D. J. Poulton 2020 | Ormeau | Queensland | Australia|
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DAVO’S HOME PAGE FOR
VIETNAM VETERANS
Despite
the
carnage
and
destruction
war
brings,
there
are
always
lighter
moments
we
never
forget.
Following
is
one
such
moment
from
many
that
I
can
remember.
I
hope
you get a giggle out of it as much as I did penning it.
"There she blows"
In October of 1967, I was ordered to take a drilling rig and crew to "The Horseshoe."
The mission: drill for water, establish a well and pump water to the 'grunts' stationed there.
We
knew
we
would
make
many
friends
with
this
venture
as
hot
running
showers
would
endear
us
forever to the infantry.
Our
drilling
rig
was
a
relic
from
the
Arc",
the
only
one
of
its
type
in-country,
and
the
crew
for
all
but
one
had
never
been
around
a
drilling
rig.
Somehow,
somewhere,
someone
managed
to
find
a
corporal
plant
operator
who
knew
how
to
operate
the
rig.
As
for
me,
I
was
a
Field
Engineer
Sergeant
and
drilling
was
not
my
cup-of-tea.
Anything
that
smelt
of
gun
powder,
Nitro,
PETN
was
a
real
turn
on
for
me.
I
was
into
mines,
booby
traps,
high
explosives,
demolitions
in
a
big
way.
That
was
my
area,
not
drilling
for
water.
Then
again,
I
thought,
they
may
strike
a
big
rock
and
then
I
will
be
like
the
proverbial
pig-in-mud,
break
out
the
ear-muff
charge
and
strut
my
stuff.
There
is
only
one
way
to
keep
a
powder
monkey
happy
my
friend, and its not using PE to boil your brew with (could tell you some funny stories about that).
We
arrived
at
'The
Horseshoe'
and
my
corporal
began
the
age
old
art
of
looking
for
water.
He
stood
in
the
paddy
and
surveyed
all
that
he
saw.
He
struck
the
ground
with
his
foot
and
said,
"Right
here
'Sarg'
will
do."
With
that
we
drove
in
a
peg
and
waited
for
the
arrival
of
all
our
equipment
by
Sky
Crane
-
"Albatross One."
The
peg
was
some
200
metres
south
west
of
'The
Horseshoe.'
We
were
literally
in
the
middle
of
a
rice
paddy
with
Dat
Do
in
distant
view.
Just
opposite
us
was
the
site
where
several
guys
from
the
Regiment
were
taken
out
in
their
Land
Rover
with
a
D10.
We
felt
uncomfortable
and
were
anxious
that
we
were
stuck
out
in
the
paddy
literally
as
targets
for
any
trigger
happy
VC
or
NVA
to
use
as
target
practice.
The
Sky
Crane
delivered
our
drilling
rig
along
with
a
KVA
and
ancillary
equipment.
It
was
a
rather
windy
arrival as I remember - down draught from the rotors was in excess of 120mph.
After
setting
out
the
drilling
site
I
wandered
up
to
the
'Shoe'
and
inquired
as
to
when
our
rifle
section
might
be
placed
on
the
ground
for
close
protection.
The
answer
was
a
bit
different
to
what
I
had
expected.
Our
close
protection
was
the
'Shoe'.
We
were
within
all
their
fire
zones,
under
surveillance
from
forward
pits
and
night
vision
equipment
would
take
care
of
the
rest.
If
a
fire
fight
broke
out,
we
were
to
retreat
to
the
'Shoe'
and
let
the
'grunts'
take
care
of
the
rest.
After
all,
they
had
the
high
ground
and
were
in
the
best
position
to
notice
any
pyjamas
in
the
paddy.
Having
sorted
all
that
out
it
was
to
work and finding the water table.
We
were
to
work
around
the
clock
in
shifts.
The
rig
was
set
up
complete
with
lights.
Whatever
cordial
relationships
we
had
developed
were
soon
lost
when
we
kicked
the
rig
into
operation.
Generator
noise
and
a
blaze
of
lights
rendered
the
infantry
both
blind
and
deaf
in
relation
to
our
position.
The
lights
rendered
the
night
vision
equipment
useless
and
the
generator
killed
their
ability
to
hear.
What
we
effectively
did
was
create
a
black
hole
that
they
couldn't
see
into.
Only
trouble
was
they
forgot
to
tell
us
immediately.
When
they
did,
we
were
too
far
into
the
operation
to
change
tactics.
It
was
a
real
catch
'22'. The rig looked like Luna Park on a balmy summers night.
