Ray Hall's Story

Leong Nok Tha

I flew into Bangkok and on to Ubon. I suppose my Op Crown experience started with the drive from Ubon to CRE Crown over what can only be described as a track with an undulating ridged surface, which literally shook the vehicles and occupants to pieces unless they reached the optimum speed to ride the bumps. Going over rickety precarious wooden bridges was an experience in itself. At the end of the torment was a shanty shack village, with a track leading to the camp in all its glory. The luxury that awaited us was corrugated tin sheeted huts with fold up metal sides, folded up to allow air to circulate through the buildings, much needed because of the intense heat. The toilet blocks, long planks of wood with circular holes cut in along the length of them, perched over deep pits with pit vipers and banded krate, to name a few of the occupants keeping you company. Quite a culture shock to be reading the newspaper or passing the toilet roll to the occupant of the next seat be it male or female! The dining block was adequate, unfortunately the food was barely palatable, however I could not eat green runner beans for 20 years after. I think we had them with everything. I remember on one occasion one of the Royal Engineer’s coming off a long shift walking in collecting his plate full, walking a few paces, looking at the plate and promptly booting it into the overhead ceiling fan. I lost two stone in six months!

Route 212 circa 1960's
"On the plus side we had Radio Crown, a much needed morale booster run by a Captain RE, with quiz nights, requests etc . The signature tune was a piece of classical music very haunting I never did find out who the composer was or what the piece of music was called. The Comms shack was small very hot. Inside was a Radio, morse key, Enigma Coding machine ( I did not realise the significance of the machine until much later) and also an air conditioned highly classified coding unit ( I never got to see any details as my security clearance at that time was not high enough). Joe O’Regan was detachment commander with Paddy King and myself Ops. Michael Stevenson as the Radio Tech. communications was morse code back to Singapore and to a unit in Malaya callsign MUT2. Comms generally were quite good apart from some very heavy jamming occasionally, probably Laos or Vietnam being responsible. Because the Vietnam War was in full swing, we had the occasional Buzzing by USAF fighters probably after successful missions. I find it quite amazing that Thailand has never been recognised as a key strategic USAF base particularly Korat during the Vietnam conflict. (Quite by chance I bumped into the pearl handled, revolver toting Colonel of the 101st Air Cavalry depicted in the ‘Apocalypse Now ‘ movie, whilst I was at the Korat air base in 1968.) I will forever be grateful to the USAF for landing a Caribou on the dirt track carrying chilled fresh milk, the stampede with pint glasses was something to behold, I have never had milk which tasted so good from that day to this, PURE NECTAR! Village life, every other shack was a bar playing Beatles songs constantly (thanks to the electricity generated by the RE’s).The local hooch was at a later date analysed as poison, which may account for the bodies appearing to have rigor mortis when lifted onto transport at closing time, to be dumped off at camp. Luckily I stuck to the San Miguel. Nids bar (prapainid wong chalee) was the perfect English speaking schoolteacher or so she claimed. What was a fluent highly intelligent woman doing out in a remote village? She must have been planted by the Thai security Services, however, she was the downfall of Paddy King, he began a liason with her and made the mistake of asking the Army permission to marry her, he was within days on his way back to BAOR. Quite by accident sometime in 1968 in the UK I was listening to very early morning radio and the Jack De’Maneo show was on he was broadcasting from a place called Leong Nok Tha and stated that the British Army were leaving Thailand that day after completing an airfield construction project. He introduced 'Nid', she sang ‘Early one morning just as the sun was rising, I heard a pretty maid sing in the valley below’ in perfect English and beautifully sang. Who taught her an old English classic like that? Finally, I don’t know how many lost their lives doing the project but Sapper Box comes to mind, the communications between the UK and us were plentiful, I heard various explanations as to how he very sadly lost his life but I do know that The Pathet Laos came through the village on 2 occasions whilst I was there. I was warned by the villagers not to break curfew on those nights but the folly of youth took over. I hope my memory served me well, no doubt if I got anything wrong I will be reminded.
Cheers,
Ray Hall
249 Signal Squadron Singapore 1965-1968