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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0118.PDF
76 FLIGHT, 18 Janviary 1951 At Butterworth : (left) : The control tower ; (centre) N.A.A.F.I.. break—in the background is a P.R. Mosquito ; (right) The Officers' Mess. JOURNEY EAST ... In the recent Singapore riots, too, the helicopter flight provedextremely useful. Operating from a football ground in the city, the pilots were able to pass on to the police and troopsinformation regarding any concentration of rioters. To digress for a moment to the A.O.P. airstrips, the Army isdoing a fine job of work from these Lilliputian landing-grounds. They are in most cases made of laterite, a local macadam ofthe colour of Devon earth and the majority measure about 300yd x 25yd. The Austers are serviced by the R.A.F. but thepilots are all Army personnel. If some of the results obtained by air strikes are in any wayquestionable in value there is no doubt whatsoever of the effec- tiveness of air supply to the ground forces. The jungle head-quarters are often far from any means of surface transport and in this connection it should be remembered that Malaya isalmost devoid of east-west roads. Without air supply ground warfare would be impossible. The base for supply-dropping is Kuala Lumpur, whereAdvanced Air H.Q. is commanded by the A.O.C.'s personal representative, G/C. M. H. Kelly. Kuala Lumpur (or "K.L."as it is always abbreviated out there) is the centre of all the anti-bandit activity. The combined-operations room is there,and normally the fighter and transport squadrons share the airfield. Owing to urgent repairs to the runway the Spitfiresand Tempests have moved out and only a skeleton force of Dakotas is left in residence for supply-dropping. The business of air supply has a technique all its own andI was privileged to see it in action by going on a Dak which was scheduled to drop 450 lb of supplies on D.Z. Fox, north-east of Ipoh (for some Commandos), 1,700 lb for social welfare on D.Z. Oboe and a further 1,600 lb, for the 3rd Malay Regiment,on the same dropping-zone. Our final call was to be Oboe Bar, where another 640 lb was to go overboard, also for the 3rd MalayRegiment. The last two bases are made in the jungle, about 100 miles north of K.L. airfield, in the Kordu Reserve Forest.There are no other means of supply. Like every other air operation in this area, supply-droppinghas to be done in that short period between the clearing of low cloud and mist in the morning and the forming'of cu-nimunder the influence of the tropical sun. Briefing was at 0730 hr, with take-off 45 minutes later; even so, cu-nim could be seenforming over the distant hills. Safety precautions appear to be cheerfully non-existent—there are no seat-belts, for the goodreason that there are no seats; the door is off; and a slippery floor adds to one's general feeling of insecurity. The temperature rose quickly in the pilot's cabin, and he dashedoff the sweat which poured down to his chin. We climbed to 6,000ft, but the Cameroons, alongside which we travelled, werestill a thousand feet higher. Big tin-mining areas crept slowly back below. As we passed Ipoh, the five-minute signal wasgiven to the despatchers. This warning enables them to get the appropriate packages and parachutes to the cabin door, justbalanced and ready to be pushed outward. Each despatcher has a webbing belt and anchor strap to make sure that he does not,in the excitement of the moment, follow the packages. la actual fact, with the aircraft now down below 1,000ft, the scene atthe cabin door was full of drama. The despatchers held the packages against the tearing wind and bumps which threatenedto pull them out before their proper time. The signaller stood by, with headset on, ready to give instructions. With musclesstrained they waited for the three rings (" Prepare to drop "), then for the final single ring, and overboard went the loads. A quicklook out was taken to see that all parachutes had fallen clear and that the D.Z. had been hit fair and square. Satisfied on thatpoint, the despatchers sat back on the remaining cargo as the pilot pulled the Dak out in a climbing turn to head for the nextD.Z. The tension relaxed, one of the despatchers pulled qut a pocketcomb to straighten his wind-ruffled hair and all was calm once more—except at the rear of the cabin, where the draught fromthe open door caught the row of hanging Mae Wests, making them look for all the world like yellow octopi waving their tentacles. The first load for the next D.Z. was rice for troops of the 3rd Malay regiment; it was encased in double sacks for free dropping without parachute. This zone, however, was covered in cloud and although we tried very hard to find a way through it was impossible so to do. From there we moved on to an alternative site where, by virtue of very careful flying, we were just able to get below cloud. It is very impressive to be in one of these Daks, flying at all sorts of crazy angles to avoid the trees and hills until the short level flight of the run-in. Oboe Bar was also located and supplied, and from there we climbed through the clouds to 7,000ft and set course for home at 1030 hr at 120 knots. Some miles from Kuala Lumpur, through the notorious Kan- ching Pass, is the headquarters of the R.A.F. Regiment at Rawang. The road between K.L. and Rawang has been the scene of a number of ambushes and as a safety measure .the jungle has now been cut back for some 100 yards on each side of the road. For the visit I travelled with G/C. Kelly, and our car was escorted by an armoured vehicle. A padre accompany- ing the party pointed out all the places where incidents had occurred. No. 91 Squadron R.A.F. Regiment, who had been in Malaya some eight weeks, were then at Rawang, and will remain there until relieved by another squadron. There are five of these Malay squadrons, in which all the officers and some of the nx.o.s are British, the remainder being Malays. Strength of each unit is about 170 all ranks. Their duties include guarding of the air- fields at Changi, Seletar, Tengah and Kai Tak, and Kuala Lum- pur. Each duty is assumed for a period of five months. For operations they come under the Scots Guards. Each patrol from Rawang goes out some twenty-strong and remains in the jungle for six days. The party is armed with Bren and Sten guns and each man carries a rifle; sometimes a 2in mortar is also taken. Yellow flashes worn in their caps ensure that the men are not mistaken for bandits. On return from patrol they seem, understandably, somewhat exhausted, and the sickness incidence rate goes up a little; but every endeavour is made to give every man a night in bed for each one he has spent in the jungle. The most northerly R.A.F. station in Malaya is Butterworth, situated on the mainland opposite the island of Penang. Normally it is non-operational but, with K.L. more or less out of use until the runway is repaired, the Tempests are there, plus a detach- ment of P.R. Mosquitoes from Seletar on Singapore island. Butterworth is also a temporary stopping-place for Malayan Air- ways, because Penang airport is also unserviceable. It ordinarily functions as an armament practice-camp, where fighter and fighterrbomber squadrons are sent on detachment. Three little islands, some 25 miles away, serve as a target area. On the island of Penang is a leave camp for the whole of the R.A.F. in Malaya. The air is a good deal drier than it is in Singapore, and the atmosphere much less enervating. Many airports in many lands have been publicized as "Clapham Junctions" of the air. Of Singapore, in relation to the Far East, this can be truly said. Fortunately, also, the Government of the Island is very air-minded and intends to keep abreast of modern airport developments. The present civil airport at Kallang, when it was opened in 1937, was considered to be one of the finest in the world. It then had a maximum runway length of 1,000 yards, which the Japs doubled during their occupation. No further extension is Mr. A. W. Savage, Director of Civil Aviation in Malaya, with the plans of the new Paya btbar airport before him.
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