|
IN MEMORIAM
Shorty and Nige
"PISCES 1"
F-111G A8-291 Pulau Aur, 18 April 1999
LAT 02 26.56 N
LONG 104 31.52 E (GPS WGS84)
sqn photo to come
Shorty |
Nige |
|
F-111.net
regrets to inform of the loss of RAAF aircrew SQNLDR Anthony 'Shorty' Short and SQNLDR
Stephen 'Nige' Hobbs in the crash of F-111G A8-291 during the night of 18
April 1999.
The highly experienced and universally
respected crew were lead of a two ship maritime strike against a flotilla of British Royal
Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Republic of Singapore warships during a Five Power Defence
Agreement (FPDA) Integrated Air Defence Exercise.
The aircraft impacted Pulau Aur, a small
island in the South China Sea. |
SQNLDR Anthony Short had over 1000hrs
F-111 and was a graduate (and DUX) of the United States Navy Test Pilot School. SQNLDR
Stephen Hobbs was the XO (second in command) of 6SQN and had over 1000hrs F-111 and
Tornado, and had seen active service whilst on exchange with the British RAF in the skies
over Iraq.
Our sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Shorty and Nige.
Their names have been added to 113 others on the honour roll of the Aardvark Memorial in Clovis NM USA. |
| The aircraft impacted tall
trees on a ridgeline, then tumbled in the air for a further mile down track before coming
to rest in the jungle. Due to the inaccessibility of the region, the RAAF left most of the
wreckage of A8-291 on site. A
year after the crash, a party of 12, including Dr Short (Shorty's widow) and some of
Shorty and Nige's friends and colleagues travelled to Pulau Aur to erect two memorials.
Donations from friends and colleagues unable to make the journey funded the bronze
memorial plaques.
Pulau Aur is a small unspoilt Malaysian
jungle island in the South China Sea with less than a hundred inhabitants. The
ethnic Malay population is spread along the coastline in small kampongs (villages) of four
to six buildings, with the main kampong housing the school, shop and police station.
There are no roads or vehicles.
The main industries of the island are
fishing and supporting the few dive resorts on the island. The island is surrounded
by warm crystal clear seas teaming with life.
One of these dive resorts, Friendly Waters Seasports Services (FWSS), provided
essential assistance to the group by organising bus transport from Singapore to Mersing
(Malaysia), and then a boat for the five hour sail to the island. Davy Yiu, owner of FWSS,
also organised guides and equipment to enable the construction of the memorials.
Additionally, Davy facilitated the translation of the inscription into Bahasa Melaya
(Malaysian language). Special mention must be made of Fariz Ahmad, a scuba
instructor at FWSS, for his outstanding work and understanding in making the 'expedition'
run flawlessly. |
The wreck of PISCES 1. (April 2000)
Kampong below a rock formation.
Some of Shorty and Nige's colleagues with one of the plaques at Amberley.
(image Air Force Today)
|
Squadron
Leader (desig)
Anthony Short
"SHORTY"
(Pilot)
Age 31 |
and |
Squadron
Leader
Stephen Hobbs
"NIGE"
(Navigator - Executive Officer)
Age 33 |
who on the
night of 18 April 1999, lost their lives in
the tragic crash of "PISCES 1", an Australian F-111G
fighter-bomber, flying in combined military exercises
for the defence of the Republic of Singapore and the
Federation of Malaysian States.
For the Fallen
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun... and in the morning...
we will remember them.
NOUS REVENDRONS
N 02 26.6 E 104 31.4
|
MAYOR
UDARA (DILANTIK)
ANTHONY SHORT "SHORTY"
(JURUTERBANG)
BERUMUR 31 TAHUN |
and |
MAYOR
UDARA
STEPHEN HOBBS "NIGE"
(JURUMUDI - WAKIL KETUA SKUADRON)
BERUMUR 33 TAHUN |
YANG
PADA MALAM TANGGAL 18 APRIL 1999, TERKORBAN DALAM NAHAS PENERBANGAN
"PISCES 1", PEJUANG - PENGEBOM F-111G AUSTRALIA,
DALAM GERAKAN-BERSAMA
TENTERA MEMPERTAHANKAN REPUBLIK SINGAPURA DAN PERSEKUTUAN NEGERI-NEGERI
MALAYSIA.
.
UNTUK YANG GUGUR
MEREKA TIDAK MENINGKAT TUA SEDANG KITA AKAN TERUS LANJUT
UNTUK MEREKA... USIA TIDAK LAGI MEMBEBANKAN, TAHUN TIDAK MENGHUKUM
BILA DATANGNYA SENJA... SERTA FAJAR
MEREKA AKAN DIIGINGATI |
Davy Yiu of FWSS |
Fariz Ahmad of FWSS |
FWSS Resort |
Walking along one of the few level
sections of the path.
|
To walk into the crash site, a short boat
trip was first taken from FWSS to the kampong Telok Meriam. Telok Meriam has less than a
dozen buildings and a solar powered public telephone. The walk to the crash site is adventurous. It
starts 150 metres from the Telok Meriam pier, and is virtually straight up the hill from
that point. There is a rough path for the first kilometre which is sometimes used by
the locals to venture into the jungle hills to collect fruit. After the first
kilometre, the path fades away to thick jungle. The dense canopy prevents both the use of
GPS, and back bearings to be taken from hill tops. Due to patches of thorny palms
and 'wait-a-while' vines, boots, thick trousers, long sleeves and gloves are recommended
for the walk. For those not acclimatised to the high temperature and humidity, about
six litres of water a person is also recommended.
On 17 April 2000, carrying about 25
kilograms of gravel, cement and drinking water each, the walk took two hours.
(Although by the end of the walk, the guides were carrying most of the gravel!) With just
water and a guide, the walk on the following day took only 80 minutes. |
Arrival at the crash site.
A wooden cross left by RAAF members involved in the accident investigation
the year earlier can be seen on the large tree in the centre of the left image. The
memorial plaque is located about 10 metres behind the wooden cross.
|
 |
 |
 |
| A rest before starting the work. |
Building the form work. |
Mixing concrete, the manual way! |
The finished Memorial at the
crash site. |
Mr Hassin with his handy work.
The party at the kampong memorial.
|
Because of the difficulty in travelling to the actual
crash site, a second memorial plaque was taken to the island to be placed in an area where
visitors could see it. The headmaster of the three room school graciously offered a
position beside the school flag pole. While most of the party were at the crash site
constructing that memorial, two members remained in the kampong and assisted Mr Hassin, a
local builder, brick the wall on which the kampong plaque was placed.
Fishing boats at Mersing (on peninsula Malaysia).
|
F-111.net would like to thank Pioneer
Tivoli, Qld Fasteners Wacol, Worssel Engravers and Davy
Yiu of Friendly Waters Seasports
for their invaluable assistance and donations of time and
materials.
|
