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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0673.PDF
667 FLIGHT 29 May 1953 Middle East and Far East . . . is a signals and refuelling detachment. There is a similar detach ment on the island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo. The A.O.C. Malaya—A.V-M. F. R. W. Scherger, R.A.A.F.— and his S.A.S.O., G/C. A. V. Bax, were kind enough to bring us up-to-date on the anti-bandit operations. The air vice-marshal impressed on us the difficulty of getting definite "identifiable and markable" targets. Precision in pin-pointing objectives and placing the bombs thereon was an immediate aim. It was impera tive, he continued, not to flush the quarry from the camps before bombing started; so Hornets and Vampires were' being used to pin them down while the Lincolns were making their runs, and while the troops were closing in. He went on to speak of the "immense value" of helicopters in many rdles, including one which illustrates how they can save the tax-payer's money—by salvaging expensive parachute harness after a mass drop. Low- level reconnaissance with Austers ("birds-nesting," as the A.V-M. termed it) is proving a huge success, and he expressed the greatest admiration for the pilots engaged in this arboreal pursuit. His regard for the Valetta supply-dropping crews was equally warm; they were, he assured us, doing "a hell of a job," and recovery from the almost unbelievably small dropping zones was very nearly 100 per cent. He spoke, too, of the accuracy of the Hornet's dive-bomoing; of the "terrifying" effect of cannon and R.P. straffing upon the harassed bandits; and of the fine work being done by the R.A.F. Regiment (Malaya)—a squadron of which was always in the jungle on security work—and by the volunteer Jungle Rescue Teams. An officer who gave us an insight into another operational technique was F/L. S. R. Kellaway, chief instructor to the Far East Parachute School. Basic training, he said, was along Abingdon lines, though adapted (and he said it without a trace of a smile) to local requirements. And to dispel any doubt as to the implications of the term "local," this would generally mean a jungle of trees i50-20oft tall. If caught up in these—and most of the paratroops are caught up—they lower themselves to the ground on 250ft webbing lines. When I met the flight lieutenant three drops had been made with the new equipment—from a Dakota into a clear ing; from a Valetta into paddy and jungle; and from a Valetta into solid jungle. All were 100 per cent successful. F/L. T. Mellard, Officer Commanding, Changi Air Movements Section, told us how his small staff manages to cope with the trunk-route Hastings, the Valettas on the Far East local routes, French military aircraft staging through, and supply-dropping Valettas. Some 2,600 passengers from the "twins" alone may be handled a month, and from the long-distance Hastings another 600-700. Apart from the frequent Transport Command and Far East Transport Wing schedules there are regular local runs, as, for instance, the daily service to Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth, the weekly ambulance service to Ipoh, the monthly ration-delivery to the British Services Mission at Rangoon, and supply drops as demanded. From our midnight slumbers in the moonlit Changi mess we were roused by a gentle hand and a soft voice promising a bandit strike tomorrow. Morning broke tranquilly (except for a barrage of Chinese New Year firecrackers), and we set out for Tengah. We met the Station Commander, G/C. C. M. Champion de Crespigny, his Wing Commander Flying, W/C. M. W. B. Knight, D.F.C., and W/C. N. T. Quinn, D.F.C., R.A.A.F., Officer Commanding No. 1 Squadron, R.A.A.F. (Lincolns), before being conducted to the ops. room. There Major Varwell, the G.L.O., briefed us on the anti-bandit operation in which we were to participate. He related how three of some newly ambushed bandits had been killed, one had been wounded and one had escaped. The wounded man was proving co-operative in helping to pin-point the bandit camp, with its armoury and printing press; and for fear that the escapee should blow the gaff and cause his colleagues to flee, it was proposed to attack that morning. Two companies of the Cameronians were ready to close in on the encampment. Our pilot was S/L. D. C. Harvey, R.A.A.F.; our aircraft Lincoln B.Mk 30, A73-33; and our load eighteen 500 lb bombs. There was no time to follow W/C. Knight's advice not to be modest, but to strip except for overalls, and we went aboard in khaki drill. In this undertaking the writer managed to gash his forehead; so the operation was preceded by appropriate floods of blood and sweat. Within minutes the four Lincolns detailed for the strike had bunched at the head of the runway. They were away in short order, and at plus 7 boost and 160 kt our own machine was closing on W/C. Quinn's, with the swamplands, plantations and "ulu" streaming below. We glimpsed some Hornets drawing ahead to port, but soon lost sight of them behind curtains of rain. An hour or so out we picked up a smoke signal of the Cameron ians. It had been the wing commander's intention that the two Lincolns with 1,000 lb bombs should open the proceedings, but the cloud base was below their safety height; so his, and our own, aircraft went in first. The detonations of the closely spaced bombs reached up and cuffed our Lincoln before it could draw away in a steep turn. The Hornets followed us in, with smoke wisping from their cannon ports, rocket trails snaking out from under their wings and bombs flashing red among the dark green of the jungle. Orbiting, we looked down into the trees which had been shattered and wrenched by the air-bursts of our bombs; and we smelt the acrid explosive. Then our Lincoln dropped low over the tree-tops for her first strafing run. Under our nose, almost, the muzzles of the forward guns swung into view, and one by one the turrets set the floor (Top left) S/L H. Corbett-Wilson, com manding a squadron of the R.A.F. Regi ment (Malaya), tells W/C. I. 0. B. Carlson, Officer Commanding, R.A.F. Regiment (Malaya), of his squadron's latest success against the bandits. (Top right) The first burst is fired on a new jungle range of the R.A.F. Regiment (Malaya). (Right) Repre sentative of the A.O.C. Malaya at Kuala Lumpur, G/C. S. £. MacKenzie. (Below) The spot where a Malayan bandit met his end at the hands of the R.A.F Regiment (Malaya). At lower left, men of the Regiment who escorted "Flight's" representatives to the scene.
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