FROM LITTLE ACORNS GROW GREAT OAKS

T'was a soft launch in many ways, but a milestone in the history of the Malaysian Artillery. The Gunners Club was officially launched on 19th December 2009 at the Dewan Serbaguna Masjid Muadz bin Jabal in Kuala Lumpur. If you were not there, you missed a piece of history. About 200 hardcore gunners witnessed the event. As the patron, Lt. Gen. Dato'Jaafar Mohamad (Retired), had the honour to launch the Club.It was nostalgia all the way. Past Gunners and some invited senior present Gunners had the opportunity to simply get together. The most memorable moment for me was to meet my old troops going back from my GPO days. Yes, we have all aged, but, the twinkle in our eyes said it all. As this post's title implies, I believe that this small event shall culminate one day to be a great organisation. The follow through to this event shall be the AGM next year. Our membership drive is ongoing, so sign up soon to stand and be counted among the elite.


This blog was set up to be the information link for Gunners and to a small extent some tales told were really unrecorded history and I thank the contributors especially Col. Allan Lai. I seek the indulgence of my fellow Gunners in the readership to tinker away on your PCs and let us read your thoughts and experiences. The next generation of Gunners should not be denied the richness of our past exploits. Towards this end, starting January 2010, I shall run a series of posts titled "Jottings of a Gunner General". Yes, you guessed it, it will be from the proverbial horses'mouth covering unheard of historical facts based on our Gunner ancestry. Keep a look out for this.


"HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!".

P.S. Double click on the picture to get a better view and see if you recognise them.

I would never fish again

Yes I would never fish again. I had a phobia.

 

Most of our patrols would be quite routine, except for river crossings and returning to base at dusk before stand-to time. We would moved in single file, stopped to rest and camped for the night, covering map square to map square. Returning to base required extra care for identification and not moved into our own booby traps primed for the night.

 

Patrolling with the Commandos would be a bit more adventurous. The Commandos would catch fish using their bulky M36 hand grenades. The mini grenades came into service in the seventies. My FOO team also carried the M36s.

 

On one of my frequent patrols with the Commandos, they had expired all their M36s fishing. Ammunition accounting was never an issue. There were always abundant ammo, 7.62mm, 9mm, claymores and M36s.We either returned them the ammo dump for storage or use them. No need to explain for usage or shortage. However there would be a control factor for our 105mm ammo due to logistics. We have to keep a minimum amount of HE and smoke rounds in the gun position and request for replenishments when needed to top up.  Bringing ammo up to the gun position often gave a problem to the BK. We would have to request for additional assault boats and ammo fatigue parties. Sometimes we would use the Alloutte helis for ammo replenishments.

 

I could not disappoint the patrol. We had to have fish for extra messing. My FOO team had six M36 between us. Yes I would use mine to fish. I had seen them do it. Just toss it into the river and call out …grenade.

 

We were at a shallow and narrow river with mud banks on both sides. I informed the Commandos that I was preparing to use my M36. I was near the water edge. All took reasonable distance away from me and the river. I pulled out the M36 plug pin and called out… grenade. I was actually quite excited as I had never thrown a life grenade since cadet days.  But it had seems easy enough, pull the pin and toss as hard and as far as possible, look if you dare, but dive and hit the ground. We would have a long seven seconds for all that. But it was not to be in this case. You don’t throw as hard and as far. You throw into the middle of the river.

 

I threw my M36, called out grenade, and watched it fall into the far bank on the mud. Not into the middle of the river. My heart stopped and I literally froze, mouth opened, no sounds left I presumed. It happened so fast, seven seconds is fast I assure you. I went blank and I suppose I hit the ground for cover with my instinct. There was a loud explosion and I felt the splinters over my head and shattering the mangrove trees behind me.

 

My patrol did not need any enemy with me around. We were all shell shocked, but regained our composure quickly. Luckily there were no casualties.  I felt bad, apologized to all and swore I would never throw another grenade again. Our Commando officer calmly said that we would like to eat fish and not frogs, so try to throw the grenade into the water next time and not on the bank. I would never want to carry another grenade again for the rest of my career.

 

I had learnt my lesson and this had caused a phobia until today. I never fished again. Not even using another ingenious method I had learnt from the Armoured Corp. But that’s another story for later. Lets give the fish a fighting chance, as if being blown to bits by the M36 wasn’t enough.

 

FOO

The GPO in a single gun position during Confrontation, had many additional responsibilities and was multi tasked. He was the only gunner officer in the position, with an infantry company or platoon to cover a sector of operations on Sebatik Island. One of the many tasks would be accompanying FOO to the many infantry patrols and sometimes Commando patrols in deep recognizance in our areas of interest.

 

Our SOPs for gun positions had catered for auto pilot, when the GPO was away from the gun position. Whilst the gun sergeant would always remain as over all in charged, the TAMA Bdr would command the CP. He would act as GPO ordering fire orders to the guns. TAMA was Technical Assistant Malaysian Artillery, now called Ballistics data processor (BDP). The whole gun position would act as a close knitted team.

 

My FOO team would include a TAMA and Signaler. Most recces would be about 3 to 4 days out, all within run range. The gun would be loaded and followed our recce plan, laying on pre arranged predicted targets in the sector covered. Sometimes we would register some of those targets. Frequent radio checks were also one of our critical requirements. We moved light with half filled haversacks and patrol packs. Compo rations would be carefully selected and well prepared, with rice precooked.

 

On one particular recce with a small commando patrol, we actually crossed the border and probed a sector which had a known enemy position. It was text book procedures all the way. Radio silence, hand signages, crawling, predetermined RVs and night probes around the enemy location.  Our main mission was to determine enemy strength and enemy route towards our position. We had to determine the exact crossing points along the border, to which we would place a predicted DF target on the crossing areas. I must admit it was no fun doing it, as we were ready to run like hell upon signal to extract or withdraw. We must be as fit and as agile as the Commandos. Missions across the border would always be commanded by a Commando officer, whilst other patrols would be led by at least a Commando sergeant. I was glad that all our missions were successful and without any incident. We were competent to be part of a deep penetration mission.

 

 

It was all in a day’s work for the GPO during Confrontation.

