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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1575.PDF
772 FLIGHT, 5 June 1959 The Far East Air Force Jungle Supply Dropping By NORMAN MACMILLAN PART III Final instalment of W/C. Norman Macmillon's article, Part I of which appeared in the issue of May 8 and Part II en May 22 some river, and yet again on bambpo matting laid out on the usually damp ground. On one airstrip the police commandant asked "Peck" if hewere going round by the river or over the top. He looked at the sky. It was a fine day. "Over the top," he said. By the river wasthe bad-weather route to the next fort; it took 30 minutes that way. Over the top took about ten. We rose (four up) from thestrip where more than one Pioneer has crashed on the dangerous approach and faced the steep slope of a cauldron-shaped valleywhose sides were nearly vertical. The airstrip was 1,320ft above sea level. The crest of the cauldron was about 5,000ft. Withinthat great wave of jungle our helicopter climbed, rotating like R.A.S.C. Air Supply Force dispatchers (above) await the pilot's orders over the intercom on a supply-drop by Valetta over the Malayan jungle. Right, F/L. P. Peckowski of No. 194 Sqn., with whom the author flew THE transport squadrons at Changi detach aircraft andcrews to Kuala Lumpur for the Air Supply Force, whosechief role is supply dropping to security forces in the jungle, leaflet dropping and paratrooping. An Air MaintenancePlatoon of the R.A.O.C. receives and packs the stores and supplies for dropping and accounts for the equipment used. A companyof the R.A.S.C. is responsible for co-ordination with the R.A.F. and anything connected with flying or trials of equipment. Theaverage weight of packaging is 350 lb. Three sizes of parachute are used; the two smaller ones are recovered and used up to threetimes, the large newer utility pattern is used once only. The fabric is usually cotton and nylon, but experiments have beenmade with nylon only. The Valetta in which I flew on a supply drop carried an R.A.F.aircrew of three—pilot, navigator, signaller—and four R.A.S.C. dispatch crew, two as dispatchers and two as handlers. Thehandlers brought the packages to the freight door, the dispatchers heaved them out on a simple wooden dispatching board. I stoodbehind the pilot, F/O. J. D. Wilson, as he curved down at 130 kt then levelled out at 400ft at 120 kt and said "running in!" overthe intercom. I went aft and watched the dispatchers at readiness. Three bells sounded. They lifted the dispatch board handles.Then came the pilot's voice: "Now!" and the dispatchers heaved the package overboard. Each time a load went out, Lt.J. Murray clung to the rear upright of the fuselage opening and swung out his body so that he could watch the 'chutes openingand the package descend. Once he had difficulty in forcing him- self back into the cabin because the airflow held him outside.Even with safety harness a fall outside would be unpleasant. Handlers and dispatchers worked hard and quickly, wastedno time on words. Each knew his job and did it silently and efficiently. Youngsters coming on this job often arrive thin andweedy types, I was told. They are taught how to lift and soon handle 350 lb loads with ease. They return home with finelydeveloped muscles and excellent physique. The Valetta circled and re-circled. By intercom Murray toldthe captain: "Three chutes to go, load so-many pounds, colour blue." Wilson reduced speed, the red light glowed on the dash,the buzzer vainly called for the unregarded undercarriage to be lowered. Out went another load. The navigator shoved his armforward as signal for the captain to open the throttle. Up and round, down again over the jungle towards the fort whose smokefire rose from its drop zone. Run in, dispatch. We see the men of the fort wave cheerfully at the end of the drop as the Valettadeparts to make another drop at a D.Z. for the police, in a small circular clearing among the trees beside a river that looks likeblack ink flowing in a sinuous line across patternless, dark-green mohair. There, too, on that more difficult spot the drop was acomplete success and soon we climbed away and up to 4,000ft, then set course for K.L. and gradually climbed to over 5,000ftto clear the hills and clouds, sometimes entering the white vapour. At last we came to the plain with its alluvial tin mines, greatwhite stadium, ornate railway station and Hindustan-architec- tured Government buildings that are the chief landmarks of theFederal capital; and then glided down to the drab aerodrome. I flew into several of the forts by helicopter—a Sycamorepiloted by F/L. P. Peckowski, a Polish pilot now in the R.A.F. He handled his chopper magnificently. If there is one criticismI have of helicopters it is that I cannot write in them because of the throbbing of their life-pulse; otherwise I like helicoptering.We flew low over immense jungle-clad mountains, skimmed the shoulders of some, alighted feather-like on diminutive airstripsperched on flattened hilltops or carved out of the forest beside Among the Muslim the bobbin on an Archimedeandrill, giving us a wonderful view of mountain, river, forest andfort. These forts have temporarybuildings, all small, all separated, some of native construction ofplaited bamboo, some of wood poles and thatch, some of corru-gated iron sheet, some of timber. They comprise police officers'mess, police troops' dormitory, radio station, workshop, store,fort H.Q., dispensary, store and school for aborigines. Cleanli-ness is exemplary. Officers and troops are smart; their tour lastsabout two or three months. Footpaths are good, flowers are grown. Malays soft drinks are the rule. The surrounding scenery isbeautiful. Aborigines live in their ladangs and long houses around the forts, often high up on the hillsides. Undoubtedly these fortshave figured largely in the defeat of the terrorists. They could not have been created or maintained without the Air Force.The air link is the one means to keep them supplied, to relieve the garrisons, to bring regular troops to them to fight in thejungle, to evacuate sick and wounded, to keep the forts a part of civilized Malaya, and to bring the 50,000 aborigines withinthe community of peoples who now form the Federation of Malaya. The order of air supply is first by parachute drop, then fly inby Pioneer, and lastly by helicopter—an order chosen on grounds of relative economy of operation. However experienced a pilotis he has to do 30 operations for close jungle work before he can become a first pilot. Many pilots new to Malaya jib at this, butnot after they have been for a flight over the jungle. Pilots have to know their way about by familiarization with the jungle, byability to recognize landmarks that are new and indistinguish- able to inexperienced eyes. There have been casualties, but onthe whole not so many, because experienced crews know just how far they can take risks and where they must either not start outin the treacherous climate or alternatively return home before completing their mission. External Security. Outside Malaya, the Far East Air Forcehas commitments to SEATO and associated responsibilities with British Forces Aden Peninsula. As a self-contained command-its striking power and defence and air transport have all been increased and no doubt will be increased further. As in Malaya,so externally, F.E.A.F. must be able to airlift Army reinforce- ments where needed—as, for example, to Hong Kong. TheBeverleys now in F.E.A.F. have greatly augmented these powers. It has recently been stated by Air Marshal the Earl of Bandon.the Commander-in-Chief F.E.A.F., that Singapore may have surface-to-air guided weapons. Singapore is only 1,050 n.rn.from the nearest Chinese airfield in Hainan and N.E. Malaya is only some 760 n.m. distant from it. Today, as far as theWest is concerned, Russia is considered the enemy. But the Australians think their enemy is China. Communist China iscoming along fast. A mistake was made once before in Singapore in expecting the attack to come from what proved to be the wrongdirection. That mistake must not be repeated. The deterrent is as necessary in S.E. Asia against China as it is in Western Europeagainst Russia. Doubtless it will be created.
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