Ken Jackman: A Military History
(Updated 21 January 2013)
Medals awarded
D.C.M.
War Medal
GSM With Bars - Palestine and Malaya
GSM Borneo
Brunei - Pingat Omar Ali Saifuddin
(contains links to external websites)
I enlisted in Kingston Surrey into the Royal Scots on 9 April 1945 because we had family connections there. Put up my age by a few months to get in. I was allocated the number 14463612.
Basic training
I did 6 weeks basic training at Maryhill Bks Glasgow followed by 12 weeks Corps training at Dreghorn Bks Edinburgh.
Maryhill Bks was at that time the basic training centre for all Scottish
regiments. It was staffed by both Lowland and
Corps training was where you learnt your trade as an infantryman. We trained
in rifle, bayonet, grenades, LMG, Piat anti
tank, field craft and drill. Spent a lot of time on the ranges and fired all
the weapons, as well as toughening up with route marches etc.
Commandos
I volunteered and was accepted for commandos, and with my good mate Jimmy
McIntyre, started training at Wrexham North Wales. I had just completed training when the
powers that be decided to disband the Army Commandos.
The training left a lasting impression on me, in that, when you think you’re
knackered, you still have plenty left, and that unit pride will pull you through.
2nd Bn Royal Scots
In February 1946 I was posted to the Middle East and joined 2nd Bn Royal
Scots serving in
In December 1946 we were posted to
June 1947. Posted to
December 1948. 2nd Bn Royal Scots posted to the
Promotion
I was promoted from Sgt to Colour Sgt for the day and carried the
Battalion’s Colours at the ceremony. Then posted to Dunbar Bks where I met future
wife. Dunbar Barracks at that time was a holding company for lost souls. (Dunbar Bks is in
the town of
Then posted to RMA Sandhurst. I was told this was a great honour but I didn't enjoy it
too much as we were just a glorified Demo Squad!!
1st Bn Cameronians
In November 1949 posted to 1st Bn Cameronians in Trieste. Yes same
barracks. I felt right at home as the 2nd Bn Scots transferred a substantial number of
NCOs and men to 1 Cameronians, so yes I knew more folk in the 1st Bn Cameronians than I
did in the Royal Scots.
December 1949. Bn Posted to Hong Kong in the troopship “
Malaya
I was on the advance party contact group with Major P.K. Bryceson to join up
with the 1st Bn Seaforths at Lenga.
Spent until September 1952 jungle bashing and ambushing. B Company had the most kills, and
5 Platoon had the best score in the company.
Throughout this period, although I wore the Cameronian uniform and cap badge
even though my parent Regiment was still the Royal Scots. To confuse matters more, my DCM
is stamped as 14463612 Sgt K Jackman Cameronians, as that was the unit in which I was
serving when the action for which I was awarded the DCM
took place. Then, it was quite normal for personnel to serve in all units of the Lowland
Brigade and re-badge as required
The Bn moved down to
We were lucky here and notched a few kills, then the powers that be decided
to detach B Coy to Selangor State
to cover the Suffolks
area again we were lucky here and got a couple of kills.
After about 3 months we rejoined the Bn and set up camp at a place called Jementah about 10 miles south of Segamat. Again we were lucky here:
we had info that a group was to meet tappers in an estate, so we set up a series of stop
ambushes. We had just settled in when firing broke out down the hill. We lay dogo, and up
the hill came this poor soul absolutely knackered and rested against a rubber tree about
15 yards from our ambush position, presenting a nice still target. He was sent to his
maker and we found out we had got a Branch Committee Member of the MRLA and our other
group had got his escort. As we were packing them on the truck bonnet to take to the
Police station, the C in C, General Templar drove up and gave us all a pat on the back. Major PK Bryceson who was with us, was chuffed no end.
A few days later we got more information (success and rewards for the informers always opens the information gates and Major Bryceson was a past master in exploiting our successes) that a group was going to make a supply lift from a protected village. I was given the ambush job and split my party into 2 groups. One party under Cpl Smith I dispatched to a position down the track at a junction of the track that led to the village. This junction led to Mt Ophir. It was a nice wide grass track that would be easy to traverse in moonlight. We set up the ambush, and after about half an hour, a bunch of CTs turned up. We held fire to point blank range and killed four of them. The body of one of those killed bounced off the barrel of the Bren Gun - that's point blank range!!. Hope this does not sound too boastful but it is as happened, and you must remember for every success there are days on end of tension and getting eaten alive with mozzies etc., and not much to show for it.
