RAOC Gazette - page 17
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1980 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1980 |
| Late date | 1980 |
| Transcription |
JUNGLE WARFARE BRUNEI By SERGEANT TONES HAVING returned from Brunei to the Training Battalion from this unusual course and started work again, I was confronted by the usual " how did it go " and " what was it like "—this I did not mind and readily gave a brief account; but when our OC, Major Collins, asked me to write an article for THE GAZETTE I wondered just where I would start. However, it all started when a signal arrived in the Unit from Headquarters UKLF calling for volunteers for a jungle warfare instructors course to be held in Brunei. As you might well guess there was no shortage of volunteers. The main criteria was that the applicant should be physically fit and have a sound knowledge of infantry tactics to the level of Platoon Sergeant—no one really thought an applicant from this Unit would get it. A few weeks passed before a signal came back stating that one Sergeant Tones had been nominated. It also gave a full list of people attending the course " Exercise Oil Painting 7." I was surprised to see that I was the only RAOC man on the course in fact all but three were Infanteers, Guards, Paras, Marines, Argyls, to name but a few—and a high proportion of these were Officers. A short time later the joining instructions came, together with the news that there was to be a fourteen days acclimatiza- tion period in Hong Kong. " How on earth did you get that you jammy B " was the comment of the day. The flight to Hong Kong went very smoothly although twenty two hours on any plane is somewhat gruelling; the RAF are better than most and on one occasion I was allowed on the flight deck of the VC10 for an hour which was really very interesting. However, the so called holiday that I had envisaged, was not to be. As soon as we arrived at the airport building there was a KOSB Major who promptly presented us with the programme of the acclimatization period. Every day long walks over the high hills of the new territories of Hong Kong carrying Bergen rucksacks, There was some free time which we all put to good use, you know, window shopping and oriental flower arranging and the like, (the wife might read this). On to Brunei and another three hour flight by RAF VC10. The first thing that struck me about Brunei was the intense heat, tefnperatuire hovering at about one hundred degrees fahrenheit—and of course the humidity. A two hour coach drive took us from the airport to our camp, an old tin roofed arrangement without any walls, this was to be our home for the next six weeks, when not in the jungle that is. We did have a television set for our enter- tainment and it was when we put it on that night that we dis- covered that Brunei was a Muslem state, every fifteen minutes or so, irrespective of what the programme was, a Holy man would appear on the screen singing praise to Allah—or what- ever they sing about. Apart from the soldiers from UK there was quite a large Gurkha contingent. It was the first time I had ever worked with these people and I wondered if everything I had heard about them was true, especially that they were such good soldiers. They turned out to be at least as good as I had envisaged, so dedicated; they thought about the Army twenty four hours a day. Almost every night they would pack their kit and then unpack il and then pack it again and this would go on until it was perfect. Reveille was usually at about 0600-hrs but the Gurkhas would be up at least an hour before that. The course itself was not all practical jungle work, there was quite a lot of classroom theory, there had to be, for apart from the basic jungle skills, we had to learn about such things as, the new PRC 320 Clansman Radio, a piece of hardware that I am particularly grateful to. It has voice communication for three hundred and twenty kilometres and this compared to the A41 with practically no communication in the jungle, was a god send. On one occasion I was on sentry duty, it was about 2015-hrs, pitch black and about eighteen miles from civilization —and eighteen miles is a hell of a long way in thick jungle. I Into action by chopper. was busy staring into the inky black listening to the jungle nocturnal life when, suddenly ! something had bitten me. I stood up not knowing really what to do, then a few seconds later Lieutenant Barry Parsons RM, produced a torch and it came as quite a shock to see two fang marks on my left hand. I sucked it and applied a torniquay. Being a first aid instructor I had always been told that with snake bites, shock is the greatest killer but this did nothing to supress my apprehension when I heard that it wouldn't be until daylight—some ten hours away—until I could be got out; but thanks to the Clansman Radio we had immediate comms with Exercise Control, some thirty miles away and they alerted the hospital and helicopter. I was given three piriton tablets and woke up in hospital some twenty six hours later. After theory instruction on such things as jungle survival, navigation, ambush technique, tunnel warfare, river crossing and many more skills vital to jungle operations, we went into the jungle to put it into practice through a number of exercises! The main factor in jungle operations is being able to cope with the intense heat and humidity, you and your clothing are continually wet through perspiration and it is fair to say that you begin to rot as soon as you set foot in the jungle! It needs a physically fit and mentally attuned soldier to achieve any success and acclimatization is vital. All other military skills can be adapted to suit the jungle but emphasis must be placed on navigation and jungle marksmanship. A great experience and a thoroughly worthwhile course and one which I would readily recommend to anyone. — 244 — Sergeant- Tones makes friends with the locals. |
| Book number | R0403a |