The first 11 Ind Fd Sqn sappers on the ground in Thailand were the advance recce party. Early in December 1963 the OC informed them that he, the Troop Officer and a small section of 1 Troop would be departing in the next couple of days, to do a recce for the start of 'Operation Crown' in the north east of Thailand. From L/R Dave Mears, Kenny Williams, Colin Guy, Rodgers, Brummie Gee, Ferny Tout, Ron Heaton, Brummie Fogerty, Lt. Caddy.

They drove from Malaya to Singapore, loading two Land Rovers and trailers on to a Beverley Aircraft then flew to Ubon. They stayed in the RAAF base and once organised started on recce's around the north eastern half of Thailand. Their job was to check all roads, culverts and bridges and anything else that might impede the movement of heavy plant to its destination of Kok Talat, along a very dusty and primitive road system. Pix right, Dave Mears stoops to repair a blown tyre.

On Dec 26th 1963 in the late evening, the 11 Indep Sqn RE advance party, including 9 members of 2 Troop RAE, left Terendak with vehicles and Plant heading for Singapore, to board the Maxwell Brander a 4255 ton LST. The ship sailed for Bangkok with no radar, hugging the coast at a speed of 6 knots, making a long and tiresome journey. The plant & vehicles were off-loaded at Bangkok Docks and transported by train to Ubon. They stayed at the RAAF base whilst in Ubon.

On New Years Eve 1963 the 11 Ind Fd Sqn advance party (not to be confused with the Recce party), drove from Ubon to Ban Kok Talat, some 70 miles away. It was their first encounter with the rutted roads and having to cross over the dangerous wooden bridges. The advance party reached the village at Kok Talat to start work on the tented camp, whilst awaiting the arrival of the rest of the squadron. The rollover shows the virgin paddi prior the tents being erected.

The main body from 11 Indep Field Sqn, travelled by rail to Singapore. After several days at Gilman barracks, they departed from Changi Airport, aboard an RAF Transport Command Britannia to Ubon. When the fight arrived in Ubon, it was found that there were no steps high enough for the passengers to exit the Britannia. The solution was to deploy the aircrafts emergency chute so the squadron could exit the aircraft. See rollover for the image of the Bristol Brittania in flight.

Fortunately for the viewer and the webmaster, two members of 2 Troop RAE, Dave Wicks and Snow Wilson, have recorded in detail 11 Sqn's involvement in the very early days of Crown. To read a comprehensive account of those days, click on the thumbnail below,

On 4 May 1964 the main body of 11 Sqn, said farewell to Ban Kok Talat, travelling by local bus once more to Ubon. There, a chartered British Eagle Britannia waited in the hot sun to fly them to Singapore. The transport party loaded their vehicles and plant on to the train at Warin Chamrap, the railhead near Ubon, leaving Op Crown on the 8 May 1964. An overnight train trip to Bangkok followed and then to the Maxwell Brander, which was waiting to be loaded before sailing for Singapore (see rollover)

Major John Stevens was O/C of the Sqn and Major Gordon Chave was 2 I/C. Capt. Alan Hodges was Troop Commander of 2 Troop RAE. Gordon Chave gave me this account of that time. "During my days on Crown, the men needed to be occupied when not working. The playing of sport is the military's way of keeping bored soldiers busy, especially if it involves travelling to the sporting venue. I took a team to Mukdahan to play football, we changed in the police headquarters and played the match on the nearby school pitch. Where we changed and I still have a photograph, there were a number of locals probably 20 crammed into a police cell, they were so tightly packed that they could only stand. In the middle was a young man chained to a large tree stump, he was said to be their leader. They were alleged to be terrorists and had been caught in the jungle the previous night. I enquired if they would be taken to Ubon for trial, and was told that they would be shot the same night! I never discovered whether this actually happened. I also took a group to Yasothon, we played football and basketball against Yasothon and gave a demonstration of rugby to the locals. We were most royally entertained with a banquet which included toasts with Thai whiskey! We also arranged a visit to the Thai whiskey factory, the standards of health and safety left something to be desired and this may have deterred a few from partaking again. However, with the price of a bottle of Thai whiskey roughly equating to the price of a pint of beer in the NAAFI, we were fighting a losing battle. My own O.C. of 11 Sqn was Major John Stevens. The boss in Crown at that time was Lt Col Ken Orrell. After he retired, John Stevens worked in Thailand for a firm of civil engineers. He went up to Loeng Nok Tha where he took some photos including one of the Crown sign peppered with bullet holes! During my time in Crown, I did all the arrangements for football against the locals through the head of police. Through him, I arranged some Thai boxing in the Loeng Nok Tha village boxing ring. We then decided that it might be a good idea to include Thai classical dancing. The police chief’s wife taught dancing so this was easy to arrange. I suspect this might be the only occasion when Thai boxing and classical dancing have shared the same venue in the village of Khok Talat".

It had been 59 Fd Sqn that 11 Sqn had relieved just before Christmas of 1965 and it was 59 Fd Sqn who returned the favour in May of 1966. The image right shows Lt Col Orrell inspecting Sappers of 11 Independant Fd Sqn as they lay the concrete runway. The rollover shows the Sqn football team as they pose for a picture prior to playing a game on the school pitch in Mukdahan. It would be at the end of July 1967 before the Sqn returned to Crown. They would again relieve 59 Fd Sqn on the Post Crown Road.

Rain and saturated soil had bought earthworks to a standstill and ahead lay a thickly forested escarpment. Nevertheless work went on, with culverts going in and 11 Sqn sappers sometimes working waist deep in the floodwater. A pilot track was pushed through almost to Khok Klang, the original target for the whole project. The escarpment presented a real challenge,it being impossible to set out the road centerline through the thick undergrowth.

Very large trees also became a problem for the first time and these were bought down using explosives. It was about this time the helicopters came to the rescue of WO2 Brooks. He was engaged in setting out the detailed centerline when he disturbed a nest of hornets and was badly stung. He had an allergic reaction and became unconcious. A helicopter was summoned and he was strapped on to a side stretcher. Being a large man his trousers were too close to the exhaust and caught fire.

This extension was finally agreed and it was also agreed, that 11 Sqn would be relieved by a composite force based on 54 Support Sqn. The handover took place in mid January 1968. The image right shows a side street of the large well populated village of Hong Saeng. This village and others, had suffered at the hands of communist insurgents coming across the Mekong from Laos. The Post Crown Road would bring an end to the violence and intimidation. The rollover shows the large well stocked village shop.

This was the third and final tour of Op Crown/Post Crown for 11 Independant Field Squadron. Some of their Sappers would be on detachment to the composite work force based on 54 Support Squadron and some of them would participate in the Post Crown Road Opening Ceremony that can be viewed HERE . 11 Sqn left Post Crown as the previous squadrons had done exceeding their targets by far and leaving the project's new target of reaching Nong Phok achievable.