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

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 Anuyn 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 have

been taken away by the

Malay into the jungle. All

hands then set to work on

the building of a raft, with

exception of 9 [[Sect?]] 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

[[thro?]] 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 and shoes

for the men who had lost

their boots. Also this same Malay

guided the party "down 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 Bores. Meanwhile, members

of the patrol were given a meal

and well looked after by

2/26 Bn. Posns of [[1 just?]]

section 2 A/A guns 1 Lt Arty

Gun and 1 O.P. posn were

pin pointed on map to 2/26

Bn 1 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

[[?]] 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 tracks

colliding Pte Rowbottom

received injuries to his ribs

and went to nearest R.A.P.

9 Platoon -Muar Rd
18.1.42. Refilling at “B” Echelon

Sagamat 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

2/09 Bn.

19.1.42. At 0700 hrs message received

from Maj [[Olliff?]] comd 2/29 Bn

asking if 9 Pl were sufficiently

ready 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 [[Lellie?]] 1/[[?]]

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 Armed 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. [[Sebiour?]] to Bn

"B" Ech. and then to be passed

on to Opn HQ so they would

know the posn.

Meanwhile 9Pl took up a def

posn at 85 mile peg at a bend

in the road. Leaving Sgt

Holmes[[Yc?]] 9Pl  Lieut Ellerman

went fwd in one truck

contacted 1Pl 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 

[[Baycomd?]] Norfolks. Lieut Ellerman

decided to take up a def posn

astride the crossroads. Padre 

Macneil and Bateman [[?]]

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 9Pl

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.

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 9Pl in defence of

X rds. Bren M. Guns were dismounted

from Carriers and disposed

around X roads also A/2k Rifle

Just as the 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 their on a

general attack developed at what

was thought to be the centre of

6 Norfolk's position. 9Pl was

able to engage some of the

enemy to the left flank and

one Norfolk Bren MGun

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 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 4

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

1/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

[[Pl?]] 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 [[?]] 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 Pt 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 

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

positions 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 Rod 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 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 16 

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 [[simply?]] dug

in positions. One 2" mortar

complete with ammunition

was seen and put out

of action. The party then

moved back [[som?]] 4/5 [[?]]

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

3/400 x and then cut

down towards the road.

This was done and as 

the party approached the

road, they were fired on

by enemy SAFire 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 Brighton 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 Bn "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 21/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 [[reg?]]

1 killed, 3 wounded.

NIPPON GO

Vowel Sounds

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Father                 meet        men        few           moon

Ka                           Ki              Ke         Ko               Ku

 

men

Coo

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