Fly Past

HUNTERS

O

n the day of Malaysia’s

formation, mobs ransacked

the British Embassy

in Jakarta: the so-called period

of ‘Confrontation’ had begun.

Indonesia raised violent objections to

the plans for the new state.

Comprising Malaya, Sabah

(formerly North Borneo), Sarawak

and Singapore, the Malaysian

Federation was formed on September

16, 1963. Indonesia’s chief complaint

was the incorporation of Sabah and

Sarawak on the island of Borneo,

where Malaysia and Indonesia shared

a 980-mile (1,577km) jungle border.

Over the next three years actions

escalated to include guerrilla

sea landings in Johore and

attacks in Sarawak, Sabah and

Singapore. There were threatening

flights by Indonesian Air Force

bombers over the town of

Kuching in Sarawak, air

attacks on Malaysian

villages in Borneo, and

paratroopers were

dropped into the

jungles of Johore.

British,

Australian

and New

Zealand

armed

forces,

from the UK or Cyprus. In addition,

occasional detachments of Royal

Australian Air Force Sabres from

their main base at Butterworth, near

Penang, were stationed there.

Eager for action

Into this busy, vibrant, colourful,

noisy, hot and steaming tropical

milieu, a young RAF flying officer

arrived at 8.30am in mid-October

1964. I was sleep-starved after a
      27-hour journey from the UK in a
      RAF Bristol Britannia transport via
      Istanbul and Bombay.
      It was six weeks after my
      20th birthday. I was
      to join 20 Squadron,
      having graduated as
      a teenage Hunter pilot
      following two-and-a-half
      years of training, culminating in
      three wonderful months at 229
      Operational Conversion Unit at
      Chivenor, near Barnstaple.
      Just before leaving Britain,
      there were front-page stories
      in the newspapers
      reporting the actions
      of 20 Squadron’s
      Hunters against
      Indonesian
      guerrillas that
      had landed in Johore. I was ready
      or so I thought and certainly
      eager, to join in the action with
      little thought for the dangers.
      There I was, a young, highly
      trained fighter pilot - invincible
      and immortal. Or perhaps
      better described as over-
      confident in view of
      my inexperience
      as an aviator and,
      indeed, of life!
      I soon heard
      that any more
      action, when
      and if it came,
      was only for
      the experienced

Left

Hunter FGA.9

XJ683 of 20

Squadron against

a typical jungle

backdrop, August

1965. This machine
      was supplied
      to Zimbabwe in
      October 1987. ALL VIA
      AUTHOR UNLESS NOTED

based in Malaya, Singapore and

Borneo, under obligations to SEATO

(Southeast Asia Treaty Organization),

provided a defensive presence.

The bulk of the British forces were

based in Singapore, where the RAF

had three large and busy airfields:

Changi, Seletar and Tengah. Changi

was the main transport base while

Seletar housed helicopters and light

transports.

Tengah was home

to 20 Squadron,

equipped with

16 Hawker

Hunter

FGA.9s and

a pair of

T.7 two-

seaters.

Disbanded

at the end of 1960 in West

Germany, 20 had re-formed at

Tengah in 1961 in response to a

concern that SEATO might have to

react to communist aggression in

Laos.

During the Confrontation, 20

Squadron shared Tengah with two

English Electric Canberra units, 45

Squadron with B.15 bombers and

81 with photo-recce PR.7s, and 60

and 64 Squadrons with two Gloster

Javelin all-weather fighters.

At the height of the crisis, Tengah

temporarily accommodated the

Canberras of 14 Squadron Royal

New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF),

a disembarked Fleet Air Arm de

Havilland Sea Vixen squadron, and a

rotating detachment of Avro Vulcan

or Handley Page Victor bombers

May 2018 FLYPAST 49