"Advance and Destroy"
The
Battle of Plapa Mapu
l hope the following is correct and to my knowledge it is, but take into consideration this happened some thirty plus years ago and l did not keep a diary.
Date:
April 25th 1965 (A Sunday/Monday morning)
Time:
0442 Approx.
The Story.
I guess it starts when 279 platoon passed out from Maida Barracks in Aldershot and was advised that after our Christmas leave we would be joining 3rd Paras. A few days before the end of our leave we received telegrams at home to report immediately to 2nd Paras. Upon arriving back in Aldershot we joined 2nd Paras and were assigned to B Coy as the new 6th platoon. We were then advised we would be going to Malaya in the next couple of days for jungle training, so we drew the necessary kit and off we went to the Jungle Warfare School in Kotta Tingi in Malaya. We spent approx one month there before being transported to Kuching in Borneo where we were advised that we would be split up into Companies and moved to various locations in the jungle that joins with the borders of Indonesia.
A,B, & D Coys' were assigned fixed locations. but C Coy went up country to assist the S.A.S. in patrolling another area. We were in what was known as Division 1 which was on the N,W, side of Borneo. We were transported by helicopter to this location and it turned out to be nothing more than a little hill with a large water tank and a couple of corrugated shacks and nothing else. Some previous occupant had dug bashers into the sides of the hill, so we cleaned them out and moved in. So did the rats. However after a few days some pythons also moved into the camp and were great in controlling the rat population. The roofs of the bashers were supported with corrugated tin and at night you would hear a slithering sound, a small squeak and another rat fell prey to the pythons. After a while we got used to it.
Our
first priority was to prepare the camp against enemy attack, which meant
many rolls of gannet wire, claymore mines, and the making of many punje
sticks, (Sharp bamboo sticks with points on them) After defensive
measures were completed we got organized into patrols (12 Men) to go out
into the jungle to set up ambushes to trap the enemy. This went on for
a couple of weeks and then was changed. Some of the patrols had been doing
"Hearts & Minds" patrols and the local villagers in return were keeping
us advised as and when they spotted enemy patrols. The trouble was they
were seeing the enemy and we were not. It was then decided to change our
patrols and work in 4 men patrols the emphasis being on observation.
I was assigned with Bob H...... and John R........ and someone else
who's name l cannot remember to an observation point on top of a very large
hill. We were static in this location watching for enemy movement along
two paths we could see from our OP. Other than a few villagers not
much was observed and the patrol was re-assigned after 5 days. Meanwhile....................back
at the ranch
Unknown to us the powers that be back in regional HQ had deduced that our location was prime for an enemy attack by the intelligence reports that they were getting. As typical with these upper echelon types they kept it to themselves not even telling our CO (Col, Ted Eberhardie) who advised us later he was not happy about this to say the least. "I'm not the least bit happy about this" he said.
Every
evening and every morning at first and last light we did what was called
a "Clearing Patrol." to ensure no enemy were in the close vicinity of the
camp. Approx on the 22nd the clearing patrol found some fresh pony tracks
and judging by the depth of the tracks we realized that this animal or
animals were carrying heavy loads. As none of the local villagers owned
this type of animal we were immediately suspicious, so our Company Commander
Capt John Fleming, sent out a patrol to follow the tracks. These
tracks led around the camp and went back over the border into Indonesia.
At this point we increased our local patrols concentrating on the borderline
itself and more evidence of enemy activity were uncovered. We found fresh
boot marks in the mud and as the local population do not wear shoes it
was evident that strangers were in the vicinity. All of this info was passed
back down the line and on the 23rd we were advised that the personnel in
the camp would be joined by others for protection of the camp.
This supposedly was to take place over the next few days. In the meantime we would step up our patrol activities. Our patrol who had been out at this time returned to the camp and was directed to rest and get ready for a new patrol to start the next day. Great, cleanup and decent food.
We
spent the rest of the day cleaning up kit, washing and other bits and bobs.
Two larger patrols also came in that day. Most were from 6 platoon with
some of the attached personnel. After clean up l spent the rest of the
day staying
out
of the way of our CSM "Drummie" Williams. He had a habit of always finding
something for you to do. There were about 25 of us in the camp so let him
go chase someone else. Later that evening after eating some hot food we
got our ration of rum which as l do not drink I traded to "Willy" Taylor
for a can of fruit salad. The rest of the evening was spent listening
to Willy Taylor spin his war stories. I tell you, that man could keep you
spellbound for hours. About 9 p.m. I went to bed.
BANG !! BANG !! BANG !! The noise sounded in quick succession. Everyone was jumping out of bunks and grabbing for weapons and webbing. "Stand to!! Stand to" !! Drummie was shouting. I think there were only three words on everyone's lips at that time in the morning "f-k in Hell" someone shouted. A bloke who was struggling with his equipment replied calmly, 'I suppose so, they do everywhere else"
lt was dark and it was raining although dawn was about to break. At that time two of our" gimpies" (GPMG) opened up and some of the rifles also. A claymore went off. I could hear enemy fire hitting our water tank but as that was 10 feet off the ground it was not an immediate worry. There I was standing at my stand to position wondering what the f#*k was going on. During the previous weeks I had taken an interest in medical work and whenever I had time I hung around our one medics picking up what I could. He was from the 23 PFA but I cannot remember his name. Anyway as I was standing to and scanning the edge of the jungle for signs of the enemy I heard "Drummie" call my name. I answered and he yelled for me to get up to the cookhouse and help the medic.
