‘Open this evening for further orders, out.’
The CO spoke to the Brigadier by phone. ‘Henry, you won’t believe it but I have been told by the RAAF that one of its bombers had an unfused bomb. If Rance finds that near the guerrilla camp it will show that that is why there are no casualties.’
‘He has already found it and is keeping well away from it.’
‘I’ll have to send in a bomb disposal team by chopper but I’ll wait a day or two for that. Any live guerrillas will have, by now, left the area. Top up your men’s rations and let them go, I suggest move a map square northeast, and start another search for them.’
‘Okay, sir. I’ll pass that on.’
Jason’s soldiers were flabbergasted by what had happened … after successfully tracking the enemy, after so nearly getting them after seeing those trousers hanging up to dry, after the OC saheb and his group had made such a good recce of the enemy camp, then putting up that balloon, all difficult and skilful to do really well … who would have thought it would turn out like this? As they were cooking their meal, the radio operator was told to ‘fetch Sunray’ so called Jason to the set.
‘Submit an airdrop demand for five more days this evening. Prepare a DZ. Your task is to move northeast by minimum one map square. Continue patrolling to pick up any tracks there may be.’
‘Wilco out,’ was Jason’s weary reply.
‘Saheb, you didn’t try and persuade the CO not to bomb, did you?’ his Company 2ic asked, almost unwilling to broach the subject.
‘No, Saheb, I didn’t. If I had argued you would have had a new OC A Company.’
13 September 1954, Police HQ, Kuala Lumpur: ‘We’ve hit gold dust. How can we make it into platinum?’ C C Too asked Ah Fat. They were closeted in the former’s office.
Ah Fat considered the question. ‘The Secretary General has told me he wants me to be the editor of this new paper, Red Tidings. The paper we normally use doesn’t have watermarks and that is one reason for sending me here. In any case, the rank and file of the MCP are not the type who know what a watermark is, let alone how to look for one or even recognise one. Leave it or what?’
‘Before I answer that, where will you do your compilation and printing? In your base camp in Thailand?’
‘That certainly seems to be the idea but I don’t like it. It’s too out-of-the-way for easy access for the couriers from Malaya. I suppose you know that there are two types of courier, a main one or two for long-distance work and local ones who know the terrain like their own back garden. I would prefer to move to somewhere like Ha La village[1], which is just inside Thailand and has no Customs or police to worry us, nor any propaganda merchants looking over my shoulder. Couriers would also find it easier or I could even set up a place over the border and use t’o yan – the orang asli or indigenous people – as storekeepers and to give advanced warning were any Security Forces to be in the area. Unlikely, though possible.’
‘Do you think the Secretary General will allow that?’
‘Difficult to say off-hand. He might if I make periodical visits to him for copy.’
A gleam came into C C Too’s eyes. ‘Tell you what. Let me make you some paper like what we have with a government watermark with an MCP watermark. You, in an editorial, can warn the readers to look and see which watermark is on the paper. The MCP one will be touted as genuine government propaganda. You then adapt the version for the Politburo on government watermarked sheets as and how you like, making sure that you keep the two lots completely separate.’
‘Have you the funds?’
‘Have you the ink?’ and both men laughed.
16 September 1954, central Malaya: The daku commander felt smug in foretelling that the marker balloon was indicative of a bombing attack. He had ordered an immediate evacuation, initially carrying the wounded man on a comrade’s back with another comrade carrying two packs for speed. They had moved well over a mile before dark and had been thoroughly shaken by the bombing. His men looked at him with admiration, knowing he had saved their lives. ‘What we’ll do now is what we have practised in the past. Two groups will move off on different axes leaving tracks, while our HQ group will move with the utmost caution in between. Our comrade here,’ and he pointed to a young man, ‘will make noises like a tiger roaring with this other comrade,’ indicating an older man, ‘moving at the back, will make the tiger’s pug marks. Nobody will ever guess that the tiger is moving backwards, even if they do see the tracks. After all this time no one is better than us,’ and he laughed. The others joined in, feeling that they could escape from even the most observant trackers following them. Even so, we will carry out our concealment drill by walking backwards into a stream before making ourselves comfortable for the night, or maybe even longer.’
It had been a bulkier than usual airdrop as by then most of the men’s canvas jungle boots, never strong items, were torn and apart from being easy for leeches to get inside, were unsuitable except on flat ground. Another marker balloon had been sent – let them fly one off their own bat, thought Jason sulkily – and, because they were higher up, so colder than usual, Jason allowed each man to have his own bottle of rum – he never touched the stuff – as an evening tipple of rum and a handful of heated up tiny prawns was by now the men’s traditional and only
relaxation.
