"You have been shot, Sir!"

Every pilot has a log book, in which details of all his flights, are recorded. I have several of these in which all my RMAF flights were recorded, including a civilian log book, with records of my flying club and civilian flying. Reading through all the entries, in retrospect, opens up a floodgate of nostalgic memories.

It was a murky morning on 21st October, 1964, when I took off at Labuan, Sabah, in a Twin Pioneer FM 1065, with my co-pilot, Pilot Officer Tony Ngiau, on Mission 51 heading out to Bario. This was during the Indonesian Confrontation against Malaysia. Bario, located at Sarawak state, was considered a dangerous air strip operated by the RAF. It is some 3,000 ft above sea level, and is so close to the Indonesian border, that the Indonesian forces frequently launch attacks. Taking off from Bario, you must immediately make a right turn, otherwise you will be over Indonesia. It is also surrounded by hills.

Carrying some supplies and passengers on board, I flew to Brunei to pick up some more supplies and passengers. After taking off from Brunei, I headed out for Bario. What I saw in the distance was not good. There were low clouds and rain all along the Kalimantan Border. As I got closer, I noticed that the weather over in Indonesia was fair. The range of hills and high ground had blocked the rain clouds. To pin-point the approach into Bario visually, I had to fly over two sharp limestone peaks, which we all nicknamed the 'Bario Titties'. However, on this morning, the weather was so bad that I could not see the 'Titties'! Low clouds have covered them.

I knew that I was very close to Bario, but the low clouds hampered me. With the surrounding hills and high ground covered in clouds, it became very dangerous. I circled and looked for a hole to descend. Finding one, I started to spiral down cautiously. Creeping forward, I suddenly found that the cloud had closed in on me! Turning back, I found to my horror, that the cloud I flew through a moment ago had also closed in on me. I was caught in a very dangerous situation with high grounds and low clouds with visibility almost zero. I immediately opened up full throttles to climb out. In desperation, I started to turn right towards a clearer sky. Tony gave me a warning that we were very close to the Indonesian border. I realised that, but the situation was becoming very desperate, and I had to get away from the hills and low clouds. I finally emerged into a clearer sky and climbing with full throttles, made a wide sweeping turn to return to Brunei.

Levelling at 7,000 feet, I sent Tony to tell the passengers that we were returning to Brunei due to bad weather. The passengers must have been feeling very uncomfortable, but glad that I was returning to Brunei.

After landing in Brunei, I taxied to dispersal where I was met by two RAF marshallers. As soon as I had shut down the engines, I noticed that the two marshallers were inspecting my aircraft very closely. Asking them what were they looking for, they told me, "You have been shot, Sir". They were looking for bullet holes and any damages to my aircraft. They then told me that Operations would like to see me.

When I met the Operations Officer, he told me that I was fired on by the Indonesian Anti Aircraft Gun Battery. He was dismayed when I told him that I was not aware I was being shot at, as I heard nothing and saw nothing. I was too busy trying to get out of the bad weather.

He then showed me the messages sent by the British ground forces at Bario. The first message reported that an RMAF Twin Pioneer aircraft was spotted crossing into Indonesian territory. The second message a few minutes later, reported that the Indonesian anti aircraft guns had opened up to shoot the aircraft down. The message described it as 'all hell let loose', and ended the message with, 'do not expect survivors'. Five minutes later, a third message reported my aircraft as leaving Indonesian airspace and turning back.

Due to the bad weather, my Mission was cancelled. When I finally landed at Labuan, the Intelligence Office (I.O.) was waiting for me. He was also very surprised that I had got away from the anti aircraft guns. Ushering me into his office, he drew the curtains to show me a map pin-pointing the gun position, and right on it was a large pin showing where I was. It was frightening to see that, but I really did not see or hear anything amiss during the skirmish. He finally told me to be more careful the next time.

I had taken note of the grid reference of my aircraft position, and jokingly told Tony that we should have bought the 4 digit lottery. When I got back to KL, for the fun of it, I checked in the old newspaper, and discovered that the numbers had actually struck during that week. Sigh!

The important thing is that we survived it. For that I give thanks to the Lord, who protected me from this and many more dangers.

Till then....