 

FINAL CALL FOR THE GUNNERS CLUB GATHERING

DATE: 19TH DECEMBER 2009
TIME: 0930 HRS
EVENT: LAUNCH OF GUNNERS CLUB
PLACE: DEWAN SERBAGUNA MASJID MUADZ BIN JABAL, PERSIARAN SETIAWANGSA,
TAMAN SETIAWANGSA,54200, KUALA LUMPUR

Pay Day

         Regimental pay day was the most looked forward day. It was more so in Taiping and in the sixties, when pay was paid in cash. Every regiment had an officer Paymaster seconded from the GSC Corps, assisted by a pay sergeant and each Bty had a pay corporal. But soldiers in the gun Btys were paid directly by Bty officers, and for a good reason too. Monthly pay days were the best days for bonding young officers and ORs. As a young officer we knew every soldier by the way he spent his pay and more so what debts he had incurred. The regimental paymaster paid HQ Bty and all the wives on pay day. Pay for the wives was twice a month. Bty officers, except the BC and BK took turn to pay the men in the Bty. The pay corporal would prepare the monthly nominal pay roll for the Bty. The BK prepared the list for deductibles for Bty funds, PRI, canteen and other utangs.

 

Pay day, which usually took up the whole morning or the afternoon, would be held along the corridors of the Bty lines. Two desks would be placed, one for the Bty paying officer and one for the BK. The soldiers would be given their pay book by the pay corporal, checked against the nominal pay roll. The soldier would march up to the paying officer, smartly salute and with a wide grin stretch out both his hands to receive his pay.  He would count the money and put it into his pocket. He would salute again, would do a left turn, march a couple of steps to the BK desk. He would salute the BK who would tell him his of dues to be paid, which in most cases would be more than half he had just pocketed.

 

The nominal pay roll was prepared to the last Sen. And because we had to pay to every individual, the actual monies would have to be in the correct denominations of 50s, 10s, 5s and 1 Ringgit notes. And also a large amount of coins would be needed. The nominal pay roll must be balanced to the last Sen.

 

It was my turn to pay. I had checked through the nominal pay roll with our Bty pay corporal. Fully satisfied we set off to the bank in town to collect the pay roll. We returned to pay the soldiers. As some of the soldiers would not be able to collect their pay on the same day, special arrangements would be made to pay them separately. Officers would keep the balance of the money until all payments were made and the final amount verified. All should be fine and routine at the end of the pay session, carried over three days. But it was not to be.

 

I panicked. The pay corporal panicked. THE NOMINAL PAY ROLL DID NOT TALLY. We checked again and again over several times. We sweated over the pay books and nominal pay roll and ensured that all soldiers were paid in the exact amount. They were.  We even paraded the soldiers again, but nobody was paid short. AND we still had a surplus of RM20,000.00 in neat 50 Ringgit notes. My troubled mind was sure that somebody was not paid yet. But it could not be as everybody was paid. Do I see the BC? Do I see the BK ? or the regimental paymaster? No. I would have to sort it out myself.

 

As I had received the money directly from the bank officer, I went to the bank to see him, and was he glad to see me. He was short of EXACTLY RM20,000.00 and he had sweated more than me for the past three days. He had paid me extra in error. What an error and I had panicked and lost sleep over it. I had returned the money to the bank officer, in the presence of his manager, like a true officer and gentlemen.

 

The CO and all the other officers came to know of it later, and they were lost for words. I had always had thoughts about it throughout my career and had good feelings for it. I had often wished it to happened again. Would I have done otherwise? RM20,000.00 was a lot of money? Would you ?

 

 

 

A HUMBLE REMINDER

DATE: SATURDAY 19TH DECEMBER 2009

TIME: 0930 HRS

PLACE: DEWAN SERBAGUNA MASJID MUADZ BIN JABAL

PERSIARAN SETIAWANGSA

TAMAN SETIAWANGSA,

54200 KUALA LUMPUR

Spread the word to all Gunners to be there to launch "The Gunners Club".

FIGHTING THE COMMUNIST TERRORISTS - A FIRST HAND VIEW

A week before we received our Agong’s Commission, which was to be held on 14th April 1972, all Royal Military College (RMC), Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur graduating officer cadets of Short Service Commission Intake 20 and Regular Commission Intake 14 were required to make our choices on which Corps in the Army we wished to serve. I joined the Malaysian Artilery Regiment (Now known as Royal Artillery Corps) together with 2Lt Mokhtar, 2Lt Hariri, 2Lt Razali, 2Lt Ali, 2Lt Amir Hamzah, 2Lt Hashim, 2Lt Kamaruddin and 2Lt Zahari. The others were 2Lt Haniff and 2Lt Omar Boyce from the regular intake.

Tensions were very high amongst us even though we were all fully trained and equipped and were fully fit and ready to fight the communist terrorists (CTs) face-to-face in both West and East Malaysia. The training we went through was very tough. We were all very anxious to know where each of us was to be posted to especially those of us who had made our choices to join the Infantry, Artillery or the Reconnaissance Corps in the Army, all commonly known as the ‘Fighting Units’ of the Army and sent to the front line. We were repeatedly briefed and reminded about the communist’s atrocities and how ruthless they were and part of our training was to get us all psyched up to defeat them, our national enemy and a threat to our developing nation. We had to stop them from destroying our country and our people to ensure a prosperous and peaceful future for all Malaysians.

I still remember very well the nervous smile of Officer Cadet Elias Ramli, a vertically challenged but stout fellow from Kangar, Perlis who was to be posted to 1 Ranger Battalion in Sarawak, the hotbed of the CTs at that time as well as the sour face of Officer Cadet A. Rahman Koya, a tall and dapper fellow from Rantau Panjang, Kelantan who was posted to 4 Ranger Battalion also based in Sarawak. Officer Cadet Sallehuddin from Penggerang, Johore who joined the Royal Malay Regiment, was another graduating cadet who I noticed was feeling very nervous. About an equal number of officers from our graduating class were sent to units operating near the borders of Malaysia/Thailand and Malaysia/Kalimantan to join the respective fighting units we were posted to. Two hundred graduating cadets were posted to the fighting units and the remaining number of newly commissioned officers was posted to the services and administrative units. I was posted to the 3rd Artillery Regiment in Kuching, Sarawak which was our temporary base and I was there for just over one year. My parents were less than happy when I told them about it. My second stint there, for about one and a half years, was between early 1974 and mid - 1975. Our permanent base was in Kamunting in Taiping, Perak.

Lt. Muda Elias Ramli, Lt Muda A. Rahman Koya and Lt Muda Sallehuddin as well as a few others did not enjoy the privilege of the four-day break we were given between the time after accepting our commissions as 2nd Lieutenants and joining our respective units. They had to pack up immediately and were flown or sent by train or Land Rover trucks to Kuching and to other destinations like Ipoh, Perak, Sungei Petani, Kedah and Bentong, Pahang that afternoon itself upon completing the ‘Passing-Out Parade’. They were to join their colleagues to fight in the country’s jungles due to a shortage of officers, especially in the infantry units, at the front lines in both theatres.