After moving off from the airdrop, patrols picked up tracks for at least ten men, one who was limping, moving north-easterly. They heard a helicopter to their southwest, most likely carrying the bomb disposal team and escort.
It had been four days since they had heard the palm tree being cut. At his orders the night before Jason had stressed that he did not expect to catch up with the daku easily or quickly, so movement, now that the tracks had been found, need not be as slow as if they were near. The jungle was prime, the trees tall and undergrowth scant, so tracking was done by ground signs, not top signs. Some of the former are foot and boot marks, bruises or ‘bleeding’ roots, disturbances of insect life, mud left from footwear, while some of the latter are broken twigs or bent leaves, scratches, cuts, bruised moss or handholds on trees, big spiders’ webs with spiders as big as a clenched fist, broken, changes in colour and natural position of vegetation.
Halfway through the day the tracks were lost so a halt was called and more patrolling initiated, this time the ‘fan’ method, even though going sideways across the grain of the high ground was a penance and left traces as feet slipped. ‘They are skilled operators and know their jungle lore backwards,’ Jason said. ‘They are as keyed up to danger as are wild animals.’
That evening 2 Platoon and 3 Platoon reported tracks. Each had taken a compass bearing of the axis and they were 15 degrees apart. The white map was no use for showing any high ground where there might be caves to hide in or swift rivers difficult to cross. Corporal Kulbahadur said, ‘Saheb, I have an idea. It is just possible that those tracks are decoy tracks leading us away from their real position. One lot of tracks was moving at 12 degrees and the other at 27. They were more obvious than normal. Suppose the main axis is 18 or 19 degrees and tomorrow, say, those radial tracks will merge. All those angles are difficult to follow exactly on a compass as none has a thick black line opposite it.’
Listening heads nodded appreciatively. ‘The only problem is what will the middle group do to get the other patrols back? They don’t have any radio.’
Jason stared with a ‘thousand-yard’ look in his eyes, trying to envisage how to react to what Kulbahadur was suggesting. Even if he was wrong in his estimation, ground would be covered so any tracks could be picked up. How long before tracks had been made could often be gauged by the state of the bent foliage that had brushed against: the dryer it was, the longer the time of movement had elapsed.
‘I know it’s unpopular but an early meal tomorrow.’ He looked up and saw disappointed faces. Gurkhas are not ‘good’ early eaters. ‘Cancel that. Start cooking at 0430 hours and carry your food in your mess tins to eat later. We’ll move after our morning brew. Full water bottles.’
They stopped at their normal meal time. ‘Saheb,’ Jason said to his 2ic. ‘Get the men to fill their water bottles at the next stream but not, repeat not, wash out their mess tins in it.’ The Gurkha Captain looked at Jason quizzically but said nothing. The saheb never gives an order without a reason. ‘Let us say, Saheb, that the daku smelt the balloon stuff in their water downstream from us. I ordered that it be thrown into the water to keep the smell from the land. I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way. Just suppose they are not far away downstream and again smell us through their water before we have a chance to deal with them?’ Recognition came into the Gurkha Captain’s eyes. ‘Maybe I am too cautious but …’ and he left the rest of his sentence unsaid.
At two in the afternoon the leading scout stopped and, with a hand signal, called his platoon Sunray forward. ‘Look, tiger tracks.’ At that very moment a tiger was heard calling not so far away. Jason was sent for. Looking at the tracks he was doubtful but, so that any suspicion could be resolved, he sent for Kulbahadur.
The corporal silently came up and Jason pointed to the ground. With obvious glee he said, ‘Saheb, that tiger is moving backwards! Look,’ and, moving in front of it, he turned and, bending down, splayed his fingers over it. They fitted nicely. ‘The end man is turning and making them.’
‘But the roaring?’
‘Saheb,’ he grinned wolfishly, ‘if you practised, you could do better!’
‘So the noise and the fake tracks are the guide to get the other patrols back on course?’
Another huge grin and a nod; ‘Yes.’
‘That means they can’t be far away.’
‘Saheb, let me take one man and I’ll find out just where they are. It shouldn’t take us too long.’
Jason allowed that and told the others to take up all-round defence positions while they waited for the two men to make their recce and return, which they did within the hour.
‘We have found out where they are and their tactics. With the tiger tracks behind them they moved downhill to a large stream and before they went into the water, they turned round and went in backwards. The prints of the balls of their feet were deeper than their heel prints.’
