GLOWING SUCCESS By Jeremy Scamp, A Coy 8/9 RAR
In the early ’90s, I was with A Coy 8/9 RAR on a trip to RCB. We were in Borneo doing some jungle training. We had a night platoon ambush one night and were off doing the recon for it.
As usual, we pulled up short of the likely ambush area, and the Platoon Commander, Campbell Paine, took his recon party in with him to have a look.
When they returned, one of the diggers, Paul Meagher, in the recon party had a shit-eatin’ grin on his face, and an illumination stick in his hand with the end cut off. On asking him what the grin was about, he said we would find out that night.
That night, walking into the ambush, the anticipation was high. Ambush was set, and we waited as that typical jungle blackout set in. The night was different on that day; there was a glow from the Platoon Commander, Lt Paine. His whole back was lit up like a Christmas tree.
Earlier in the day, while walking in on the ambush recon, Paul Meagher had emptied the entire contents of the illume stick on Lt Paine’s back, flicking it on as he walked – a typical Meags prank…
