Diary of Austin Ellerman Yeats, 1942 - Part 3
About an hour later it was found
that a further enemy Gun
posn was only approx 450 x
away. Also heavy shelling
from both sides passed
overhead almost all night.
17.1.42. At dawn the party
moved forward again and
after travelling through a
stretch of rough country, at
about 10 30 hours cut the well
marked track and continued
on; reaching the Muar R.
About 1130 hrs, Lieut Ellerman
intended to cross the river
here and then move downstream
to the village of Teberau, recross
the river and so back to
Batu Anum at Segamat &
eventually rejoin the Bn.
To the dismay of all, no
boats were available at the
small Kampong at the
river crossing, the boats having
been taken away by the
Malays into the jungle. All
hands then set to work on
the building of a raft, with
exception of 9 Sec, which
took up a posn, covering the
track to Gemas. Everyone
worked with a will and
the difficulty of a guide rope.
for the raft was soon
overcome by joining up
the puttees and rifle pull
thros of all present and
this rope was found to
stretch across satisfactorily from
2 trees. Ptes Lamb. and.
Shields swam the river with
the rope and made it secure.
By about 1230 hrs, the raft
was ready. It was constructed
from bamboo poles, lashed
with a piece of rope, some wire
and jungle vines and it
was found would hold two
men. The current of the river
here was fairly strong and
it was necessary to tow the
raft upstream for some
distance. In doing this
a very fortunate discovery
was made, a submerged
boat being found.
Soon this took several men
across, but on the first trip a
serious mishap was
narrowly averted when the
boat upset and 2 men
escaped drowning. Two
steel helmets, some ammunition
the Pl Comds compass and
two pairs of boots were
unfortunately lost.
Here Pte Lonsdale
stepped into the breach
amongst the party who
had crossed and with
great coolness took control
of the boat and with an
improvised paddle managed
the boat very skilfully.
Everyone was soon ferried
across and took cover in
the jungle, bordering the river
No sooner was this accomplished
than 2 Junkers Dive bombers
came over, flying low and
searched up and down the
track down which the
party had come, also the
river, apparently trying to
locate the party.
At the small Kampong a
Malay who spoke some English
was very helpful and gave
Lieut Ellerman 2 prs Sandshoes
for the men who had lost
their boots. Also this same Malay
guided the party xdown the
N. bank of the river to the
village. of Teberau to the penghulu
of the village. A good track
led down the river, passing
through numerous signs
of elephants.
On arrival at the village
at 1600 hrs. Lieut Ellerman
received the information
that the Malays had seen
"British" Troops. drawing water
from the side of the
river at 0700 hrs that
morning. Incidentally the
Malays here were most helpful
and offered to guide the
party to the Segamat or Batu
Anum, which ever was
required.
In order to be sure of the
situation. Lieut Ellerman
took a patrol across the
river and in a short time
contacted a section of a Pl
under Lieut Wagstaff 2/26Bn.
The remainder of the party
were soon ferried across the
river by the Malays and
received some tea and a
most acceptable snack
from the 2/26 Bn
At 1500 1700 hrs 9 Pl left for 2/26 Bn
H.Q. and at 1800 hrs Lieut
Ellerman reported in to Lieut
Col Boyes. Meanwhile, members
of the patrol were given a meal
and well looked after by
2/26 Bn. Posns of 1 Inf
section 2 A/A guns 1 Lt Arty
Gun and 1 O.P. posn. were
pin pointed on map to 2/26
Bn I.O. and passed on to
Arty. 2/26 advised a Light
Arty gun had been giving
a lot of trouble and later.
reports told of the silencing
of it.
At 1930 hrs 9 Pl were taken by
2/26 Bn M.T. to Segamat reporting
in to 27 Bde H.Q. Here it
was learned that other
9 missing members of Patrol
had reported in safely:
being guided into our fwd
tps posns by friendly Chinese.
Thus all members of force
returned safely to their units.
9 Pl continued on to Segamat
Estate and joined Bn "B"
Echelon. Just before arrival
at "B" Echelon, a slight
accident occurred, 2 trucks
colliding Pte Rowbottom
received injuries to his ribs
and went to nearest R.A.P.
9 Platoon - Muar Rd
18.1.42. Refitting at “B” Echelon
Segamat Estate - Ptes
Owen J. L. & Rowbottom H.
to Hospital
1300 hrs 9 Pl moved with “B”
Echelon to 2 posn 2 miles N
of Yong Peng.
