The Beverly was our lifeline during Confrontation in Borneo during the early sixties. Everything we needed was thrown out of the back, predominately fuel. That used to come in four 44 gallon drums and the baseboards were the basic sheet material for our bashers. Food and beer used to arrive the same way but there used to be a few problems.
They started off by packing the aircraft the night before. This led to static buildup in the chutes which caused the fabric to stick together. When it came out of the back one or more would candle so you leading to a high, if not ballistic, rate of descent. The survivors, whether drums of fuel or slabs of Tiger beer would resemble short fat rotund barrels.
The other was the Snatch. This is where the parachute would snap open and the load would disintegrate in front of it. Fuel wasn't a problem but food was. Raining fish, meat, potatoes and beer was not conducive to good moral.
One had to admire how they threaded those lumbering beasts around the hills and clouds to line up for the next drop but they only missed a handful.
Not a good picture; faded somewhat; Sepulot, Sabah, North Borneo. Spring 1966.