Driving
a
drilling
rig
is
serious
stuff.
It
requires
good
reflexes,
a
sense
of
touch
coupled
with
great
coordination.
The
drilling
stem
is
raised
and
lowered
by
a
clutch
assembly.
The
idea
is
to
hold
the
stem
and
operate
the
clutch
by
touch.
A
seasoned
operator
makes
it
look
easy
but
for
a
novice,
well...
My
corporal
made
it
look
like
child's
play
and
turned
it
into
an
art
form.
The
crew
was
impressed.
Anyway,
I
demanded
that
I
try
what
appeared
to
be
an
easy
task.
After
all,
how
hard
could
it
be
to
raise
and
lower
a
drill
stem.
"She'll
be
right
corp",
I
said.
"It
won't
take
long
to
master
this
baby."
After
some
verbal
instructions it was time for the big test.
The
corporal
decided
that
he
should
guide
the
stem
for
the
first
few
minutes
and
after
I
got
the
hang
of
it
he
would
toddle
off
for
a
brew.
The
clutch
was
disengaged
and
I
slowly
engaged
the
clutch
to
raise
the
stem.
Up
she
came
and
took
the
corporal
at
lightening
speed
to
the
top
of
the
drilling
rig.
Having
arrived
at
the
top
he
was
then
catapulted
to
ground
zero
with
equal
lightening
speed.
Amidst
his
cries
and
blasphemies
he
was
taken
even
quicker
to
the
top
and
spat
out
into
the
rice
paddy.
One
of
my
sappers
scored
him
a
9.6
for
his
dive.
The
highest
ever
awarded
off
a
water
drilling
rig.
What
a
ride!
He
picked
himself
up,
dusted
himself
off
and
promptly
used
some
expletives
to
tell
me
where
to
go.
I
and
the
others
by
this
stage
were
in
fits
of
laughter.
Fair
dinkum,
it
was
the
funniest
thing
I'd
seen.
If
there
were
any
VC
watching
and
had
any
idea
of
taking
us
on
it
was
soon
dispensed
with
amidst
our
antics.
I
decided
discretion
was
greater
than
another
attempt
at
the
drill
stem
and
crept
off
into
the
night
to
retire. I slid into my bag and spent the night with the biggest, blackest, ugliest scorpion known to man.
Fortunately
for
me
I
was
unaware
of
my
overnight
visitor
until
I
heard
the
soft
whisper
of
my
corporal
bringing
me
back
to
reality,
"Sarg,
wake
up
-
don't
move
a
muscle,
don't
even
breathe."
With
that
I
opened
my
eyes
to
see
the
butt
of
his
SLR
coming
at
me.
Before
I
could
flinch
he
had
knocked
this
visitor
off
my
shoulder
and
extended
it's
overall
length
by
about
three
inches.
I
was
left
with
a
nice
bruise
to
which
my
corporal
said,
"We
are
even
Sarg."
He
smiled
and
went
back
to
doing
what
he
does
best, drilling. Oh, by the way, the nasty measured 8" across the claws, outside to outside.
I
pondered
on
the
night
and
came
to
the
conclusion
that
I
should
stick
to
field
engineering
and
leave
the
operation
of
drilling
rigs
to
the
pro's.
I
never
found
out
if
the
grunts
had
ever
witnessed
our
little
incident.
I
suspect
that
they
did
from
some
of
the
comments
we
got
over
the
radio.
Oh,
by
the
way,
we
hit
the
water
table,
capped
the
well
and
set
the
pump
for
the
'Shoe.'
We
toddled
off
and
left
the
plumbing
to
others.
When
the
water
flowed
freely,
all
was
forgotten
and
forgiven
and
we
were
able
to
crack
a
laugh
over
the
whole
incident.
I
found
out
later
that
the
grunts
were
witness
to
the
whole thing. So be it! At least they had hot running water at the ‘Shoe’,
AWM Accession No:
CAM/67/0269/VN
Description:
South
Vietnam
1967.
Sappers
from
the
17th
Construction
Squadron,
Royal
Australia
Engineers
(RAE)
drill
for
water
at
the
Horseshoe,
an
extinct
100ft
volcano
which
has
been
heavily
fortified,
east
of
the
1st
Australian
Task
Force
(1ATF)
headquarters
at
Nui
Dat,
in
Phuc
Tuy
Province.
Here
they
operate
the
only
drilling
rig
of
its
type
used
by military units in Vietnam.
PS:
That's
me
standing
on
platform
(right)
holding rope and looking down.
go to top of page
Sky High at the Shoe