848 Naval Air Commando Squadron
HMS Albion
March 1964 - March 1966
By
John Christopher L'Amie
Who was at this time a Naval Air mechanic 1st Class, left the Service in 1986 as a Chief Air Fitter.

848 Naval Air Commando Squadron commissioned in 1963 after first forming as 700v IFTU with the first Wessex Mk 5 helicopter. In March 1964 the Squadron embarked on HMS Albion for service in the Far East.

After a short stop at Malta and passage through the Suez Canal the Albion stopped at Aden where the Squadron assisted the Marines in the Radfan and Dahhal Pass areas of Aden. The Wessex Mk 5 helicopter having a greater lifting capacity than the RAF Whirlwinds.

It was in this area of Aden that I found that being in the Navy was more than just a joy ride as it had been up to then. My aircraft call sign “Charlie” had gone U/S (Unserviceable) in the Dahhal area and required a throttle actuator change. Along with my trade chief Tony Hetherington we grabbed a new actuator and tool box and hopped into the cab that was going to take us to recover the downed helo.

On approach to the area we noticed areas of smoke, which we later found out was the aftermath of a mortar attack by dissident tribesmen. We wasted no time in refitting the new actuator and as it was getting near dusk we decided not to bother with a ground run but to flight test on the way back to the Albion. As it was, when we took off we heard and saw the incoming mortar rounds, which to a young lad of 17 was quite disconcerting.

After our short stay in Aden, having bought the requisite duty free camera’s and watches, we headed for Singapore and the relief of the present Far East Commando Carrier (Bulwark) and its squadron (845). The rendezvous took place south of Ceylon where we cross operated for a couple of days, allowing us to meet up with our opposite number in 845. It was with sadness that we heard about the casualties that they had suffered whilst in Borneo.

On arrival in Singapore we disembarked for RM barrack Sembawang and NAS Simbang where we prepared the helicopters for operations in the jungles of Borneo, swapping the sand and green camouflage for the jungle green colouring that that now denoted us as jungle bunnies.

After the period of preparation we once more embarked on the Albion and proceeded to Borneo. On arrival off Kuching “B” and “C” flights flew off to their respective areas of operation. We had now exchanged our Navy blue for the jungle green uniforms of our Royal Marine brothers, but we did not seem to convey the same outwardly appearance that the “Bootniks” achieved and I suppose most of them were a little wary of “Jack” with a rifle in his grasp.

 “B” Flight was to operate from our rear base at Sibu and my flight  “C” was on its way up country to Nanga Gaat  which was a few miles from the Indonesian boarder, where the Gaat and Barley Rvers met. As we flew down the river it became apparent on just how much 845 Squadron had suffered whilst operating here. In the trees was the wreck of a Wessex 1 one of two that had collided as they approached the forward airbase. This was more compelling as Scouse Rothwell, a Naval Air Mechanic who had been in my class at Ganges and Condor died in that incident.

It was if we had entered another world. We had all heard about the head hunters of Borneo but never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would live amongst them. The Iban tribesmen were used by the British forces as border scouts and one of my first sights of them was as they disembarked from one of the helos.

A troop of SAS had been recovered from up country along with two Iban scouts. As they walked towards us it was noticeable that on each of the scouts hip was bouncing what looked like a ball but in fact they were heads. The British and Malayan  governments had discouraged the practice of head hunting but  it was hard to stop in practice. Later we were to discover the meanings of the tattoos than adorned the bodies of the Iban warriors. The back of one hand tattooed indicated that the warrior had taken one head, both hands tattooed meant he was a man to respect as he had taken more than two heads. The tattoo on the throat symbolised a wing bird and in their folklore indicated that should they loose their head in battle then in the after life they would be re-joined.

They were a wonderful people meek in their way and extremely friendly. During our stay at the Gaat we would be invited to their Long Houses to eat with them their traditional meal of wild boar and monkey, and drink their home made brew of rice wine known as tuack, a milky white substance that tasted sweet but was guaranteed to lay you flat out after a couple of jars.

We certainly went native, long hair, beards, sarongs and flip flops. The days were quite idyllic, only spoilt by having to service the helos and the occasional stand-to.

The troubles in the Third Division of Sarawak had been virtually quelled and the need of our heavy lift capability helicopter was no longer needed so we moved from Sibu and Nanga Gaat to Labuan and Bario in Sabah.
This was a completely different area than the one we had been in in Sarawak, Labuan was a British base with a proper airfield, from which flew Javelins of the Royal Australian Air force and Canberra aircraft of the RAF. Much more service orientated, gone were the long hair and beards and  back into jungle greens instead of sarongs and flip flop.

Bario, our forward operating base, was again much different than Nanga Gaat. It was a cleared grass runway with a resident army presence and army Scout helicopters and Beaver and Twin Pioneers. We lived in Bashers along side the runway which whilst not too dissimilar to the ones in Sibu and the Gaat were set amongst other units.

If we thought that our time in Sibu and the Gaat had been a jolly time we were soon in for a rude awakening.  The first sortie out of Bario was to pick up a patrol of Ghurkha Rifles that had gone missing whilst on patrol. It wasn’t, as we thought, to bring back the patrol but to bring back what was left of them. It really brought it home to me what we were doing out there. It was the first time I had seen bodies that had been cut up by the use of claymore mines. Things were brought back into respective. We had one scare when an Indonesian  Second World War Liberator bomber flew over the runway. Nothing happened but we all had to man our stand to positions. Mine was as the loader of an Oerlikon  gun, but we didn’t get chance to fire at it.

The tribe people in the Bario region were Kalabit people and were very different than the Iban. The Kalabit did not adorn themselves with tattoos but would adorn their ears with anything shiny, so there was a great demand on knives and folks, and even Ronson lighters found a new use.

It was during this period that we had our first casualties. One of the flight helos, returning from dropping off a patrol, lost a rotor blade and crashed in deep jungle. Unfortunately all the crew, Lt Brown, Sub/Lt Wotton, PO Aircrewman Fred Traisnal, Midshipman Dawes and another Midshipman who was having a jolly in the aircraft suffered fatal injuries in the crash. All were recovered and flown to Singapore for a Naval burial.

My draft with 848 came to an end in March 1966 when I flew home to the UK. A boy had sailed with the Albion, a man returned.