Shortly after arrival Ptes
A. Shields & D. Mensforth left
with Ammunition Truck
Dr. R. Ferguson; which was
to go down that evening to
2/29 Bn.
19.1.42. At 0700 hrs message received
from Maj Olleff comd 2/29 Bn
asking if 9 Pl were sufficiently
reded for them to join Bn
at Muar as Bn wanted all
available men.
Lieut Ellerman decided to
leave as soon as possible and
at 0900 hrs left in 4 Utility
trucks with Sgt Besverkoff
as guide and Sgt Lillie 1/c
transport. Padre Macneil
and Balinan and one DR
1030 hrs arrived at 85 mile
peg just on Yong Peng side
of Parit Sulong bridge
Here, information was recd
from an Armd Car and Car
patrol of Norfolk Bn that
the 2/29 Bn and 2/10 Bn &
45 and Bde had been cut
off by the enemy coming in
behind them and an enemy
road block had been established
at 95 mile peg. A written
message to this effect was sent
back by D.K.Seviour to Bn
"B" Ech. and then to be passed
on to Opn. HQ. so they would
know the. posn
Meanwhile 9 Pl took up a def
posn at 85 mile peg - at a bend
in the road. Leaving Sgt
Holmes i/c 9 Pl, Lieut Ellerman
went fwd in one truck
contacted 1 Pl of 6 Norfolk
Bn on Parit Sulong bridge
and went fwd a further 2
miles where contact was
made with 6 Norfolk Bn Car
patrol. Some members of
this patrol had been "shot up"
earlier that morning and
some shots fired at the Patrol
car. As nothing could be
gained by going any further
fwd. Lieut Ellerman retd
to 85 mile post. From here
some firing, could be heard
in the distance back in the
direction of Batu Pahat
X roads. Lieut Ellerman
went back to this X rds and
made contact. with a 6 Nflk
Bn standing patrol on the
crossroads 1200 hrs returned
to 85 mile post and Lieut
Ellerman decided to move
his Pl back to Muar/Batu
Pahat X roads.
Just before leaving 2 Dutch
officers on their way, one
to 2/19 Bn and one to 2/29 Bn
joined the party and
accompanied 9 Pl back to
new posn.
1300 hrs arrived at 6 Norfolk Bn
fwd Coy posn. Lieut Ellerman
and Padre Macneil contacted
Coy comd Norfolks. Lieut Ellerman
decided to take up a def posn
astride the crossroads. Padre
Macneil and Bateman 1 driver
went back to 6 Norfolk Bn
H.Q.
The 6 Norfolk Bn plan for
defence of X roads was to use
a standing patrol of 3 men -
and on approach of any enemy
to defend X roads with
Mortar fire. It was apparent
that this plan had disadvantages
so Lieut Ellerman suggested
defending X rds with 9 Pl
and using Mortar fire fwd
of this area if necessary,
which was agreed on.
Lieut Ellerman's idea in
attaching his Pl to the Norfolk
Bn was to do everything
possible with his small force
to keep the road and X rds
open for 2/29 Bn & 2/19 Bn
who had been cut off near
Bakri.
[*in direction of*]
1315 hrs Pl in posn at Crossroads
as follows :- 8 Sec left 7 sec right
of road leading down to Batu
Pahat 9 sec covering road
leading to Muar. Pl HQ
Central rear of 8 Sec.
Transport 3 trucks concealed
vicinity crossroads. At 1330 hrs
3 Carriers of 6 Norfolk Bn arrived.
under comd Lieut Evans
to assist 9 Pl in defence of
X rds. Bren M. Guns were dismounted
from Carriers and disposed
around X roads also 1 A/2k Rifle
Just as this carrier patrol left
Norfolk Bn H.Q. isloated
firing broke out to the left of
9 Pl's position and some few
shots were fired at the carriers
as they came through defile to
the crossroads. From then on. a
general attack developed at what
was thought to be the centre of
6 Norfolk's position. 9 Pl were
able to engage some of the
enemy to the left flank and
one Norfolk Bren M Gun
accounted for some casualties.
1400 hrs - several enemy planes
came over and carried out
light bombing and some
machine gunning. Firing
continued for some time
until about by 1530 hours only
intermittent firing could be
heard and it seemed that
the attack had been beaten off.
