By the time the sun began to go down Graham was in a state of indecision he found very unsettling. Doubts and hopes warred with each other. The result was a nagging feeling of dissatisfaction and uneasiness. ‘Damn!’ he thought. ‘I really wanted to enjoy this camp.’
Until the company had arrived in the field training area at Bunyip River he had been enjoying it. It was already the end of the second day of a nine day annual camp and he did not want to think about how soon it would all be over. The unit came from Cairns and had travelled to Townsville in coaches the previous morning. The afternoon had been spent at Lavarack Barracks doing weapon training with the Steyr rifle, something Graham had really enjoyed. The cadets had then been given the opportunity to practise in the electronic range, the Weapon Training Simulator. Graham had done very well at this, his shooting being only bettered by Capt Conkey and CSM Cleland.
The previous night had been spent in the barracks, allowing them a taste of army life which Graham had found very enjoyable as he was seriously beginning to consider an army career when he left school. That morning the cadets had been put over the obstacle course by army instructors and had then gone to the range to actually fire live ammunition from the Steyr. Once again Graham had gained an excellent score, being third best shot, beaten by Sgt Grenfell and CSM Cleland.
Graham didn’t particularly mind that as he respected and admired both. ‘Anyway,’ he consoled himself, ‘Capt Conkey has always said that the CSM should be the best soldier in the company.’
It was only when they had arrived in the bush a few hours earlier that life seemed to become complicated. It wasn’t the roughing it he minded. That was something he loved. With his friends Roger, Stephen and Peter he spent nearly every second weekend in the bush on hikes. The friends did this so often they called themselves ‘The Hiking Team’. However some of the new cadets plainly found the conditions a bit of a shock.
Once the camp was set up the corporals and CUOs were called to HQ Platoon to be issued with radios. This was done by Peter Bronsky, the signals corporal and Graham’s friend. The radios were small hand-held ‘Citizen Band’ UHF radios with a range of about 3 or 4 kilometres and powered by three AA batteries. Each CUO and NCO got the same radio issued all year and Graham signed for his and looped the light green cord around his neck and hung the radio on his shirt. Then he did a radio check which Peter answered. The unit also had half a dozen army radios and seven larger CB pack radios for safety and control.
The evening meal had been routine; a hot, fresh meal prepared by army cooks in the kitchen of the small army camp located a kilometre away on the other side of the highway. This was delivered by army Land Rover in ‘hot boxes’. The platoons had filed past one at a time to get their food. The food was ladled into their mess tins. After that the cadets had seated themselves on the ground in platoon areas to eat. There had been no problem with that as the weather was fine and likely to remain so. In this part of North Queensland in September rain was a rarity. The weather was usually dry and fairly hot (Fairly being a relative term, as they came from Cairns, which was even closer to the equator than where they now. To them temperatures of 30 degrees C were not considered anything unusual).
The place was familiar to Graham as he had done a ten day promotion course at the Bunyip River Army Camp the previous December. Part of this course had included navigation exercises during which he had walked through the area they were now bivouacked in. Thus, as he prepared his section for a night navigation exercise, he at least had no worries about getting lost.
It quickly became apparent that some of his cadets were feeling a bit stressed. The first real sign was when Cadet Andrews mumbled that he was feeling sick. “It must be the heat,” he moaned. “Can I stay here?”
“No,” Graham replied.
“But I’m sick,” Andrews moaned.
That threw Graham a bit. He did not want to lose members of his section from any activity so he cast around for some convincing argument. Finding none he could only suggest that Andrews go and see Sgt Grenfell. To his surprise Dianne then said she wasn’t feeling very well either.
Both were taken to Sgt Grenfell who questioned them. Only then did it begin to dawn on Graham that the real problem was that it was getting dark and they were in the bush. Sgt Grenfell wasn’t very sympathetic but commented in a scornful voice that if they wanted to they could go to see the officers, “if you really are sick.”
Neither did. It was when they were walking back to the section area in the gathering dusk that Graham noted Dianne glancing anxiously from side to side.
“What’s wrong?”he asked as gently as he could.