The "Cookhouse" was a tin shack at the top of the hill where the cooks prepared our meals. (The next portion of this story was related to me after by "Nev Farmer" and I have no recollection of it.) I jumped out of my trench and ran up the hill at top speed and dived over the serving counter as l heard a machine gun open up from the direction I had been 'stood to' at. Evidently an enemy gunner had seen me leave my trench and had fired at me and the bullets following me up the steps.
I was told to watch our patient, Pvt McKeller and take care of any bleeding. McKeller had caught some shrapnel and it had ripped the right upper side of his head off. He was "snoring" due to blood restrictions in his nose and was in an apparent coma. (Although we kept him alive until the choppers got him to hospital he died a couple of days later.) While I was taking care of him Drummie Williams our C.S.M. had taken a hit in the right eye from shrapnel . Mick Murtagh had also taken some shot from a shotgun in his back, but in the traditional army style we told him to take two aspirin and report for sick parade next morning.. At this time the shooting began to subside and a lot of shouting was going on. Although it seemed that hours had gone by it had only been about 35 mins. The medic told me he could cope now and to go back to my 'stand to' position.
What Happened??? The events actually took place as relayed to me by Bob Watkins our QM clerk and are as follows.
At about 15 mins to five Bob Watkins got up to obey the liquid call of nature. Whilst scalding a few wild nettles around his feet he heard noises coming from our mortar pit. Securing his pet ferret and went to investigate, He saw someone who was not one of us and gave the alarm by letting go 10 or so rounds with his Sterling SMG. One of our guard posts immediately let off a flare and we saw about 3 of the enemy crawling slowly through our defenses. The "gimpies" soon took care of them. The flare also revealed many of the enemy at the bottom of the hill waiting to attack. Once again they became "Gimpie" fodder.
An
enemy machine gun that was located on a hill some 400 yds away opened up
and for some reason they only aimed at the water tank and turned it
into a sieve. One bloke on observing this snarled, "why didn't I think
of that, we could all have had a nice cool shower" They also opened
up with a 2" mortar but only a couple of rounds were fired with no damage
done. At this point the enemy started to retreat taking their dead and
dying with them. There was a lot of wounded enemy. One enemy machine gun
had opened up on the other side of the camp but was silenced very quickly.
At the time of the first flare going off the guard post spotted 4 enemy
soldiers trying to get in our main gate. This is why the second "gimpie"
opened up. The "gimpies" then started to rake the jungles edge and soon
we heared screaming. The "gimpies" had found more targets. The enemy machine
gun on the hill had stopped firing after receiving about 100 rounds from
our "gimpies". I think their gun crew legged it.
One of the main reasons the attack failled was their lack of weapon training. They had thrown a lot of grenades at us with the pins still in or with rubber bands holding the levers down. As for our wounded there were very few. A few cuts and grazes and that was about it. McKeller (who died from his wounds) Mick Mcatagh and CSM Williams were the only ones that l recall.
Once the attack had subsided "Drummie" was back on form. Battalion HQ wanted us to "Advance and Destroy" the enemy. With Capt Fleming "drummie" was shouting for patrols to get ready and leave A.S.A.P. The RAF helicopters would not come in while the fighting was going on but an A.A.C. scout helicopter brought in the doctor. As the patrols got ready to go they were briefed and given an area of the border that they had to ambush. The Gurkhas who were in the next sector would also ambush the border in their sector. By this time we were all fired up and our adrenaline levels were on danger. The normal procedure going through the jungle is to proceed at a slow walking pace and to observe, Not on this day!!
Bob
our patrol leader said we would go at a fast walk to get to our position
for the ambush. This lasted for about five minutes as Clp Jackie Bournes
patrol came past us at about 90 MPH. They were followed by Sgt Pasks patrol
going about the same speed. So we just followed on at 70 MPH. l was told
later that we went right by an SAS patrol who were also legging it to the
border. We were following one of the routes that the enemy had retreated
along and it was obvious that they were hurting as there was blood all
along the trail and even some body parts. We ran up the side of this
large hill (800') and got to our ambush position and set up our claymores.
(The border runs along the top of a range of low hills).
We then settled in and waited. We were so fired up we did not even get a brew going. We waited and waited then waited some more but nothing happened. We had left camp at approx 8 a.m. and it was now 3.30pm. We got a radio message to return to camp and we stood down the ambush and an hour or so later we got back to camp. What an anti climax!!
My total kill ratio for the day was a big fat zero. Hell' l did not even fire my rifle.
When we got back to camp we found they had moved in a company of Aussies. Talk about crowded. For the next few nights we doubled the guards and the patrols. Two days later the C.O. came and advised us that the main body of the enemy had got through the Gurkha positions and there were no further kills. I can tell you for the next few days the Gurkhas were not the flavour of the month. From then on the routine got back to normal. Even the locals did not get any sightings of the enemy. From that point on we did everything we could to incite the enemy to show themselves even having a fryup in the jungle and playing a transistor radio when we stopped for a rest. Obviously we had two patrols following right behind should the enemy show up.
Unfortunately or fortunately which ever way you look at it the rest of the tour was uneventful and a few months later we returned to Blighty by way of Singapore. In Singapore we relaxed for a few days. To change Mr Churchill's comments about the RAf in World War 2 it would go something like this. "Never in the field of human endeavour was so much drunk by so few"
Next stop Aden!!
The Battle of Plamam Mapu
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