

© By Barrie Taylor
C Coy
2nd Tour |
 |
As you know the
Aussie soldier finds humour even through
disaster. Forty years has passed, names of
many survivors cannot be remembered but the
nick names and stories remain vivid.
I recall one of the few days we were back in
'The Dat' for a couple of days. We weren't
allowed to have booze in the tent lines. The
old trick of survival was immediately put
into action. We need something to cool our
booze and the plan to stop the Ice truck as
it went through the company circle was put
into action. We send one 'dig' to chat and
delay the driver of the ice truck as we
ripped two blocks of ice off the back and
straight into the Tent Line. Slabs of booze
purchased the night before went straight
into two Hot box's pinched from the camp
kitchen converted to Ice box's which we
buried under the board walk though the
centre of the tent.
A few hours later we are into
the chilled cans and playing cards when all of a sudden an incoming mortar
from the local VC comes in very close to our tent line. Within a minute
Lieutenant Mead comes steaming through the tent with one foot straight into
the Esky and at the same time commanding every man to the perimeter and
stand to positions. Mead gives 'Snow' (His HQ Radio Operator) a 'burst' to
meet him down at 7 Platoon HQ bunker. Well Snow takes off like a greyhound
with the radio swinging off his back. As we take off after him, Snow
disappears in front of our eyes—Yep straight down the old 44 gallon
'pisser!' (urinal). I dragged him out, (Phew) and last saw Snow heading down
to the HQ bunker. After a short period we were given the OK to stand down
and back to the lines. On my way back to our lines I passed the HQ bunker
seeing Snow sitting outside the entrance, "Mate what are you doing out
here". Good old 'Meadie' had given Snow the flick out of the bunker. He
stank! Poor bugger spent the whole stand-to outside the Bunker. We then
return to the lines and back into the cans. Well, we soon flicked Snow out
of our tent lines telling him to go and have a shower. Five minutes later he
returns to tell us the toilet & shower block were gone—direct hit by the
mortar. (I slept well after knowing that that, was their best shot). Poor
Snow had a very lonely night. Meadie never mentioned the missing Ice boxes,
and the daily decoy of delaying the ice truck leaving Charlie Company
continued.
TALES FROM
THE TIGER
|
CONTENTS PAGE
|