Confrontation
I was an Infantry Officer during Confrontation Deployed in the Third Division and based in Long Jawi. As a late arrival after a jungle warfare course in Kota Tingi (Malaya) I travelled from Sibu to Nanga Ghat (NG), the home of 110 Sqn RAF, in a speed boat so all day up the mighty River Rajang. As you approached NG there was a Wessex 5 nose down in the river and not 100yards later OMG another one, all FAA. There were many stories of how these aircraft came to be there most of which seemed to centre on how many Gurkhas could you get on a Wessex and the answer seemed to be as many until she will just get into a hover then one more! Phrases like WTF have I let myself in for and I'll never fly here raced through ones mind. 110 flew Whirlwind 10s and I flew from NG to Long Jawi the following day with sacks of mail the trip took some 45 to 50 minutes passing a large mountain range, name escapes me but was the weather barometer for the trip as in if it was in cloud you didn't go. Life for the next 5 months was in and out of the jungle on 14 day patrols. The WW would take 4 soldiers loaded for bear (food and ammo) and the crewman was dispensed with. A Scout from the flight based in Sibu would also take 4 pax, 5 with the pilot. If the winds were unfavourable there was jungle refuelling stop available, Blue 49 code named Diana, with 44 gallon drums and water sedi kit available. Happy days, that expirience turned me to flying. 2 and a half years later I was on a flying course and the rest is history, thirty years flying with the AAC and never regretted it one minute. One of the 110 pilots was Sergeant Fred Aries (sp) other names have long gone. Scout pilots John Hathaway, John Bamford again other names gone as well. My last helicopter trip out of LJ was in a Belvedere which was timely as I had spent many a happy hour increasing the size of the LZs from WW to Belvedere size - much explosive, blisters and broken chain saw blades!!
LB