One of the most amusing anecdotes was the time the Colour Sgt of C Company stationed at Craigie Lea estate had a problem with the deep bore latrines, and being an ex Pioneer Pln Sgt, decided he would solve the problem by dropping some plastic explosive down the bore to enlarge the storing capacity - the result being a shower of faeces and toilet paper dripping from the trees for weeks and putting Craigie Lea camp off limits for visitors, and bringing back memories of the Kowloon vegetable gardens as well as a smile to all who heard about it !!
I was awarded the DCM for an action you already know about. My most vivid
recollections of
The other time was when Dinger Bell, my leading scout challenged a Communist
Terrorist (CT) on a track we were moving along. The CT promptly shot Dinger in the
shoulder. I fired a burst at the CT and kicked Dinger off the track. The CT and I
exchanged shots at about 3 metre range. I couldn’t see him all; I could see was the
smoke coming off his over-oiled Sten gun. Then big Bob Inglis, my Bren gunner (who used a
hundred round pan magazine on his gun) let fly down the track. When some semblance of
order returned, we search around and found a Boy Scout belt with the buckle shot away and
a magazine holder attached. So I think I hit him ok, but on the follow-up they got away.
Back to UK
In september 1952 I returned to UK for demobilization at the end of disembarkation leave etc, During this time I attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace and was presented with my DCM by her majesty the Queen.
After discussions with my wife-to-be, it was agreed that I would re enlist,
which I did on the 29 December 1953 and I formally re-enlisted as a Cameronian in December
1953.
Winston Bks
As a Cameronian I commenced duties at the Depot (Winston Bks) as a recruit training Sgt. During this period I sat the various exams to gain my first class education certificate in order to qualify for promotion down the track. Now, being a married man, I had a family to consider.
Malaya Again
In February 1955 I was posted to 1st Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF) in Kroh Malaya on the Thai border. The emergency was winding down at this time and negotiations were opened with Chin Peng the commander of the Malay Peoples Liberation Army at Baling - which failed. Under the agreement, he was given a parole period to return to his base in deep jungle. 1 RSF was given the task of going after him, but after thrashing around the border area for about a month no sign was found of him. (remember this man had been fighting an undercover war since the Japanese invasion - he was no amateur!!).
Whilst based in Kroh and operating in the border area, the group I was with stumbled on a crashed Liberator bomber. It had crashed while dropping supplies, possibly Chin Pengs anti Japanese forces during the war. It was packed with ammunition, guns, medical supplies etc most of which was still servicable. A LZ was cut and blasted and RAF teams came in by chopper to identify and remove the ammo etc (what a change from 1950!!!).
The Bn then moved down to IPOH and I was promoted to Colour Sgt. and given command of the IBAN Platoon (Natives of Sarawak ex head hunters and those from the deep jungle longhouses excellent trackers) We would do follow-ups on contacts, and also deep patrols the Ibans could operate without airdrop sups for up to amonth partialy living off the land (British troops could go maybe ten days and then require airdrops which gave away there position).
Back to UK again
1 Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF) returned to UK by troopship. At this time the Suez canal was closed so we took the long way round the Cape, and due to the Asian Flu outbreak, our first and only landfall was Capetown. The South Africans gave us a terific reception. The hospitality knew no bounds. The families going ashore on shopping sprees and the troops taken off to farms etc, to return with mighty sore heads from the Cape Brandy. We only had one absentee, strangly enough, a coloured lad from Glasgow !! on arrival in UK we were sent off on leave, and returned at the end of leave to Shornecliffe Bks which dated back to the Napoleonic wars. The Asian Flu was still raging through UK and we were sent off in the middle of winter to exercises on Salisbury Plain, a realy good wake up from the balmy Far East !!
Kenya
In December 1957 I returned to the Cameronians at Winston Bks and was then posted to 1 Cameronians in Kenya at Gil Gil. What great country Kenya is, up in the highlands the air and visibility is crystal clear and game was everywhere. At this time the main group of the Bn was in Oman or Sharjah, and we at Gil Gil were in a training and reserve role. After about 3 months the Bn was once again together again at Muthaiga camp outside Nairobi. I was promoted to WOII and given B Coy with Major Lesley Dow commanding. We both got on well as he was the Signals Pln Commander in Hong Kong. B Coy at this time had a chequered reputation but we worked at it and won most of the Bn sports and shooting trophies. Wee Jimmy Ritchie MM was RSM. We had been at the Depot together in 1953/55, so I was back home again. In august 1958 my youngest son was born in the ambulance on the way to hospital: I was the midwife and on arrival at the hospital. The doctor reported mother and child doing well father suffering from shock, he was not wrong.