On 15th April 1972, the very first day of active service, we received a very sad news about our first casualty, Lt Muda Sallehuddin, then only 18 years old; the youngest to be commissioned, died after drowning in Rejang River near Sibu during one of the pursuit of terrorists in his unit’s area of operations. Over the years, there were many more casualties, all young men, who were killed, injured, paralysed, maimed or crippled fighting the communist terrorists (CT’s). Some died or injured from gunshot wounds or accidents and some from air crashes after the Nuri helicopters they were in were shot at, all fighting for the country to wipe out the communists. Later, a classmate at RMC Cadet Wing, Lt Fuad Chong from the Engineers Corps, had to have one of his legs amputated after badly injuring it upon stepping on a booby trap in an operation to clear booby traps set up by the CTs in one of the jungles of Perak. A colleage, Lt Raja Musa lost an eye and one of his legs after stepping on a booby trap whilst carrying out his duties as an Artillery FOO (Forward Observation Officer) attached to an infantry platoon. My very good friends, Trooper Suandy, a soldier from the elite Commando Unit (MSSU) and Lt Muda (U) Wee Kong Beng, a co-pilot of a Nuri helicopter, perished in one of the crashes with seven others including the helicopter’s Captain after their aircraft was shot at. In one of the major operations which I was involved in, the Bentong airstrip was even busier than Subang Airport with various types of aircrafts such as the Caribou, Cessna, Nuri and Alloutte aeroplanes and helicopters regularly landing and taking-off every day.

One officer from our batch, 2Lt Basri, an infantry officer from 4 Ranger Regiment, was awarded the Panglima Gagah Berani (PGB) for bravery after successfully leading his platoon to defeat a group of CTs in 1973. This guy had burning red eyes and he always was full of spirit; though he was among the quieter ones at RMC, from his determination and passion shown when competing in team contests and games during our training sessions, I knew that one day he would be a hero. Another officer who was a classmate also by the name of 2Lt Basri from the Royal Engineers Corps, a very affable fellow, was also awarded the PGB for his bravery in clearing mines whilst under enemy fire. He retired last year with the rank of Lt Kol.

I myself had the bad luck of getting involved in an ambush when our supply convoy was attacked not far from our base at Maung Gajah Camp, Gubir in Kedah in 1974 not very far away from the Thai border. It was very rare for an Artillery Gun Troop to be engaged in a fire fight with the enemy. We suffered six casualties comprising soldiers who were assigned as drivers and escorts for the convoy that was attacked. We retaliated with artillery fire after the infantry troops from the camp engaged them and the Recce Escort Unit who were with the convoy also fired their machine guns, their 25mm cannons and their 90mm guns from their Ferret Scout Cars and the V150’s APC’s respectively, but a search and destroy mission carried out by the infantry troops after the last shot was fired rendered nothing except for several blood trails. There was no way to tell whether there were any casualties suffered by the communist’s troop, they must have either escaped via tunnels or to the Thai border.

Another incident was something that happened near Kampung Lallang in the Sungei Siput area in Perak, a small group of CTs, three of them actually, were sighted on a small hill near LP 121 and the field commander ordered to cordon the area with a two-layer shoulder-to-shoulder man-to-man ring surrounding the ‘target’ with the aim to capture the enemies alive instead of killing them. When we closed into the target, the enemies were nowhere to be seen and we were all puzzled. We were very sure that the sighting, based on our ‘intelligence’ report which was categorised as A1 and was accurate. That led to many theories and one was that they escaped via a tunnel somewhere in the jungle and the other was that these people had special powers and could hide behind leaves. We searched but did not find any tunnel. Many of us however, believed in the latter theory.



'An Artillery Troop equipped with the M102 105mm Howitzer in the 'Position Ready' position'. Firing starts upon orders received from the GPO'..



'An Artillery Troop Command Post showing the Gun Position Officer
(GPO) giving Firing Orders using a Megaphone'.

Life in the Army then was very tough and in my case, I spent most of my active military service in the country’s jungles in Sarawak, Sabah, Perak, Kedah and Pahang, sometimes at a stretch for as long as six months. Of course, there were many like me. We young officers who were still bachelors and were considered by our superiors that leaving us in the jungle for a long stretch of time didn’t really matter. The married officers who had families had shorter stints. Sometimes, I did feel angry with myself with a tinge of regret for joining the Army instead of one of the universities like many of my classmates in secondary school did, and be able to sleep on very comfortable Dunlopillo latex foam mattresses, enjoy good food, the girls and the bright lights of the city.

We slept on makeshift tents created using our rubber ‘poncos’ from branches of small trees and depending on the duty roster, we either slept during the day or at night. Sometimes, when there was not enough time, we just slept on the ground with the ponco used as a ground sheet. As we were always on the move, the tents had to be dismantled and the area cleared after every short stay of between two and three days. Our food was the dry rations supplied to us and sometimes, when we camped near rivers, we did manage to get fish and fresh vegetables. There were, among the soldiers, some very good cooks who were able to prepare delicious dishes from these fish, vegetables and some other fresh leaves eaten fresh like ‘ulams’. It was quite normal for us to camp on high ground near flowing rivers as the clean waters allowed us to bathe and do plenty of cleaning, cooking and washing. During the annual but short Hari Raya Aidil Fitri periods, the food spread was quite large and we had lemangs, ketupats, rendangs and a good variety of kueh raya and that could last up to a week. Sometimes we found photos of young girls of about our age; they were volunteers who helped prepare the food packs who must have cheekily placed them in those packs just to cheer us up and that actually did the trick. However, morale of the soldiers was high and we were always supporting and comforting each other particularly when we received sad and devastating news about casualties and deaths of our friends and colleagues. Every time I heard news like these, I felt very angry, frustrated and most vengeful. I felt like, if I ever happened to encounter them, I would catch them, wring their necks until they cannot breathe; hang them by their feet and make them suffer enough before shooting them. I had books and past newspapers delivered to me by my very considerate Commanding Officer, Lt Col. John Hew Deng Onn (the late Maj. Gen. Dato' Johan Hew), of and on and I read them all from cover to cover over and over again; including all the advertisements and notices in the case of newspapers, until the next delivery. The news I read were sometimes a week old at best. Other reading materials included the Quran and some kitabs.