“I... it... I... it’s very dark isn’t it,” Dianne replied.
They were back at the hutchies by then and Graham looked around in the gloom. He could see quite well and several torches were flickering around the area. “It will be alright. The moon will come up later,” he said. But he said it without conviction as he wasn’t sure what time moonrise was.
“But there are no lights,” Dianne wailed.
Graham realised that Kirsty had moved to stand close beside him. “You don’t need lights,” he said, trying to sound confident. “Your eyes will adjust to the dark as you get your night vision.”
“But we are miles from anywhere!” Andrews cried.
“We are not!” Graham replied. He pointed to where several lights could be seen through the trees. “The army camp is just over there.”
As he said this a car went past along the Flinders Highway, its headlights flickering through the trees. “And there is the main road,” he added.
“But what if we stand on a snake?” Lucy asked.
Now that got him. The mention of snakes brought to the surface of Graham’s consciousness his one great fear. Three years earlier he had been bitten by a King Brown and it had left him very scared of the reptiles. He had no idea what types of snakes lived in this dry country but that only added to his uncertainty.
He was saved by a crude comment by Halyday. “The only sort of snakes you need to worry about,” Halyday said to Lucy, “are one-eyed trouser snakes.”
“Don’t be crude Cadet Halyday!” Graham snapped, his own fear adding to his growing irritation.
“But what if we get lost?” Andrews persisted.
That again saved Graham. If there was one thing he really prided himself on it was his navigation in the bush. “We won’t,” he snapped. “I’ve been here before and I know where to go. Just stick close to me.”
As he said this he felt Kirsty gently touch his side and arm. He wasn’t sure if it was an accident, a joke, or a ‘come on’. This time he was saved by CSM Cleland. The CSM was over near the big tree and began calling loudly for the platoons to move in. Sgt Grenfell at once called on the platoon to form up. To Graham’s relief Kirsty moved away.
“Make sure you have your webbing,” he called as he hurried to his own hutchie. Now he began to fluster. All the time spent with Andrews and Williams meant he was not ready. For one thing he had not refilled all his waterbottles. A quick check showed he had one full one. ‘It will have to do,’ he decided. As quickly as he could, and spurred on by Sgt Grenfell’s calls to form up, he made sure had all the things he needed: compass, protractor, pencil, map, torch. In his haste he kept catching himself on things and became all hot and sweaty. ‘Oh strewth! I hope I have everything,’ he thought as he hurried back to where the platoon was starting to assemble.
“Hurry up Four Section!” he called, noting that only Roger and Pat had so far arrived. Next to them stood all of Gwen Copeland’s Number 5 Section. Up till then Graham had considered he was lucky to have good kids in his section; no real trouble makers, but now he wasn’t so sure. “Hurry up Cadet Halyday!” he shouted angrily.
Kirsty, Lucy and Dianne joined them but Halyday and Andrews were still in their hutchie. Sgt Grenfell called to ask if all of Graham’s section were there. “Not yet sergeant,” Graham replied, blushing hot with annoyance and shame.
“What about you Five Section?” Sgt Grenfell asked Gwen.
“All here sergeant.”
“Cpl Bell?”
Stephen replied that all of 6 Section were there. That made Graham even more agitated. It also made him worry that his section might get a bad reputation. He shouted angrily to Halyday and Andrews. “Get here! Now!”
“I haven’t filled my waterbottles,” Andrews cried.
“Tough! You had plenty of time. Form up,” Graham snapped. Even as he said this he knew it was the wrong answer. Andrews could easily get heat exhaustion, even at night, if he was dehydrated from the day. The air temperature was still quite high. The dilemma made Graham angry with himself for not checking earlier.
With some muttering and grumbling Andrews and Halyday joined them. “All here now sergeant,” Graham reported.
“About bloody time! I hope you weren’t aiming to win ‘Best Section’ in the section competition this year,” Sgt Grenfell retorted. Graham found that a very worrying and hurtful comment but could only silently fume. ‘I’d better get this mob better organized,’ he told himself.
