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Cap Mandrake -> Contact (9/4/2006 2:52:54 AM)
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quote:
Dec 29...Our expedition reached a literal and figurative turning point today. After an all night march, save for a two hour respite at 2 AM, my squad, which was in the van, rounded a bend in the trail and chanced upon a beautiful mountain stream with clear running water. Imprudently, we rushed to the stream to take a drink and wash our faces. As we enjoyed the cool water, Private Jones suddenly stood upright, then assumed a half crouch. To our left, not 15 yds distant, were two well-tanned orientals wearing nothing but loincloths, standing thigh deep in the stream. Our indecision evaporated when the unlucky Private Jones, a father of two, was shot through the heart by a third, unseen member of their party. We scrambled for our weapons, returning fire and killing the two bathers. If the third member fired a second shot we did not hear it. This is how the war began for me. Everything before, which had seemed such a hardship, was now relegated to clinical sterility. Here, three men had lost heir lives merely to fulfill a biological need. As we dragged the lifeless Private Jones back up the trail, we were greeted by the Captain with his field glasses. In the valley below us was the macadamized East-West road to Johore Bahru. Upon it were perhaps 100 Japanese vehicles, many towing large caliber artillery moving, with no apparent urgency, to the West. This was not the tip of the Japanese spear. This was the tail. To our West were steeply sided ridges marching away into the mist, demarcating tributaries feeding into the river that coursed along the road. The terrain was imapssable. We were too late. Commonwealth forces had been driven out. "God help us", said one of the party. "There will be none of that!", the Captained scowled "Back up the trail, the lot of you, now.".
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