The mode of operations those days required each infantry brigade involved in the search and destruction of CTs in both East Malaysia and the peninsula to have one three-gun M102 105 mm Gun Howitzers equipped artillery troop attached to them in the many operations to flush out CTsfrom their hideouts and we were engaged in many harassing fire missions and fired hundreds of rounds of high explosive ammunitions, normally at night, at all the areas suspected to be CTs hideouts but we never knew if there were any casualties amongst them. However, all the time, search and destroy operations carried out after the guns ceased firing rendered zero findings. Our jungles are very thick with severely undulating grounds and many meandering big and small rivers taking water from the mountains and hills down and it was very difficult and dangerous to carry out search and destroy operations. The situation was a lot worse when it rained and we had to face inclement weather quite regularly. The Air Force also assisted in the operations either by providing airlifting operations using Nuris to fly in the troops, guns and supplies to the designated gun positions in the heart of our jungles in Perak, Kedah, Pahang, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak which were not accessible by road or foot as well as ‘Air Observation Posts’ (Air OPs), an air reconnaissance artillery gun control operations using the smaller Alloutte helicopters. Communications were by means of fairly obsolete equipment and the PRK 55 mobile signal units. Most of the times we took turns to crank the batteries by hand continuously to provide power for the signal equipment because communications had to be maintained uninterrupted for twenty four hours everyday. Despite the shortcomings, we still managed it. Orientation was assisted by accurate topographical maps, compasses, rulers and protractors.

Only the CPM members would know the number of casualties they suffered.

In all of our further and advanced training sessions, courses, briefings and debriefings, we were told and reminded that our enemies were members of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and their two illegal organisations viz. the Malayan National Liberation Army MNLA, a group formed for their armed struggle and the Malayan National Liberation League (MNLL). Another organisation was the CPM Marxist-Leninist Faction (CPMML) was which was responsible for the constitutional struggle and certain aspects of the illegal or ‘militant’ struggle and there was also the Malayan Communist Youth League (MCYL) recruited from youths aged between fifteen and thirty years of age. In East Malaysia, we were fighting against the North Kalimantan Communist Party (which had no direct links with the Malayan Communist Party), an offshoot of the Clandestine Communist Organisation, that was waging a guerrilla campaign against the government. Names like Chin Peng, the CPM Secretary General, Rashid Mydin, Abdullah CD, Wahi Annuar, Shamsiah Fakih, Siu Cheong alias Ah Soo, P. V. Sharma, Ah Hoi alias Chen Jui, Sun Chek, Lim Chau, Soh Chee Peng alias Shi Meng and Musa Ahmad were regularly mentioned. They were not fighting to liberate the country, which they claimed, but their aim was to form a communist republic to be known as the Malayan Peoples Republic and anyone who went against them, regardless of race or religion, shall be killed. We lost many soldiers, mostly young Malay soldiers (there were very few Chinese, Indian and people of other races in the Army then), and we also received news that some civilians were also killed. I also remember reading a report about the communists and in the early 50’s, not long after the Japanese surrendered, and the 60’s, where killings were also carried out in towns like Muar, Kluang, Ipoh and Sungei Petani, among others. In 1971, the then IGP Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Hashim was assassinated at the junction of Lorong Weld and Jalan Tun Perak Kuala Lumpur on 4 June 1974; his driver was also killed and about sixteen months later, another senior police officer, Perak CPO Tan Sri Khoo Chong Kong was gunned down together with his driver at midday in Ipoh, Perak. These assassinations were carried out by members of the 1st Mobile Squad of the CPMML, a squad formed to carry out assassinations. Two other planned assassinations of the then Chief of Armed Forces Staff, General Tan Sri Ibrahim Ismail (now Tun) and the then Singapore Commissioner of Police, Tan Sri Tan Teik Khim, were thwarted after two of their members were arrested and sentenced to death for the murders they committed earlier.

I was promoted to Captain in 1976 and left the Army in 1979 to pursue other interests after feeling fully satisfied and my ambition fulfilled and that I have done my duty and contributed in whatever miniscule way to the continued peace and prosperity of our most beloved country. In my relatively short tenure in the Army, I served the 1st Brigade, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Brigade, 4th Brigade, 5th Brigade, 6th Brigade, 8th Brigade and RASCOM, Rajang Security Command and my last attachment was with the 3rd Field Ambulance in Kinrara, Selangor.

Many of my colleagues from the Royal Military College, Sungei Besi April 1972 graduating class remained and made the Army or the Air Force their career but now, most have retired leaving only a very small number left and are holding very senior ranks and positions either in the Army or the Air Force and they are my very close friends who are still flying our flag such as Lt. Jen. Dato’ Seri Bashir, the Deputy Chief of the Air Force, Lt. Jen. Dato’ Wan Abu Bakar, Army, Maj Jen Dato’ Mokhtar Parman, Army, Maj. Jen Dato’ Che Yahya, Air Force and Brig. Jen. Dato' Che' Hasni, Army. The others who are still in active service are holding ranks no less than full Colonels either in the Army or the Air Force.

The communists were trained, both physically and mentally, to be brutal, ruthless and unsympathetic and they’d kill just anyone whom they wanted to and who had come in their way. Killing, to them, was a duty and it was like food for them and they did it without feeling even an iota of guilt. They not only caused havoc in the jungles but also in our cities. They were a terrible lot!

God save us if they were to take over and rule this country.

No, for whatever reasons, we must never allow Chin Peng or any of the still surviving members of the CPM to return to this country. We must not give them even a modicum of a chance, they are a single minded people and ferocity and atrocities are nothing to them. Please do not let the peace and harmony we Malaysians are now enjoying be spoilt. They are still a terrible lot and they are all traitors!

We, former members of the security forces, can still feel the hurt and pain both physically and emotionally whenever we recall the terrifying years dealing with them.

Now Chin Peng has apologised. BUT IT’S STILL JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Taiping

Taiping means “Big Peace” in Chinese, a name given by the Chinese who had migrated there to work in the tin mines in Perak. Taiping also served as a military garrison for the British army. Malaysian units began to take over British army camps in Taiping around early 1960s.

2 Arty took over the British Military Hospital in Kamunting Camp in 1965. And since then there would be lapsed in “Big Peace” in the town, especially after payday at the end of the month. One of the more popular bars in town The Moonlight Bar, near the famous Taiping lake gardens, would need to change its names fairly frequently. For each time there was a fight at the bar, it would be out of bounds to soldiers. So when the garrison placed Moonlight Bar out of bounds, it would change its name to Starlight Bar so that the bar would be in bounds again. And this would go on again and again. Regimental RPs would be lost for words.

