Post by Diarist on Dec 24, 2015 18:36:40 GMT 1
Today was my first combat jump and it was unopposed. It was a cloudless night with an almost full moon so visibility was great. This allowed us to move our assault forward so we landed at 05:30 which is about an hour and a half before sunrise. We landed nearer to the airfield than planned probably because the wind wasn't as strong as forecast. The airfield itself was deserted but there were 4 biplanes parked next to the runway. We left a section in the control tower then inspected the buildings. We found all kinds of supplies, weapons and ammunition so we decided to upgrade our weaponry.
I knew that the bulk of the 6th Black Watch Regiment had crossed the border at 02:00 so it would be a couple of hours before they arrived. We had radioed to Kassala that the airport was in our hands and shortly after 06:00 six Valentias landed with a company of Black Watch personnel. I briefed the battalion commander of the situation in Tesseney explaining that we had occupied buildings to the north-east of the village with Bren LMG's covering our flanks. As if planned a fire-fight erupted in Tesseney. The noise of the aircraft landing had alerted the local garrison force. (Most of the troops had been sent south to the Abyssinian border and were engaged in a rear-guard action). The fighting only lasted 10 minutes and Black Watch battalion arrived just in time to enjoy the sunrise. Apart from a few sprained ankles received during the parachute jump our platoon had no casualties.
Everything had gone well but I did get a little annoyed. First I saw Erwin with the Black Watch battalion. He was not supposed to be here and I told him that before I hugged him. Then one of the co-pilots was Prince Edward. I shook my head and commented that it wasn't a party here. He'd brought my orders and for the platoon - we had to report to Combined Operations HQ at Alexandria within 48 hours. The 154th Brigade HQ had now arrived and I briefed Brigadier Fortune and showed him my orders. The 6th Black Watch had set up a perimeter south of Tesseney and was sporadically engaged with Askaris retreating from the front. RAF Harts were attacking the columns.
By lunchtime we had collected our chutes and were waiting for a plane to fly us to Khartoum. I've had some food and found time to write in my diary.
I knew that the bulk of the 6th Black Watch Regiment had crossed the border at 02:00 so it would be a couple of hours before they arrived. We had radioed to Kassala that the airport was in our hands and shortly after 06:00 six Valentias landed with a company of Black Watch personnel. I briefed the battalion commander of the situation in Tesseney explaining that we had occupied buildings to the north-east of the village with Bren LMG's covering our flanks. As if planned a fire-fight erupted in Tesseney. The noise of the aircraft landing had alerted the local garrison force. (Most of the troops had been sent south to the Abyssinian border and were engaged in a rear-guard action). The fighting only lasted 10 minutes and Black Watch battalion arrived just in time to enjoy the sunrise. Apart from a few sprained ankles received during the parachute jump our platoon had no casualties.
Everything had gone well but I did get a little annoyed. First I saw Erwin with the Black Watch battalion. He was not supposed to be here and I told him that before I hugged him. Then one of the co-pilots was Prince Edward. I shook my head and commented that it wasn't a party here. He'd brought my orders and for the platoon - we had to report to Combined Operations HQ at Alexandria within 48 hours. The 154th Brigade HQ had now arrived and I briefed Brigadier Fortune and showed him my orders. The 6th Black Watch had set up a perimeter south of Tesseney and was sporadically engaged with Askaris retreating from the front. RAF Harts were attacking the columns.
By lunchtime we had collected our chutes and were waiting for a plane to fly us to Khartoum. I've had some food and found time to write in my diary.