He reached the bunker and continued to fire at us. We moved up to cover behind some trees. “Bring up the 50 cal.!” Two men run up and landed next to me, “Load that weapon and keep him pined!” I yelled. I ran over to the Radio operator with the sound of the 50 Cal. bursting behind me. I hit the floor next to the Radio operator, “Get HQ and tell them we have made contact with the enemy.” “Yes Sergeant, Alpha Charlie this is Bravo 1 5, Contact made grid ref…” his voice faded as I left him.
I ran back over to the machine gunners, “he is staying down” they said. “Everybody move up, covering fire!”
I ran up to the bunker, there was the rebel cowering in the hole. Rounds from the 50 cal. cracked and ripped into the tree next to me breaking shards of wood, which hit me on the side of the face. This rebel no longer wanted to fight but the words, “Take no prisoners!” rang through my head. I realised what I had to do, I aimed my rifle at the rebel looked to the side and squeezed gently. The empty shell was flung out of the side of the rifle spinning. I had no time to contemplate his death. But all was not over; the sound of an engine and yelling struck panic in me. The briefing said nothing about a tank! “We’ve got company!” I yelled. “Bring that ‘Javelin’ and the 50 cal. Up here NOW!” The machine gunners and the missile soldier dived into the bunker leaving no room for me. The rest of the men in my group ran up level to the bunker.
The sound of the Tank engine and cracking trees was getting louder; we had about twenty seconds to check we were ready. The tank came into view. “Wait….Wait……Wait…….NOW!” The javelin pierced through the trees and hit the side of the tank destroying it completely in a ball of yellow flame. There was a clearing ahead so we moved up to the edge so we could have an advantage. When we reached the clearing we could see that this would be a hard fight. I called for air support immediately. There was no way a team of twelve could destroy their camp. The radio operator said they were 5 minutes off but in reality this was still too long a time to be alone. We engaged the rebels advancing towards us but they just kept coming. The 50 cal. just mowed them down like grass. It was working at maximum capacity when the ammo feeder was hit. I jumped into the bunker and took over. We began to take heavy losses. “Radio man, when’s that chopper getting here?” I yelled. A few seconds later he yelled back, “One minute!”
I began to here the choppers beating, “Take out their anit-aircraft men! Give ‘em all you got!” A hail of bullets pounded the enemy location everything we had was blazing. The chopper came low and fast over the tops of the trees and landed in front covering us from enemy fire. “Everybody in NOW.. NOW… NOW!” The helicopter had an onboard machine gun. I jumped onto it and started to fight the enemy keeping them at bay. Thud. Thud. Thud everything the enemy had they were hitting us with. A rocket skimmed the top of the rotors. “I’m getting the hell out of HERE!” the pilot yelled.
“Are you all on?”
“Yes, now GO, Go, Go!”
The blades begun beating harder and we lifted off of the ground. Still the enemy hit us, the helicopter shuddered as a rocket slammed into us. One man was killed instantly and others were injured, I had a chunk of helicopter lodged in my thigh. Still the helicopter flew and still the rounds kept hitting it until we finally made it over the forest. All was clear and we headed home, I counted our losses. Four out of twelve were dead and another six were injured including me. “We were lucky on that one!” Said the machine gunner, “Tell me about it!” I replied in a quiet reflective tone of voice. When we arrived back at base we got a pat on the back and nothing else. Four great men had died fighting for a cause that had nothing to do with them and what do they have to show for it, an unmarked jungle grave. It makes me wonder why Australia men are dying in some foreign land fighting someone else’s war.