When 2 Arty moved to Taiping, the garrison already comprised Engineer Sqns, MSC units, Ordnance units, MP units and 1 Renjer. We were the new kids in the block. The Beatles and Cliff Richard were top of the pops. Moonlight Bar never had it so good when the Regiment came marching in. Small fights and skirmishes soon started with 2 Arty soldiers and other soldiers stationed in Taiping. Fights were often over the ladies of the town and space in the bars.

It was really bad when E Bty came back after 6 months in Sebatik Island. We were “loaded”. Nothing was better than being a bachelor soldier with money saved from Sabah allowances. It was “The Fight” waiting to happen. It started with ORs from both 2 Arty and 1 Renjer at the Moonlight Bar. Soon the fights escalated to officers level, when 2 Arty officers and 1 Renjer officers jumped into the frays supporting their men. Oddly enough most of the casualties were other clients drinking at the bar, mostly civilians. 2Lt Chong Kok Hing was pushed into the main drain that runs across Taiping market in one of the nightly fights.

The COs of both Regiments were quick to arrest the problem. All personnel’s were confined to camp. We were ordered to make up or to be confined to our camps indefinitely. A peace party was sent to 1 Renjer and the result was to have a grand regimental dinner for all officers and ORs in our camp. We were deliberately seated besides each other in alternative chairs.

We made friends that evening as quickly as we fought. And till to date 2 Arty and 1 Renjer personnel were best of friends. We still fought but not with each other but with personnel of other units.

Agi Idup Agi Ngalaban.

GUESS WHAT WAS SIGHTED AT BUKIT MELAWATI?

A SQUAD OF MINE SENT THIS TO ME. COULD IT BE THE MISSING LINK? GUNNERS EXISTED WELL BEFORE WE DID? WAS THIS A TRADE LONG BEFORE THE OLDEST PROFESSION? ARE THEY TELLING US SOMETHING? YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE, BUT I AM SURE THERE IS A MESSAGE SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW.

Gunner Extraordinaire

I am sad to learn the demise of Colonel MS Gill (Rtd) Gunner Extraordinaire, from Singapore in 2008. He had served a full army career in Singapore and particularly in the Singapore Artillery Corps. Colonel Gill will be well remembered by us for his invaluable service and contributions during our confrontation period. He was a direct commissioned officer from Singapore in 1965 and was posted to 2 ARTY as a Lt. He was deployed as a GPO to Sebatik Island, when he realized that the maps in the Malaysian side of the island was different from the maps in the Indonesian side. The gridlines and fixations does not match. He studied the problem and found out that Malaysian maps originated from standard British trig points, where else the Indonesian maps originated from Dutch trig points. Accuracy of fire was further compounded by lack of daily met data. It was quite a nightmare firing predicted targets.

Arty fire during the confrontation was mainly HF and DF fire missions. Only the DF(SOS) and other close targets were registered targets. Most targets were predicted targets, which would be upgraded to as fired targets, if the target was fired upon. Very often the GPO himself would accompany infantry fighting patrols into the general area of a fired target to confirm its fixation. Target record books would be handed over during bty roulements.

Colonel Gill was a trained and qualified metrologist before joining the army. He then worked out a comprehensive compensation chart called Gills Drop Factor for all firing ranges and charges. I recall that all the adjustments to our firing tables were drop, as opposed to add, because the primary arc of fire (Centre of Arc was south, as Indonesia occupied the southern half of the island. So what we did was to add a Drop Factor to our elevation. The amount of Drop depends on the range and charge used.

I suppose we would have GPS systems and Google maps incorporated into our battle management systems today. I hope those Drop Factor data sheets would still exist in our Artillery Museum or in the regiments as a valuable contribution and recognition of service from Colonel Gill.

Colonel Gill was a great loss to us when Singapore was separated from Malaysia. He returned to serve the Singapore Armed Forces, and helped to build a very formidable Singapore Artillery Corp. He rose in the ranks to become Chief of the Artillery and also Deputy Chief of General Staff Singapore, before retirement in the 80s.

Thank you Colonel Gill, May you Rest in Peace.

GUNNERS- TAKE POST !!!!!

DATE: SATURDAY 19TH DECEMBER 2009

VENUE: MASJID MUADZ BIN JABAL,PERSIARAN SETIAWANGSA TAMAN SETIAWANGSA

54200 KUALA LUMPUR

TIME: 0930 hrs to 1430hrs

The Gunners Club Protem Committee has organised a lunch gathering at the event hall of the masjid, to get all ex service gunners to meet. The event shall also be a rallying point to launch the Gunners Club. All invitees shall be treated to a buffet lunch and shall also be briefed on the latest situation towards the Club's formation. The show of force, hence, will determine the support and the direction that the Club will take. I sincerely hope that everyone shall make it a point to be there. The Committee is at the very moment busy preparing and sending out invitations to the last known address retrieved from the Artillery Directorate. Please treat this as a personal invitation and we will be delighted to see you all there. Let us together, chart the way forward to comradeship, in our twilight years.

ONCE A GUNNER, ALWAYS A GUNNER.

BK under Enemy Fire

Sebatik Island

En OP position at river mouth.

The main enemy forces were deployed in Kalimantan Island with its forward HQ in Nonokan town. The enemy was known to have deployed a Bty of 155 mm guns and 120mm mortar in Nonokan. They also had superior naval and water crafts and static OPs located at strategic positions.

Our troops were deployed within our area. The Infantry platoons patrolled the border areas and we had boat OPs called BOPs, deployed along the straits between Semantan and Nonokan. BOPs were manned by the Recce Sqns. Some BOPs were static.

The rules of engagement did not allow either side to cross the border. But probing for intelligence were normal activities. Sometimes the enemy would be bold and challenged our BOPs into engagement. Enemy patrol crafts would come close to our BOPs and their women crew would tease our troops, often baring their fabulous tits.

I was the GPO in Sg Limau, Sebatik Island, just north of the Indonesian border. Sg Limau was about 6 Km up stream of the river. The international border runs smack in the middle and divides the mouth of the river, which was about 600 m wide at low tide. The enemy had a permanent OP located at the mouth of the river and observed /monitored the access to our gun position up river. We would have to stay very close to the northern bank of the river when coming into the river from Tawau, as this was the only approach. Approach was often difficult, compounded by strong currents during high tide. If we were not careful, our boats would be pulled southwards and cross the mid line of the river mouth. Hence Bde SOP required all assault boats moving up Sg Limau were to be powered with twin Yamaha OBMs.

