteered for another tour of duty like others in the Regiment did.
In between Klang and Coronation Park a
lot happened, but I am afraid that it would take me another two years
to relate it all, and I am afraid that at 73 I might not live long
enough tell you, but if you have read this much, I thank you.
Bert.Emery |
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These are my fathers recollections, of his time in national service in Malaya. He is eager to hear from anyone who may remember this particular incident, or who served with him. Please direct any communications to my email address (ltodd@visteon.com).I am his daughter. I will gladly pass on his telephone/address details if anyone remembers him. A unit if the 4th Hussars had been sent to escort young children down country for their vacation. They were sent by their parents to Cameroon's for education because of the favourable climate, lack of mosquitoes and safer from hostilities. Our convey lined up, Humber Scout Car in the lead followed by G.M.C armoured personnel carrier fully armed. There were also some civilian vehicles. The G.M.C I was driving had been cleared of weapons and grenades so as to accommodate a party of children plus a female helper. So there we waited.
You must draw you own conclusion from the witness of events; to myself I would suggest a tragic accident. Edward Davey (born 1930)EX Regular 2 1/2 years 4th Hussars 6 months in the 12th Royal Lancers Total 3 years served in Malaya.
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The Canberra crash in 1961
Time Span,,1959-1961
Who remembers,
searching for a Kiwi Canberra bomber that had been struck by lightning
during a night flight, Both the pilot and navigator successfully
ejected, .The pilot carried out the correct procedure, covered a tree
with his chute" ,,sat down and ate and drank and waited for rescue
,SARAH beacon "on " of course,,,,The navigator , badly shocked
no doubt, dumped all his survival gear on landing and wandered off !!!
It was him that we were searching for,,, Basically the
system was like this :- All the available "erks" were bundled
into all the available aircraft to act as "extra eyeballs",,
In "twinpins" you just knelt on the canvas seat and looked out
of the windows,,16 of you !, But in Beverly's it was a bit different
apparently, if you were lucky you got a seat in the tail boom, if not
you sat on an office chair in the massive main compartment, Anyway ,we
(209 squadron) loaded up the "twinpins" and droned up and down
the Malayan ulu staring down upon miles and miles of TREES ,,I can still
see the things in my minds eye !
After hours of this visual torture we returned to refuel/have a pee etc.
and then back again, staring out of the side windows just seeing more
and more bloody TREES looking for a sign, any sign of wreckage, damaged
foliage etc. Getting near the end of the
second stint when a message came through the radio "It's alright,
he's been found" he (the navigator) had been found by some
loggers. Returning to
RAF Seletar to a late evening meal, I looked at my plate and what could
I see ????? TREES lots of bloody TREES !
At the time we
were told
1/.that the
aircraft was struck by lightning during a night flight
2/. that the pilot
had done the correct procedure and been rescued
3/. that the
navigator had been badly shocked and "dumped" his survival
gear, and then was rescued
This is what really happened according to the book " Flying the Silver Fern" by Christopher Pugsley
The news of the
withdrawal was overshadowed by the loss of one of the squadrons (75
sqdn) Canberra's. flown by Flight Lieutenant P.G. Bevan and
Navigator Flying Officer D.I. Finn When the plane WF 915 went
overdue on the night of 26th October (1961) One of the largest
search operations ever conducted in the theater was mounted . Over
the next five days Army Austers, Single and Twin Pioneers, and
almost all the small aircraft in Malaya took part in the search,
along with Shackletons, Bristol Freighters, and Hastings, Canberra's
from 81 PR Squadron photographed all of the area of probability so
that more time could be spent studying the ground rather than have a
fleeting glimpse from an aircraft. On the 30th October
Flight Lieutenant Bevan walked out of the jungle near Bahau.
After ejecting
from his aircraft, he had been unable to activate his S.A.R.A.H
(Search & Rescue & Homing) because
both it and his Mae West had been torn off by the top of a tree in
which he landed. Trapped by one leg and hanging upside down,
he had managed to set himself free with his knife after his harness
failed to release.
The
pyrotechnics in his survival kit did not work and his
matches got wet in the rain. In shock and injured in
both wrists, he walked to a logging track where Malay timber workers
found him and took him to Bahau Police Station
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Matt Rooney Memories |
to be continued |
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| I went to Tampin in Malaya 1952 to 1953, was with 93 bty, R.A. The Regiment was based in Kowloon, Hongkong. That was 25th, Field R.A.. Now 93 battery were based permanently at Tampin and it was only the personnel that were changed, there were National Servicemen and Regulars. Though I cannot now remember the exact strength at the time, and for some reason am unable to locate the Regt. I do know it existed in the 70's and 80's as my wife's niece's husband was in it. I was also at the dog school at Singapore as they [ the Bty] were supposed to use them on the patrols, that fell through???...So I had a variety of ' little ' jobs handed to me to pass the time there. We never got the chance to get bored, there was always something to do. NAAFI, and cinema queues in the camp, swimming parties to Malacca interstate boxing and football on our dusty pitch, unless of course when we had the typhoon's |
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A possible coup..
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