Chapter 8: Patrols and Patrolling

I have been asked what it was like in the early days of the RLI when we mostly patrolled areas, ran OP's (Observation Points) and ambushed ... In the early 70's we were very raw and inexperienced... 20km walks were not infrequent and developing as a unit was hard...

Firstly I must comment on our webbing and packs – it was bloody awful ... The webbing issued was the old 44 pattern Brit webbing ... yes 1944!!!! This was 1974 damit and we were using crap from the Second World War ... The kit looked good in theory but a good sweaty 20km walk and you looked as though you were tied together with a canvas strap ... The nice sturdy web belts, after getting soaked in sweat just folded over and were useless ... the magazine poaches when damp defied the extraction of a magazine ... The poor MAG gunner was always inspecting his belts as they were squashed together in bloody awful pouches ... School fees are hard and expensive ... This was the start of the RLI guys developing their own webbing which resulted in what was to become jacket webbing ... We had a wonderful old Tailor at base that was a magician with canvas ... Give him an idea, steal a tarp of a Bedford and a week later you had webbing that evolved to fit ... My MAG waistcoat type jacket was brilliant ... I could carry 12 belts of ammo, the shoulders were well padded, water bottles (4 of them) did not flop around, pouches and straps for Gaz stove, 3 days graze and a sleeping bag ... All in one waist coat that was secure and didn't bounce ... I designed a small pack that I could put on for another 3 days graze ... that was about the limit at around 120 lbs...

The MAG gunner was forgiven carrying extra shit mostly but we generally tried to pick up the slack on longer patrols and externals ... The chopper pilots used to shit themselves at all up weight as we were generally overloaded with kit ... Water was a big issue on externals and that was a major contribution to all up weight ... some guys carried up to 14 water bottles ... Plus everything else ... guess who blew out with heat fatigue...

When I eventually left my MAG behind I carried a modified SLR ... I had bummed a folding butt and a friendly armourer cut down my barrel so it only stuck out 2 inches ... add to that the SLR flash hider and it was 5 inches from the for sight to tip ... One of the most successful weapons I ever used ... Brilliant in thick bush and didn't lose much in accuracy up to 200m ... Most contacts were from 5 to 15m anyway so what do you need a bloody sniper rifle for ... O that was another weapon of choice for OP's ... I had a really nice Winchester 300 magnum that I carried on OP's ... Good for 1000 meters and a pleasure to carry...

One thing I must mention here is that all the guys, from Officers down had to carry at least 2 Drips, giving set, Canular Needle and Morphine ... this was for your own life so was looked after. The drips made good pillows and the Morphine amps were wrapped in cotton wool and stuffed in to a plastic syringe which hung around your neck on a piece of para cord ... Radio batteries were also a must and each guy carried at least one ... Stick leader used the MAG gunner's battery first and then on down the line...

In the early days we were given an area and we were expected to move through it and gather Intel for the Cops ... well that was a totally pointless exercise as when the trucks stopped the gooks left the area and nothing was seen of them ... The locals and the Gooks had a healthy respect for the young boys in their short shorts ... Bush dress was shorts, sleeveless shirt and Super Pro tackies ... If you looked at us we were a young (about 19) bunch of absolute little angels ... Stop laughing, we were ... Sometimes ... OK seldom...