On the 12th, Richardson noted that there was some bombing and machine gunning north of them. Pollock and I refilled petrol tins from a pump in a rubber estate a few miles away. Coolies had looted the manager’s bungalow and had removed everything but the main uprights. Pollock and I did a recce of Port Dickson. No Japanese.
Independent Company moved off at 2100hours for LEBOK CHINA. Pollock and Richardson went to MALACCA. Holding a bridge there until after it is blown. Probably stayed 24 hours. Salvaged a Wolseley car.
It should be noted that in Fearon’s diary for the 12th of January that “at 18.30hrs, the Company received the welcome news that ROSEFORCE was to be disbanded and that the Line of Communication (L of C) Area was to cease to exist as a combatant force from midnight.
The Company had never been happy under L of C Area, (including) the rottenness of the supply organisation as regards the Company (Company ration lorries were almost invariably refused rations during the period on the idiotic excuse that as far as Supply people knew the Independent Company was shown on their returns as belonging to Corp or Command troops and consequently could not draw on L of C supplies. Frequently the Company lorries would travel as much as 100 miles in the night in their search for food and ammunitions). All these points tended to lower the morale of the Company.”[1]Fearon diary P36.
The lack of supplies can be seen from various references in Richardson’s diary to them helping themselves to supplies in the various townships that the Company went through, as well as the reference above to Walter and Richardson helping themselves to petrol from the local rubber estate.
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