At about 1530 hrs and AIF
H.Q. truck came up from direction
of Parit Sulong. The truck was
loaded with cooking gear
and had gone down that
morning to R V at 94
mile peg with 45 Ind Bde
and deliver this gear. The driver
said he had been down to his
R.V and could not contact
anyone. He had therefore
returned the only thing he
saw on the way back was
a 2/19 Bn truck on the side
of the road. The driver of this
truck had been killed. After
waiting about ½ hour the Sgt
i/c AIF H.Q. truck decided to
continue on his way as firing
had died down by this time
The two Dutch officers were
anxious to return with the
information they had gained,
so were placed on the truck and
according to report eventually
reached AIF HQ safely.
At about 1600 hrs two natives
were seen approaching the
X rds from direction Batu
Pahat. Soon after, one of
them came fwd and was
brought in at the point of
the bayonet. It seemed
that the enemy hoped to
locate posns at X rds in
this manner and just
afterwards a number of
the enemy about 80 in number
were seen emerging from
the rubber and forming up
on⨁ 9 Pl front, ready for
attack.
Lieut Ellerman sent his
[[OPl?]] runner up to Norfolk Coy
posn and asked for Mortar
fire to be brought down on
this patch of scrub. This was
at approx 1630 hrs.
The runner Pte Powell was
not seen again until some
days later, but it transpired
that on reaching the Mortar
posn of the Norfolk Coy to
find they had left their
prepared positions, leaving
behind at least one 3" Mortar
& ammn and gear. One Arty
O.P. officer was the only man
left and he did not know
what was happening and
was just about to return
to his guns. Pte Powell
with the help of this officer
showed great resource
in going into action with
the 3" Mortar and fired
10 bombs into the area where
the enemy were forming up,
observing hits and forcing
them to scatter. From this
posn it could be seen that
the enemy were in larger
numbers than it was first
thought - estimated str 150.
Pte Powell then left to try
and contact Norfolk Coy,
the Arty officer to return
to his guns, the mortar being
put out of action before
leaving
Meanwhile the enemy
had made a determined
attack on the X rds posn
at at about 1645 hrs pushed
an M.G. section up the road
This section came under fire of
2 fwd sections of 9 Pl and
a number of casualties were
inflicted. The enemy section
made use of a drain on the
left hand side of the road
for their advance and were
thus screened from the fire
of most of 8 Section. Pte
Lamb he could not bring
fire to bear on enemy from
this position. On being ordered
to move his gun to a suitable
posn. Pte Lamb No 1 on
Bren Gun, showed great
bravery in crossing road
under enemy M.G. fire and
took up a new position on
right of road. He was
followed by Sec Comdr
Cpl R.R. Thomson and No 2
gunner Pte Minty A.R.
From this new posn using
the Bren Gun and Sec
Comdr Thomsons' T.S.M Gun
the enemy LMG was soon
put out of action. A number
of casualties inflicted and
the advance held up.
At approx 1730 hrs the
enemy started putting
mortar fire down on the
X rds and section posns, one
of the first two bombs scored
a direct hit on the reserve
section Pte Littlewood A.L
was killed, Pte Wright B.C.
and Pte Peeler A.L. wounded
and a few minutes later
Pte Sarknes W.A. was wounded
by another bomb.
It was apparent that the
position of 9 Pl was becoming
serious with a strength of
only xx 20 men, very little
rations and no reserve
ammn, so Lieut Ellerman
decided to withdraw,
according to a pre-arranged
plan, already made known
to all ranks before the
fighting started. This was
to withdraw to the higher
ground and then move
around to rear of 6 Norfolk
Bn posn and rejoin them
It was decided to send
the transport up along the
Yong Peng Road with the
3 Norfolk Carriers under
Lieut Evans.
Accordingly, the three trucks
were got ready and under
control of Sgt Lillie were
drawn up in shelter of
road bank. The 3 trucks
were came under enemy
fire in doing this, but
reached the posn where
the carriers were without
any casualties. The 3 trucks
came under enemy fire
in doing this were heavily
engaged by enemy fire in
the defile and great resource
and coolness was shown
by Sgt Lillie and 2 other
drivers in getting the
trucks safely through to Norfolk
Bn lines and eventually
to own "B" Echelon. One
truck alone, had 16 bullet holes
in it and another had the
radiator shot away.
Just prior to transport leaving
at about 1815 hrs Lieut
Ellerman called for 9 Sec
under Cpl Coridas to
commence to withdraw. This
was the section which had
lost 4 casualties from mortar
fire. Enemy mortar fire
became heavier as 7 & 8
sections withdrew and during
move up to higher ground
15 to 20 bombs fell around
the party at close quarters. The
time was then about 1830
hrs and light was commencing
to fail. As This fire may
have been light Arty.
