Barrel Down...

Gubir Camp...the most unforgettable name besides Kroh (now Pengkalan Hulu) and its 'Selamat Sawadee Ops'! One of the 'hottest' areas of operation against communist terrorists (CTs). It was the most hazardous operation theater for the Nuri. And, of course, for the ground troops as well. Many of our soldiers were killed and maimed for life in this area. The  CTs created history when they brought down one Nuri killing all the 11 crew and passengers on 26 April 1976.

 In my first posting as a blogger entitled "Mengapa Saya Menentang Chin Peng Kembali Ke Malaysia", I related an experience when a convoy from the camp to the ops area was ambushed by the CTs near the camp itself. I was there and heard the shooting and saw a Land Rover full of bullet holes rushing to the camp. The 6th Bde IO was killed. We had breakfast at the Officers Mess at Sg Petani earlier. In fact, I personally assissted the AQM of the 2nd Nuri in pulling his stiff body into the chopper when he was winched up.

In one incident, my captain, the late Capt (U) Ismail Saud (my squad mate), did a low level flying over an open space when suddenly we heard an explosion and the Nuri wobbled violently. There was no damage to the 'iron bird' and we landed safely at Gubir. When my captain briefed the Army, we were told that there were no ground troops in that area and the possibility was that the Nuri's downwash might have triggered the booby traps there.

Air HQ directed that Nuri must be escorted at least by one by Alouette gunship when operating in Gubir area. The gunship would straff the area before landing.

Similar Alouette 111 Gunship used by the RMAF fitted with MG151 20mm 'cannon'

I extracted Capt Longhouse's unedited comments in my posting entitled "Tragedi 26 April 1976...Episod 1" about the gunship escort...",,,AND Capt Kalid Ali  with his gunship escort plus blowing a round of 20 mm cannon shell in the Alouette 111, since the gun barrel was red hot from firing at the CTs while I come in for my final approaches. Plus the unmanned LPs that were booby trapped by the cunning CTs, which he burnt off with more than the required rounds hehehe !. His unexploded 20 mm rounds at the LPs were at times an extra hazard to both our Nuri and deploying troops ! hahaha.

,,,the CTs learnt not to mess around with our Nuri and Alouette gunship excorts with Capt. Kalid on the control too."

I was told recently by an ex-SB officer that the CTs were not worried by the 500 'pounder' bombs dropped by F5E or 'Tebuan' then nor the artillery guns. But they were dead worried of being straffed by gunships with 20mm HE...simply because it was more accurate.

Well...I was once escorted by 2 gunships when operating at Gubir. The callsigns of the gunships were 'Scorpian 1', piloted by the late Capt (U) Ripin, and 'Scorpian 2'. Scorpion 2 was piloted by a 'rookie' and this was his first gunship sortie. As directed, the gunships straffed the area surrounding the LPs before I landed there. After a few sorties, Scorpion 2 called on the 'chit-chat' UHF frequency, 2345, telling me that the gunner had accidentally dropped the cannon's barrel. You see, after shooting 200-300 rounds of HE, the barrel became literally 'red' hot and had to be replaced with a spare barrel. While in the process of replacing it, the barrel  dropped into the thick jungle. I'm sure the CTs were thinking that the gunner had to resort to 'hitting' them by throwing the barrel at them after exhausting the ammo...He...He...He...

Dedicated to all the  Alouette 111 Gunship aircrew...thank you for your fire power support during those 'adventurous' flying days. To the rookie gunship pilot, belovedly known as  'The Plane' after the famous tv series then "Fantasy Island", what an introduction to an escort sortie...!!

In memory of the late LT COL (U) ABD JALIL GHANI and MAJOR (U) RIPIN, the gunship pilots and MAJOR (U) ISMAIL SAUD...Semoga Allah mencucuri Rahmat ke atas roh mereka...Al-Fatihah.