Kapt Mustapha Saad our BK and some Q personnel visited our position once a week during the admin/ration run. On one occasion, both the BK’s assault boat’s OBMs stopped as he was approaching the river mouth. As he could not restart the engines, the assault boat drifted strongly towards the international border. The BK and all on board tried very hard to paddle but it was no use. The boat continued to drift with the strong current towards the enemy direction. As soon as the BK’s assault boat crossed the mid line, the enemy opened fire with their HMGs. Bullets whisked overhead. The BK and all on board returned fire until all ammo were expended. Then the worst was to be expected. Enemy launched two of their assault boats out to capture our party.

I was in my bunker when the call came in. “Bty Target, Bty Target, Bty Target. ZQ 1001, En OP position at river mouth. We are drifting and under heavy enemy fire. 5 rounds FFE. Over”. The enemy OP position was one of our predicted DF targets. Luckily the target was very close to our map grids. I applied the Gills Drop Factor (GDF) to compensate for the incompetible grids and also for lack of met data. A GDF scale was designed by Lt MS Gill Singh, one of our GPO who had a university degree in metrological studies, because of inaccurate maps and we did not have access to metrology data. Charge Seven was used, as operationally allowed in Sabah. I was calm throughout the fire mission, although my heartbeat was very fast. I took over the radio from the signaler and spoke officer to officer with BK. BK ordered direction Golf Tango. Luckily adjustments were not necessary.

As it was our five rounds were on target and BK personally saw one boat capsized and the other returning to base. The enemy also stopped firing their HMG. Then to our relieve BK informed us that they managed to start the OBMs after our fire mission. Thank God there were no casualties on our side. Enemy casualties were not known, inspite of seeing one boat capsized.

BK and party did not return to Tawau that day, as we celebrated their safety with tahlil in Sg Limau that very night.

Happy Days

Wallace Bay

Sebatik Island is about 10 Km off Tawau in Sabah. It has an area about 450 square km. The island is split half across in the middle, east to west, between Malaysia and Indonesia. The island forms the main battlefront during Confrontasi. Troops deployed in Sebatik include an Infantry Bn and our special forces GGK and an Arty Bty. Infantry cum Arty gun positions were located in Wallace Bay (HQs), Sg Limau, Bogosong, and Semantan.

I was deployed to Sg Limau and later to Bogosong. Operational life in the front line was very much war-like. The single gun troop comprise the GPO and about 18 gunner ORs. All gun positions were firebases, providing HF and DF fire for supported troops, including Commonwealth SAS troops. The gun position was always co-located with an infantry platoon for local protection. Our one gun troop comprise a comd post, one gun in a dugout gun pit, admin area, ammo dump and dug in defence bunkers of Bowen designs, which doubled as our accomodations. We used a foldable camp bed to sleep in. Everything was under camouflage and with OHP. There was stand-to at first and last lights. During the night stand-to the gun was always loaded and laid onto our DF(SOS) and unloaded during first light stand-to. The infantry patrolled the base perimeter and primed all booty traps covering approaches to the base before night stand-to. Radio silence and lights out were strictly practiced every night.

In the dug in Bowen bunker comd post, we used the Arty Plotter and Arty Board as main plotters. All positions had about 30- 50 DF targets, some datas were as fired but not registered. All targets were recorded in the target record book. A target trace was also used on the Arty Board. Target traces were important as Sebatik Island had two different topo maps. Malaysian maps and Indonesian maps across the border have different fixations and gridlines. The gridlines do not match as both maps originate from different national trig points. Most targets, save local DFs were across the border. Daily metrological data were also not readily available and inconsistent.

Life in the gun position was quite routine, until calls for fire. We did gun drills, CP drills, passing the line, impromptu stand to drills, maintenance, and played sepak takraw and card games. Our soldiers had their daily prayers individually in their Bowen bunkers. We ate mainly compo ration with fresh ration runs once a week. Pucuk Paku and Kangkung were always available from the river bank. Not much fish though. We operated a Bty canteen. Beer was sold at 40 sen per can, most liqueur under RM10.00. Chivas Regal Whisky was only RM7.00 per bottle. Cigarette were issued free on a weekly scale. I don’t smoke and I used my stock of issued cigarettes as capital for my card games. Zippo lighters lighted up in all weathers and were mainly bought by ORs. Officers bought the more suave Ronson Lighter. May Brant matches from the NAAFI were also common. Oh yes, condoms were issued free from the CRS on requests. Luckily no scale imposed.

Newspapers were one week late collections. There were plenty of old books and magazines to read. The GPO conducted one on one counseling and we were always a great team in the gun position. Monthly R&R were scheduled to Tawau, usually cum admin duties. The BK kept all our Sabah allowances for safe keeping and reimbursed after returning back to Taiping. Now looking back, what happened to the bank interest accrued from savings about 6 months in the bank ? I do not recall. I suppose there were no bank interest for savings less than a year. I hope the Arty Board is not discarded in present times. It is a very essential equipment. I suppose it is still being used by safety officers on the firing range. If it is to be discarded I propose the Arty Board to be recycled to make majong tables. Morale was always high. What a life.

Being a GPO was always the best part of my 36 years career. I had my own Comd Post team and guns. I was closest to my men and I knew them better than their mothers. I know all their names, nick names and their regimental numbers in the 650 series. How I wished I could be a GPO on ops again.

Deployed

We returned from our YOs course in Larkhill in early March 1965. We were officially designated FA in the tradition of the British RA affixed to our ranks and names. We were qualified gunners, brash and not so young officers and gentlemen of The Regiment.

In less than 36 hours after reporting back to the regiment, then stationed in Kumunting Camp, Taiping, I was off to join my battery in Sabah. I flew First Class in our very own SUNSHINE AIRWAYS (RMAF was then called) as there was only one class for all pax. The flight was a weekly scheduled flight from KL to Tawau via Labuan and KK. The usual ETA at Tawau was around 1700 to 1830 hours. But my flight was delayed in Labuan and we were running late. And there was no night landing facilities at Tawau Airport. Also to our horror we could not return to KK or Labuan due to a heavy storm at our tail, making it impossible for our Sunshine Airways to make a U turn. Landed in Tawau we did, at about 2030 hours under improvised lightings from all the vehicles from 5 Bde lined up on both sides of the runway. So much for drama on my first operational duty in Sabah. What a welcome on Day One.

The BKs land rover was waiting for me to take me to our admin base at the river front in Tawau. No BK nor any other officer to welcome me. What ? Kapt Mustafa Saad to receive me? Not on your life.

E Bty was already deployed in Sabah, with BHQ and one gun position, in Wallace Bay, Sebatik Island, and three other one gun positions in Bogosong, Sg Limau and Semantan. Sg Limau did not have an officer GPO, hence I was to report to Sg Limau ASP. The Bty admin area was based in Tawau under tentages and secured with a barb wired perimeter fence. We use assault boats as ferries from Tawau to Sebatik Island. All vehicles were also stationed in Tawau except for Wallace Bay which had the BC land rover and local 3 toners from 5 Bde.

