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Wynnum High and Intel-mediate School Page 89

"Bang ! Bang ! Burp ..Went the Vickers
A characteristic of a Cadet Camp is that the knowledge obtained
during the year is put into practice at that camp, and so towards this
end, a full scale exercise was planned, and finally, at 1500 hours on
Monday, August 11, 1958, a highly trained platoon of second year
cadets from our Unit crossed the start-line and began the capture of
Gravel Knoll, amid a hail of small arms fire and smoke grenades, and
so the climax of four days’ hard work was reached.
It all began on Friday, August 8, when two of our transport trucks
were ambushed on a bridge which we will henceforth call Ambush
Bridge (Map Reference 128612 for those who know). This was our first
contact with the “enemy” as we advanced westward. Naturally, we now
realised that we were entering dangerous territory and so the wheels
of that magnificent organisation the Intelligence Section, were set in
action.
During the next two days reconnaissance patrols were sent out, and
by probing hither and thither they established the fact that an enemy
force of approximately one section was situated at the top of Gravel
Knoll, one of the outstanding features of the area, and was possibly
using it as an observation post. As the information was returned to
Coy. H.Q. at 130610, the remainder of the Intelligence Section built a
cloth model of the Gravel Knoll area, and recorded on it the information
as it arrived.
By so doing, a complete third dimensional picture of the area was
obtained, and it became easy for the order of battle to be worked out.
It was obvious that some form of supporting fire had to be obtained,
and so the help of the mortars at H.Q. was enlisted to bombard the
knoll before the attack, and Sgt. Lindley with his Vickers M.G. Section
were to go out to the left of the attack to Left Road, for by so doing
they could fire on the hill at right angles to the main attack, and, as
the safety angle of a Vickers M.G. is 3 degrees they could keep firing
right until our own troops were on top of the enemy. Also, it was
decided that after the attack the Vickers be shifted 6 degrees left to
catch enemy stragglers as they fled.
And so, at 1300 hours on Monday, the 11th, everything was in
preparation for the attack. The Intelligence Officer briefed the section
leaders regarding topographical detail and the enemy situation, and the
platoon commander U./O. Kydd briefed them on the procedure of the
attack. The section leaders in turn briefed their sections, and so at
the correct hour, the platoon set out in tactical formation on the two
mile trek to the assembly area on Right Road, about 300 yards from
the top of Gravel Knoll.
The movement to the assembly area was no picnic. It involved most
careful movement as we had no idea of what enemy patrols might be
in the area, and, as roads were dangerous, we had to move through thick
bush. Oxley Creek presented a nasty obstacle. We dared not use the
bridge for fear that it had been mined or zeroed for mortar fire, so
the party crossed the creek to the right of the bridge, a section at a
time; the Bren Group covering the remainder of the section as they
crossed, while the remainder covered the Bren Group while they crossed.
The same covering action was employed when we crossed the dangerous
junction of Left, Right and Entrance Roads. Finally, however, all
sections had crossed and proceeded to the assembly area. At this stage
there was a bare 300 yards between U3 and the enemy, the first half of
which was bush, and the remainder open. From now on, silence reigned
supreme. The sections crawled up to the FUP, three huge ironbarks,
until a quarter of an hour before H-hour (1500) and spread out in
extended line formation.