RAOC Gazette - page 57
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1983 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1983 |
| Late date | 1983 |
| Transcription |
GUNUNG TAHAN By MAJOR J R. NEILL SOLDIERS keen on mountaineering and trekking could be forgiven for putting their rucksacks and expedition equipment into storage when they receive a posting order to Hong Kong. What could a small place like Hong Kong with a total area of only one thousand and forty five square kilometres teeming with over five million people have to offer soldiers with experience of adventurous training in the Alps and other areas in Europe? As you would expect, the answer is ' not a lot.' However, as RAOC soldiers from the Composite Ordnance Depot Hong Kong have discovered, Hong Kong is a good base from which to take advantage of a number of adventurous training oppor- tunities in other areas of South East Asia. Situated on the South East coast of China adjoining Kwantung Province, Hong Kong is just inside the Tropics. Hawaii and Calcutta are approxi- mately on the same latitudes, with London nine thousand six hundred and fifty six kilometres away. More to the point Nepal and the Himalayas are three thousand kilometres away and the jungles of Malaysia and Borneo two thousand seven hundred kilometres and two thousand kilometres respectively. The base camp of Everest has to be the No. 1 attraction in South East Asia for a unit adventurous training expedition. However it is also the most expensive in both time and money. Such an expedition requires at least a month in Nepal and gone are the days of frequent service flights and available seats for unit expeditions. Composite Ordnance Depot expeditions organised and led by Major Robert Neill have therefore con- centrated on mountains nearer to home in the jungles of Malaysia and Borneo. ' Jungle Heights' was the obvious choice for the name of the exercise. Jungle Heights Team near the summit. Exercise Jungle Heights I was a ten man expedition which climbed and explored the summit area of Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. At thirteen thousand four hundred and fifty five feet Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in South East Asia (excluding the Himalayas) and is the main attraction of the Crocker Range on the vast island of Borneo. Sabah was until relatively recently known as British North Borneo and is easily reached from Brunei whose British garrison at Seria is served by a twice monthly charter aircraft from Hong Kong. Exercise Jungle Heights 2 consisted of five British and five locally enlisted Chinese soldiers, who set off from Hong Kong to climb Gunung (Mount) Tahan, which is located deep within the Taman Negara (National Park) of West Malaysia. Taman Negara, formerly known as King George V Park, comprises one thousand six hundred and seventy seven square miles and is situated in the centre of the Malay Peninsular, astride the View of Gunung Tahan Foothills (forty miles away). boundaries of Kelantan, Trengganu and Pahang States. Altitude range is from two hundred and fifty feet up to seven thousand one hundred and seventy four feet of Gunung Tahan. Taman Negara is reckoned to be the oldest tropical jungle in the world and contains plants, trees and insect life not found anywhere else. Although the expedition did not see any, the Park contains tigers, elephants, white rhinos and other rare animals and birds. At seven thousand one hundred and seventy four feet (two thousand one hundred and eighty seven metres) Gunung Tahan is the highest mountain in West Malaysia. Though not a technically difficult mountain to climb—the summit area merely involves a steep walk—the challenge of Gunung Tahan lies in its remoteness and relative inaccessibility from civilisation. It is a four day/sixty three kilometres trek through tropical jungle from the nearest navigable river and Park Headquarters. Because of the difficult terrain it is necessary to climb a total of about twelve thousand five hundred feet in order to scale a seven thousand one hundred and seventy four feet mountain. Park Headquarters at Kuala Tahan is only approachable by river, a fifty kilometre journey up Sungei (River) Tembeling from the nearest roadhead at Kuala Tembeling. All this means that any expedition must be self sufficient for at least seven days, which obviously entails a heavy pack. It is also obligatory to employ a guide on the Gunung Tahan trek. It was originally planned to hold the exercise in October however, when it was discovered that this - was the height of the monsoon season in Central Malaysia and the rivers im- passable, the expedition was postponed until March, and the dry season. Fitness training took place for about five months prior to the exercise. The aim of this training was to ensure that all the personnel involved were capable of carrying a fifty pound pack for at least eight hours/fifteen miles a day, with a rise and fall of two thousand/three thousand feet over difficult terrain. It was hoped that this standard of fitness would be sufficient not only for the trek to Gunung Tahan but would also com- pensate for the lack of acclimatisation time on the exercise. Carrying a pack during a Hong Kong winter (sixteen degrees centigrade) is a different proposition altogether from the thirty degrees centigrade plus and intense humidity of the Malay jungle. The training days also allowed revision in first aid, map reading, helicopter drills, campcraft and use of exercise equipment. This training period also enabled the exercise mem- bers to get to know each other and to get themselves organised into bivouac pairs. This last aspect was important as each pair would have to be self-sufficient for the best part of two weeks living off the contents of their packs. Thus the weight of the — 46 — |
| Book number | R0406 |