Jordan
At this time the King of Jordan was under threat from the military within his own army. The British Govt dispatched two Bns of Paras and 1 Cameronians to Jordan where we remained for 3 months until the armoured arm of the Jordanian Army (the armoured and support elements of the Jordan Forces were mainly of Palestinian origin and suspected of disloyalty the infantry and camel corps were mainly bedouin and loyal to the king) had run out of supplies and also having seen demos of our fire power by land and air were no longer a threat. The Bn reurned to Nairobi in November 1958 where it remained until returning to UK in March 1960. In May 1960 the Bn redeployed to Minden Germany.
Minden
In May 1960, 1 Cameronians were posted to BAOR and stationed at Minden Westphalia in Elizabeth Bks. The Bn soon settled in, and training in conventional warfare commenced (at that time 1 year was given to conventional warfare and the next year to atomic warfare) exercises were held at Sennelager in the old Wermacht training areas.
You soon understood how the Germans took on half the world and almost won !! There, the training areas were superb, and field ranges that were designed in the 1930s era were of a calibre that we were only just coming to grips with.
Social activities were good and the Sgts Mess again became the Sunday Church service venue. The Church service started at 0900 hrs and finished at 1000 hrs with the Military Band switching from hymn time to swing time and curried tiffen served at lunch. During our time in Germany we visited the site of the Belsen concentration camp: a really chilling experience, even the birds didn't seem to sing in this place of horror.
Winston Bks again
In February of 1962 I was posted to Winston Bks as training Company Sgt Major (CSM). At this time it was the combined depot for Cameronians and Royal Highland Fusiliers. Major John Baynes was CO and Harry Hutchinson was RSM. Harry was another ex Royal Scot now RHF and was my company Sgt Major with 1 RSF in Malaya. I remained as training CSM for about 18 months and during that time trained up the shooting team for two seasons with some good success.
Brunei
In June 1964 I requested a posting to the Sultan of Brunei Forces, which was granted, and I was posted to Brunei on the 17th June 1964. At this time the confrontation with Indonesia was going on and insurgents in Brunei had attempted to overthrow the Sultan. The British flew in Gurkhas and the insurgency was broken but the situation was still tense. There was a British Brigade and an Australian SAS unit stationed in Brunei. I was allocated Training Company and we virtualy started from scratch having to write training manuals and build our weapon ranges ourselves. The great thing was that money was no problem: what we requested we got, with a minimum of red tape, as the Sultan was a great supporter of the ASKAR MELAYU DI RAJA, his Regiments name.
My family joined me after about two months and we had a very nice bungalow overlooking the South China Sea. The Sultan gave us an allowance for the equivalent of a first class airfare to Hong Kong for the whole family every year and an interest free loan to buy a car. I served in Brunei until July 1967. I learnt Malay and had over 500 recruits pass through my hands who were taught rifle, grenades, the German MG 42, drill discipline, jungle warfare, the Swedish Carl Gustav in anti personnel, anti tank roles and house breaking roles. I never enjoyed my self a much. At the end of my service with the Sultan I was awarded the Pingat Omar Ali Saifuddin which is the Brunei BEM.
Discharge
I returned to UK in July 1967. Did a civil training course prior to discharge and was discharged on the 31 August 1967 having served 22 years and 145 days with the colours.
Australia
Flew straight out to Australia where I knocked about at various jobs for 4 months (my wife was panicking that I wouldn't settle down). I got a loan from the Commonwealth Bank and built a house in Kwinana, an industrial town in Western Australia and settled into a job with the Aluminium Company of America at the Kwinana Refinery. After 8 months I was made shift foreman on the staff. I stayed in this job for 18 years and retired (in Australia an ex-serviceman gets the pension at 55yrs of age) and was asked to go to Portland Victoria to assist in the start-up and training of a labour force under contract. This was very lucrative and allowed my retirement investments to develop, as housing and cars were supplied by company and the pay was very good.
After two years we decided we wanted to go back to Kwinana with our family (by this time we had four grand children), so back we went to Kwinana. I got myself a caravan and we toured around the country with our little Staffy Terrier and also got involved in the local environment. As a result, I ran for the Council and got elected, and was again re-elected over 18 years and ended up the Mayor of our town, which by the way is now a city.
Retirement
We now have seven Grandchildren and 3 1/2 great grand children. I have had a triple bypass and 2 years ago, a ten-hour operation to cut out cancer from most of my lower regions and have two bags now which is not so bad I don't have to get up for the toilet at night!!
The end - (so far)
Other external links of interest
Return
of Cameronians from Malaya
(Glasgow Herald Newspaper report)
(Glasgow Herald Newspaper report)
www.britishpathe.com/video/jungle-raid-in-malaya
www.britains-smallwars.com/malaya/ROH/Cameronians.htm
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205127181
http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=661 (search for Jackman)
