Supplementary Information and Anecdotes
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Bob Gibbs - HMAS Quickmatch
 I joined the Navy at 17 in
1956, and served in Malayan waters on HMAS Quickmatch in 1956 and
1957.
We
didn't see action in the sense that we were attacked, but we were in the war
zone. There were several fatalities among men - and these are not on the
Roll of Honour, and I think they should be. We'll keep fighting to get them
on one day.
We
were always busy - there were regular four-hourly watches, and then there
was plenty of maintenance and cleaning jobs to carry out during other times,
training exercises with other ships, and such. So it could have been boring,
but we were always busy.
We
did our bit - basically blockading the area, keeping potential enemy
supplies by sea out of the picture, and stopping potential disruption of the
busy commercial sea lanes by mines. We were unnoticed, but successful.
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Colin Bannister -
3RAR
Problems with
mites and mosquitoes
Malaria was the
main concern. ... On patrol in the jungle it was sleeves down all the time
and mosquito lotion sloshed on exposed skin all the time. Mosquito nets for
sleeping were a necessity except on patrol where they were not only bulky
but cumbersome to get out of in a hurry in the dark.
Mites were the
carriers of unpleasant things like typhus so anti-mite fluid ... had to be
rubbed into the seam of shirts and trousers and then reapplied periodically
to counter the fluid's dilution through rain, sweat and washing.
The enemy
(CTs)
The CT (Communist
Terrorist) soldier was well used to living in the jungle. ... Food and other
supplies came from the jungle gardens of the fringe squatters and
surrounding kampongs (villages). He had jungle workshops to repair his
weapons and equipment, jungle hospitals for first aid treatment, a network
of agents and sympathisers in village, town and city, and a cowed rural
population to coerce for food, money, information and sanctuary. His
discipline, fieldcraft, navigation and minor tactics were good and his
weapon handling adequate. He relied on surprise in ‘hit and run’ tactics
such as the ambush and, (initially) could be ruthlessly cruel in murdering,
mutilating or kidnapping people of influence and their families - village
headmen, teachers, local government officials.
Waiting in
ambush
Squirming to get
comfortable, there's time to become familiar again with the local vegetation
as darkness descends and the mosquitoes try to penetrate your clothes and
the lotion on your skin. After a while legs get numb, arms ache and the mind
wanders. Suddenly there's a noise and the skin tingles and the heart thumps
but no shadowy figure comes into view and slowly you relax. Animals were
often the cause of spring or premature ambushes, particularly at night when
pigs, monkeys or deer could blunder into the site.
Returning
from patrol
But when they were
home sweet home, with loving wives to greet the returning warriors who by
this time were rather hot, sweaty and smelly warriors. Ah, the bliss of
climbing out of uniform whose starched pristineness had deteriorated into
black sweat patches and creases, to shower, change, have a drink and think
about what to do for the next few days. The (servants) would whisk away the
soiled clothes and confer with ‘Mem’ about dinner that night while I
would sit back in sheer content.
(Colin Bannister, An Inch of Bravery. 3RAR in the Malayan
Emergency 1957-59. Directorate of Army Public Affairs, Canberra, 1994.
p38, 50, 76, 80)
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Spud Spurgeon - 1
Squadron, RAAF
 I
was a pilot in No 1 Squadron, flying Lincoln Bombers. I was 35 in 1956.
It
was a funny war for us. It was safe in that there was no opposition from the
air or the ground, but it was very hard to see let alone hit a target.
‘Going hunting’, we called it. The two or two and a half hour flights
could get pretty difficult, but that was because of the weather - flying in
a tropical storm can be very scary.
We
would get the word that there was a target, then a marker aircraft would
drop smoke, and we would try to hit the area. Well, we never were told the
result of our raids. I don't suppose anybody really knew - it was usually
too hard for anyone to get into the jungle to see what had happened. We know
we hit an elephant once, and destroyed plenty of trees, but I don't know
what else we might have hit.
But I'm sure we had an impact - we kept the CTs
guessing and scared and isolated, and that was our main task, not to kill
them.
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