During the withdrawal the
remainder of 9 Sec and some
of 7 Section became separated
from the main body and
this party. 9 in number
including 3 wounded
succeeded in reaching 6
Norfolk Bn next morning
Cpl Coridas took charge
of this party and showed
great bravery and leadership
of a high order in leading
this party and getting the
wounded safely to hospital.
Ptes Peeler and Wright were
previously wounded in the
legs and crawled or walked
with the assistance or were
carried for about 2 miles
during that night. When
they could go no further Cpl
Coridas halted his party
in the shelter of under growth
on the edge of the swamp
and at dawn the following
morning went forward a
further 2 miles, contacted
6 Norfolk Bn, obtained a
carrier and came back for
the wounded. The wounded
and other members of the party
were brought out safely by
Cpl Coridas despite the fact
that the carrier had to pass
through enemy fire in order
to reach the position where
the wounded had been left.
The wounded were evacuated
to Hospital and remainder
attached themselves to Norfolk
Bn eventually rejoining 9
Pl at G B D on 24/1/42.
19.1.42 Meanwhile the main
body 16 in number under
Lieut Ellerman reached the
high ground and commenced
to move back in an E direction
to rejoin Norfolk Bn. On
reaching high ground
where Norfolk Bns should
have been no-one could
be seen and it was evident
that posns had been abandoned
in some confusion to judge
from arms and gear scattered
about near the empty dug
in positions. One 2" mortar
complete with ammunition
was seen and put out
of action. The party then
moved back som 4/500x
in direction of Yong Peng
and signs could be seen
of enemy bombing and one
truck which had taken Padre
Macneil to 6 Norfolk Bn HQ
was lying ditched alongside
road.
It was decided to follow
the high ground for a further
3/400x and then cut
down towards the road.
This was done and as
the party approached the
road, they were fired on
by enemy SA Fire and
forced to withdraw. They
were aided by failing
light and withdrew out
of enemy range.
By 1900 hrs the party cut
the road leading to an
iron ore mine and continued
on until about 2200 hrs
still making in an E
direction. The going became
very heavy in matted
undergrowth and a halt
was made for the night.
20.1.42 The party continued
on at dawn. next morning.
Great difficulty was
experienced in maintaining
directions the Pl Comdrs
compass being affected by
the proximity of the Iron
Mine. Very soon the country
became very swampy with
heavy timber and tall
cactus palms. For the most
part, the water was 2' to 3'
deep and going was very
hard it being necessary
to cut a passage with a
parang for most of the
xxx journey.
The going became very
difficult indeed but
good progress was maintained
By 1600 hrs A/A firing could
be heard in the direction
of Yong Peng but still some
distance away. A very
uncomfortable night was
spent on some rising ground
in the centre of the swamp
area.
21.1.42. The party continued on
at dawn the next morning
Food had almost run out
and the only water obtainable
was from the swamp.
By 1600 hrs the party had
reached a Chinese shelter
on the fringe of the swamp.
Here they received biscuits
and fresh water from the
Chinese family which was
much appreciated.
Then guided by Chinese ½
a mile in towards road
and contacted Indian
troops in position 4 miles
from Yong Peng on Muar
Road.
From here transport was
secured on British Arty.
Truck to Yong Peng arriving
there at 1700 hrs.
21.1.42. Contact made with
2/29 Bn B Echelon then
at Coronation Estate.
Meanwhile party waited
near Yong Peng 2100
hrs Lieut Ellerman
in to Bde HQ. near Paloh.
2130 hrs party reached
Coronation Estate
22.1.42. 9 Pl party moved
to 22 Bde "B" Echelon near
Skudai
23.1.42 9 Pl party moved to
General Base Depot.
24.1.42. "A" Coy and 2/29
being reformed under
Major Hore 2 i/c 2/29 Bn
members of Cpl Coridas
party reformed 9 Pl at Base.
During the action at
Muar Batu Pahat X rds
it was estimated that 20
to 30 casualties were
inflicted on enemy of
which at least 8 killed.
Own casualties 4 viz-
1 killed, 3 wounded.
NIPPON GO
Vowel Sounds
A I E O U
Father meet men new moon
Ka Ki Ke Ko Ku
Men
Cow
[[Bn?]]
[[Bde?]]
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