My first night in Tawau was shagged and tired from the day’s long flight and landing drama and I slept early. The following day BK welcomed me over the Bty admin net. He informed me to remain in Tawau for one more night and to move to Sg Limau the next day. As it was film night, he had dispatch the week’s AKC film previously shown in Wallace Bay, and also we had an Adult film as bonus. 16mm film reel to boot. Adult films were usually borrowed from the Japanese and Taiwanese merchant ships that ply to Wallace Bay for timber and other goods. Also available from the sailors were duty free cameras and watches. Any popular brands. All officers/ ORs bought their first Omega Seamaster watch and Canon camera after receiving their first Sabah / Sarawak allowance.

I had asked the BQMS where do we screen the movies. No problem sir, we park the 3 toner under the coconut tree and drape a white officer’s mess table cloth at the side. But the adult movie ? Again no fuss. Casual spectators usually watch from across the barb wired fence, only invited guests, namely police officers, government officers and our ladies would join us on army cushioned chairs from the mess and planked benches for the ORs. 5 Bde camp would screen their film shows inside Nonokan Camp.

For recreation we played sepak takraw, volleyball, football, badminton. Trup Keling and other card games were played on most nights. There was no curfew in Tawau and we were allowed to be in town until 2359 hours. Officers would drive in our land rovers at will. We never carried firearms in Tawau and would move freely in our civies. Our guard post was manned 24 hours though.

I left Tawau for Sg Limau at first light the following day, commanding the Bty admin run. We had several assault boats, some with twin 45 hp OBM engines clamped together for extra oomph.

Sebatik Island was the battle front. Life would be different, wouldn’t it ? You bet.

AWOL ?

AWOL? Me ? No not me, but missing from this blog ? Yes.

Ok I confess, I did not run away nor was hiding from everybody and everything. I'll even do a SD that I was around. Ya maybe a  retractable SD.

Here is the truth of the matter. I have never been more busier in my life. More busy that pre ARTEP preparations.

I have been blogging with a vengeance. Like there is no tomorrow. I managed to put up two more blogs and a website in 10 days. I did the unthinkable. I joined the Pacesetters Athlete Club Malaysia. I have since done the  NB 15 Km Run and the KLIM Half Marathon with good timings to boot.

 I met up with the Pacesetters Putrajaya Area Group Leader and we decided to run a membership drive. So I did a website ( still under construction) and a blog to support our activities.

Pacesetters Putrajaya Area Group Website

Pacesetters Putrajaya Area Group Blog

I also picked up cycling as a support activity to my running. They say runners should also have different type of exercises as cross training. I have since cycled in the Ulu Langat areas which is very hilly, and to PD which is not so challenging but good for long distance rides. I did a personal blog for my rides, to keep up with peer pressures. All cool riders have their own blogs. 

My personal blog

OK , I'll return to the war front as soon as I am done with the above blogs and website.

Cheers

A stint with the British Army in the Rhine

My second operational experience was actually serving in the British Sector in West Germany during the Cold War. After our 6 months YO course in Larkhill UK, 2 Lt Pan, 2Lt Maskan, 2Lt Chin and I were seconded to 2 Field Regiment RA on an operational tour in Munster, Germany. It was early 1965 and Europe was still not yet out of a bad winter. Fresh from Larkhill, we were assigned as section comanders in the gun batteries L (Nery) Bty, N (Eagle Troop) Bty and O (Rocket Troop) Bty. Whilst RHQ remained in Munster, the field btys were deployed throughout the British Sector in West Germany. We were part of the overall NATO Force post WW2.

2 Field had Oto Melara 105mm light guns. I remember we used the old Ferret Scout Car as H1 and H2 vehicles. 2Lt Pan and 2Lt Maskan were privileged to have patrolled along the Berlin Wall, with the famous Check Point Charlie to boot. I was patrolling along the British North West sector in the freezing cold, sometimes minus 8 deg C. We stayed in huge double layered tentages with hot stoves inside. Melting snow became sludge and it made our deployment more difficult. Slippery roads and muddy open gun positions. It was combat rations for the whole month in the field. We moved a lot along the wide Autobahns and conducted many night maneuvers and night deployments. We experienced a lot of deployment skills in a conventional battle zone. We practiced every duty required of a section commander/GPO. Even though the operational attachment was only for one month, I had gained a tremendous understanding and insight to our role as Gunners in the battlefield. The need for quick drills and silence were critical. Operations in the European Theatre was quite an experience. It was pure conventional warfare.

2 Field Regiment RA is now designated as 2^nd Regiment RA and is equipped with the AS90 155mm SP.

Footslogger

2Lt Pan and I were commissioned in early December 1964 and were posted to 2 Arty. We were given the standard, but well deserved 14 days annual leave before reporting for duty. The very morning we reported for duty at Sg Besi Camp, we were given the warning order for immediate operations. The Adjutant called all officers in and briefed us. All officers and gunners were to be recalled from leave and a regimental roll call was to be made at 2200 hrs that evening. The regiment was ordered to be deployed to Johore in 48 hours. 2 Arty was Army reserve troops at that point of time. Regt Tac HQ, D Bty and E Bty were deployed to the Kota Tinggi / Mawai area, Johore. We were all deployed as INFANTRY COMPANIES and PLATOONS, making up of 2 companies of 4 platoons in all. Officers were regrouped to take up the platoons.

 

Indonesian troops had parachuted and landed in the Johore jungles east of Gunung Panti and along the Selangor coast. (1 Arty was deployed to the Selangor coast) The Indon troops were from their national strategic crack commando group. They had landed with only their personal weapons and very little combat rations. They were hopeful to survive through local sympathies and support. But immediately after regrouping and moving towards the populated areas, they caught a platoon from 1 SIR (now Singapore Army) camping in the vicinity of Gunung Panti Forest Reserve. They assaulted the camp and slaughtered / wiped out the full platoon of 18 soldiers. They mutilated the bodies and blatantly radioed the platoon’s Company HQ using the platoon’s radio and call sign. They boasted of their kills and challenged the Malaysian army to capture them. 7 Infantry Bde was deployed immediately to cordon off the area. A massive search and destroy mission was launched. 2 Arty was deployed to join the cordon and search ops. See map above. Red Marker shows Regt HQ in Mawai area.

