Tekong... 1980s... doing my BMT. Section ambush on cross-roads
near the old village school in the north of the island.
8 or 9 of us lined up in typical ambush formation. The corporal in
charge of training was a few meters behind the ambush formation. We
were all settling into the ambush drill...
Suddenly, a high pitched scream pierced the night. The scream was
half human , half mechanical . And it was REALLY LOUD and PIERCING.
So much so that all the section stopped whatever we were doing and
broke the ambush drill by sitting up in our positions looking
around. I looked back at the corporal as he was more or less
directly behind me. He was brushing his teeth at the time of the
scream. In the darkness of the night, I could see the white of his
Colgate in his open mouth. He was frozen mid-way in brushing his
teeth. (Because it was BMT training, there was a nominated recruit
who was acting section commander, so the "real" corporal can be
non- tactical...).
At that time, we were not really scared. It was just that the
scream was unnerving. The corporal decided to pack up and told us
to execute a quick tactical withdrawal from the ambush site. We
then went back to camp. Believe he reported the scream to the OC
and camp DO, and cited it as a valid excuse to break off night
training. It was also a Thursday night !
Later , wild stories started to circulate, most were untrue. WE DID
NOT SEE ANYTHING, but we just heard this frightful half human
scream, which at that time puzzled us more than frightened
us.
Of the recruits in this section, a number signed on later and some
of them are still serving in the SAF. Bet they remember this
episode.
