The convoy wound its way up the steep hill.  Corporal John Balas adjusted his goggles and cursed being in the last vehicle. He was now covered in dust. The ballistic vest and Kevlar crew helmet he was required  to wear added to his discomfort.  It was only a short time after dawn and already hot. John was the crew commander of an M-113 tracked APC (Armoured Personal Carriers). These were lightly armour vehicles able to carry eleven combat troops and protect them from small arms fire and shell splinters. Their tracks could take them almost anywhere.

John and his and his troop sergeant’s M-113 were at the rear of a dozen UNIMOGS (utility trucks) taking supplies to a newly established resettlement camp. The convoy was lead by their troop commander, in one of the two M-113s up front. A Kiowa light helicopter had circled overhead shortly before. It had reported the road ahead ‘all clear.’  The troop leader had told them there had been no hostile incidents along the route over the past few days. There were some armed bands the area, but their intention was not known. They could be friendly. Even so, John kept on his guard, twisting to watch the rear and back again to make sure his driver was keeping the correct distance from the Troop Sergeant's APC.  

The M-113 droned as the road steepened. John reflected that there was no problem in keeping up with the trucks.  The APC squadron of 3/4 Cavalry Regiment had been re-equipped with almost new vehicles when they arrive in Sumatra. This had only been a couple of weeks ago, but it felt like ages with all that had happened. The vehicles had come from American war reserve stock. They were newer models of the M-113s than which the squadron was normally equipped and had more powerful engines and better suspension. They also had digital communications, which showed a video map display showing each vehicle’s location. Unfortunately no one in the Squadron was confident at the video displays’ use, so for the time being the screens were blank. The vehicles also lack the turrets with their twin machine gun, that the Australian M-113s had installed. Instead they had a single 50 cal. heavy machine gun on an exposed mount. This was a worry if someone was shooting at you. John also missed the customised storage of the squadron’s old vehicles, some of which had car fridges and other creature comforts.

The convoy drove past a group of Indonesia paratroopers at a road block. They courteously returned John’s wave as they covered their faces from the kicked up dust. The column was travelling along an unmade road that wound along a modest raise. There were low but solid trees on either side of the road. Visibility was good, but there were many places among the undergrowth where an attacker might hide. There was a constant chatter in the head-set as the lead vehicle reported road conditions to the Troop commander.  

Suddenly, John heard a loud thud, followed by the rattle of automatic fire from up ahead. The radio burst with a babble of calls. ‘This is 22Bravo. Contact. Wait. Out,’ the Troop sergeant calmly called over the noise. This was a standard warning to headquarters that something was happening, but they were too busy to speak. John’s driver braked to avoid the Troop sergeant’s APC as it pivoted off the road. Over the revving engine John heard the Troop Sergeant yelling ‘back up, back up,’ towards the UNIMOG drivers. At the same time he hand signalled ‘action left.’  Squadron standard operating procedure (SOP) called for hasty attack into an ambushing force. The troop sergeant wanted John to follow him as they swung round to close on the assailants.

‘Driver, hard left, advance,’ John called.  

As the M-113 rattled up the slope John could see smoke bellow above the trees further up the road and hear repeated fire and bursting explosions. He pulled back on the chocking lever to bring his 50 cal. machine gun to action. But he could not see any attackers through the trees and smoke. All he could see was the rear of his Troop’s sergeant’s M-113 crashing through the scrub. John’s driver skillfully wove between the trees and kept the tracks on a 30^o slope without slipping. John steady himself with one hand on the cupola and the other on the machine gun.  

As they race along side of the convoy, John could see the rear UNIMOGs backing up in clouds of dust and smoke from other burning trucks. The two APCs come upon a deep gully. John and his Troop sergeant each came to a halt. The Troop sergeant pushed himself up from his cupola so he could see over the gully. He then gestured for both of them to advance. John’s driver eased their APC into the gully and gunned the engine to climb over the edge. The APC jolted down and John immediately observed three running figures among the trees in front. He instinctively fired a short burst. Rounds kicked up dust and obscured the figures.  

‘Advance, advance,’ John yelled to his driver.  

He could see tracers arcing overhead and smoke and flames among the vehicles on the road. He swang his gun side to side, firing long bursts to his front. His Troop sergeant's APC angled down the slope in front of him. Both vehicles clanked onto the road and halted. John saw there was fire coming from across the road. He ordered his driver to jockey back into the cover of the tree. Changing ammunition belts, John kept firing. He could only make out fleeting figures that were firing from within the scrub. Over the radio the Troop sergeant could be heard calling in the squadron’s mortars to fire on the assailants. Soon there were bursting explosions further up the hill. The incoming fire began to slacken, as the assailants started to withdraw. 

‘Cease fire,’ the troop sergeant abruptly called. John let his finger of the trigger. His ears were ringing but he could now hear a growing whine of engines from up the hill.  

Then he saw dark box shaped vehicles emerge from the trees a distance up the road. They were tracked K2000 IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) of the Malaysian army coming to their aid.  Their 30mm auto-cannons swang left and right as they approached the battered convoy. John finally released his tight grip on the 50 cal. and looked around. There was a crater in the road that had been caused by a command detonated mine. It had been set in the culvert that ran from the gully that he and the troop sergeant had crossed. The M-113 that had been at the head of the convoy was pitched to one side and burning ferociously. The Troop leader's M-113 was tilted front down in the gully. A rocket-propelled grenade had burst into its entire back. A motionless body was draped from its cupola. Malaysian IFVs took up position around the battered convoy, and Malaysian troopers leaped from their vehicles to secure the area.  John tried to spit but his mouth was too dry.  

Originally Published in Defender, Journal of the Australia Defence Association,   Summer 1995/96

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