 

The regiment was readied in full ORBAT within 24 hours. 2Lt Albert Manaseh and I were platoon commanders with E Bty. BC was Major John Lane RA. I felt very excited and was very confident of my command as I was still fresh from the FMC. Platoon battle drills, field craft and search and destroy ops were still very fresh. We were armed with the 9mm SMGs for officers and senior ranks and the good old 7.62mm SLR for the gunners. Platoon support group had HBSLRs. The enemy carried ARMALITEs AR15.  The weapon of the era then.

 

The two Btys were ready at the old Sg Besi International Airport by about 36 hours from warning order.  We were flown directly to Changi Airport Singapore, by the RAF transport planes at 1500 hrs and immediately airlifted by RAF Whirlwind Helis to a school padang in the Mawai FELDA scheme. We were received by 7 Bde  HQ. My BC was given an ops briefing, followed by the ops deployment plan. My platoon was in our first ambush position with the help of a guide before last light at 1830 hrs the same day we took off from Sg Besi. I was operational and facing a real enemy within 48 hours of reporting for duty.

 

The first two nights were uneventful. The third night had a bit of excitement. It was full moon.  I received a report that the enemy were moving towards our general direction. I briefed my platoon that this was it. Our first action faster than others. It was past midnight and we were in a linear ambush layout. I recalled my platoon sergeant whispered to me “ Tuan, musuh !”  I triggered our silent alarm scheme by pulling our signals D10 wires. The whole platoon was ready but very tense. The silence was killing. Nothing happened for more than half an hour. My sergeant then informed me that our left flank sentry L/Bdr  Bakri had panicked and crawled 15 metres alone, out of his firing position into our killing zone. I know I had to crawl out to him, to calm him down and to bring him back to his position. I did that in semi darkness. When I reached Bakri, he whispered to me quietly that he was alright and that he had moved out to a better observation and firing position. I said he was right but that we should crawl back as we were in our killing zone. I was glad he understood and we crawled back into our positions together. The enemy did not come pass our position but was ambushed by another 7 Bde platoon, about 1 km to our flank.

 

The whole ops was successfully completed in 2 weeks. All enemy troops were killed, captured or surrendered. E Bty managed to capture 5 enemies, Albert’s platoon had one enemy KIA and we recovered all their weapons and cash RM5000.00. We returned to base all safe and exhausted and clocked up some Bty history. We had a regimental party, curtesy from our enemies. Cheers.

 

I am glad I was never deployed as an infantry platoon commander again. GPO was so much better. I am glad I am a Gunner and will always be.

 

SOMETHING'S BREWING IN THE GUNNERS POT

As we approach the year's end, we get into the wind down, holiday mood. For gunners though, it is different. Universally, Gunners,Sappers,Ordnance and Firemen celebrate St. Barbara's Day in December. St.Barbara is the patron saint for the people involved in the organisations as mentioned, but, generally to all involved with explosives. A wonderful tale to read about,but, let's keep that for another occasion.

You may not know it ,but, some very busy ex gunners have been going around doing work to put an event in place that shall bring all retired gunners together. Yes, it is all about our long awaited GUNNERS CLUB. A gathering shall be held in KL, on a fine Saturday morning in December 2009. The Pro-tem Committee has had a few meetings, and also started travelling the length and breath of the country to garner support. The team has also visited some of our beloved, retired, senior gunner officers, to seek their blessings, advice and also support. So far, things are moving as planned. I shall post details once they are finalised. So, meanwhile, you are all welcome to do your bid to spread the word, be there and of course offer your ideas, suggestions and views. It goes without saying that, the success of this endeavour rests on all our shoulders. In fact, the club is us.

2Lt Allen Lai Kim Hinn FA

I was commissioned and posted to 2 Arty in December 1964, together with Steven Pan Kong Leong. 2 Arty was a new regt then, and we were put up in an old Gurkha hutted camp beside the Sg Besi Chinese graveyard.

I was posted to E Bty and Pan to F Bty. There were only two Federation Artillery Regiments in 1964. 1 Arty, also located in Sg Besi, had three gun Btys, A, B and C Bty and 2 Arty had D,E and F Bty. There were indeed more guns in the Bty than officers, because all gun Btys had 4 guns each, and we had 3 officers to each Bty.

E Bty had a BC, Major John Lane RA, a BK, Kapt Mustapha Saad FA and me holding the rest of the Bty appointments; Section Comd, GPO, Troop Comd and 2^nd BK. Boy do we have to learn fast.

My first real operational experience was not as a gunner, but as an infantry platoon comd as E Bty and F Bty were deployed to the Kota Tinggi area in Johore in mid December 1964. Indonesian troops had parachuted into Kota Tinggi / Mawai, area and had butchered about 18 soldiers from 1 SIR Regt from Singapore. But that’s another story.

I settled into routine regimental and bty duties after a successful ops and returning from Kota Tinggi. An introductory YO gunnery course was organized by Mejar Jafaar Mohammed FA IG. The course was held inhouse in 1 Arty. The proper YO Arty course in Larkhill, UK would only commence in August 1965.

From December 1964 to August 1965 all officers from both the regts stayed in the common officers mess up the hill, with all the other troops stationed in Sg Besi. Lt Anthony Chia Eng Lim was the senior subaltern for both the regts. Adjutant for 1 Arty was Kapt Hew Deng Onn and 2 Arty had a Mat Salleh Capt. ( Forgot his name). Whilst 1 Arty had more Malaysian officers, other than the CO Colonel Price, 2 Arty had more Mat Salleh officers, with the CO Colonel Webb. All BCs, Adjutant, QM were Mat Sallehs.

Both Pan and I took our ragging period well. It was all learning process and fun. All new officers were known as NQFA (Non Qualified Federation Artillery), until we had completed our YO Arty course. Our immediate seniors were, Lt Aris Salim FA, Lt Adam Hon FA and Lt Omar FA. Life as a young gunner was not bad, we had a lot to learn and had held a lot of responsibilities to boot. Our lives were centered in the regiment, playing games and the officers mess full time. We learnt and picked up things more at the weekly Happy Hours and daily sessions sitting at the bar counter than in the classroom. Of course TV Malaysia (black and white) was just introduced in 1964. We had regular parties and celebrations. We actually celebrate everything and anything; birthdays, games, end of exercises and regimental dos. Every Bty in both the regts had their own bands. 2 Arty shifted to Taiping in mid 1965, deep in our Arty traditions, and sad to be parted from 1 Arty officers.

Pan, Maskan Katan, Chin Kai Fong and I left for Larkhill in August 1965 for the 6 months YO Arty course. We returned in February 1966 and I joined my Bty on ops duties in Tawau, Sabah.