The platoon was marched over to where the company was being seated in section lines. With a hundred and twenty cadets all milling around in the dark it seemed like bedlam but CSM Cleland used his voice and authority to quickly impose order, calling the platoons one at a time and directing the sergeants where to seat their people. That done he did a check on who was present.
During that Graham discovered that all the other platoons had one or two ‘sick’ who had been sent to where the officers had a fire. That made him feel better but also raised his anxiety lest one of his cadets even now opt to go there. To his relief none did. CSM Cleland handed over to Capt Conkey, who then sent the CUOs and sergeants over to the fire. They were to provide the check points and were to be briefed by the unit 2ic, Lt Mel Maclaren.
After another safety brief, during which the cadets squirmed and fidgeted a lot, Capt Conkey began to give detailed instructions for the night navex. Graham took out his map, notebook and pencil. Then he dug out a pocket torch and turned to the cadet behind him. “Hold this torch for me,” he whispered.
It was Kirsty. She turned it on then moved to lean over his shoulder to shine the torch beam on his notebook. In doing so she pressed herself against him. ‘That has got to be deliberate,’ Graham told himself as he tried to concentrate on what Capt Conkey was saying.
As the whole unit had been given a briefing on sexual harassment and related subjects only the previous afternoon he knew that Kirsty was not acting out of ignorance. Her behaviour annoyed him but he was also disturbed by it. To his added annoyance he started to get aroused.
‘I hope Capt Conkey doesn’t notice Kirsty leaning on me,’ he thought anxiously. That would do his promotion chances no good at all, and having determined to try to make sergeant at the end of the year, it made him worry. But it was hard to keep his mind on the job!
Capt Conkey gave each corporal a different Grid Reference to go to on their first leg. The section commanders then had to work out the magnetic compass bearing and calculate the distance in paces. As he started working these out an idea came to Graham. “Cadet Andrews, go and fill your waterbottles while I do this,” he said.
It took him only seven minutes to do the calculation. Kirsty helped by kneeling beside him to hold the torch. As soon as he had the bearing and distance worked out Graham went to Capt Conkey to let him check it. He noted that he was the second corporal to finish the calculation. Only his friend Peter had beaten him. ‘That’s Ok,’ he told himself. ‘Pete’s a brain.’
“Very good Cpl Kirk,” Capt Conkey complimented him. The praise made Graham glow and he felt good. If there was one person on earth he wanted to impress it was Capt Conkey. ‘I owe that man a lot,’ he reminded himself.
As he moved away Graham found his path blocked by Cpl Bannister from 4 Platoon. “Bloody sniveller!” Bannister hissed. “Always sucking up to the officers.”
Graham was so surprised he made no reply. In hurt silence he moved away, wondering what he had done to offend Bannister. Then it came to him. ‘Bannister is Pigsy Pike’s section commander!’ Then he shook his head. ‘Poor bugger! I’m bloody glad I don’t have mongrels like Pike in my section.’
But the taunt still annoyed him because he thought he was just trying hard and doing the right thing, not crawling. With a shake of his head he dismissed the incident and went to collect his section. “Four Section, move out here,” he called. In the darkness they moved out to one side of what was rapidly becoming a milling throng. After checking that Cadet Andrews was back Graham asked Capt Conkey if he could go.
Having received permission to start the course Graham did a radio check then set the compass and handed it to Cadet Sheehan. Pat had been in cadets all year and had done four weekend bivouacs so was quite experienced for a ‘First Year’. Without hesitation he led off.
Their first leg took them close past the officer’s fire. As they walked past Graham noted Lt Standish, a lady teacher, sitting there with five cadets. That surprised him and he wondered if they were all ‘sick’ the way Andrews and Dianne had said they were. Then he noted Carnes sitting staring unhappily into the flames. At that Graham shook his head. ‘Poor bugger! I wonder why he joined the Cadets?’
Then the section passed out of the circle of firelight and almost at once the fears closed in. First the snakes! Graham found he was staring hard at the ground, even though he could barely see it in the darkness. Then he had the thought that it was good that Cadet Sheehan was leading. ‘He will scare the snakes away,’ he reasoned. Then a saying he had heard somewhere slipped into his mind to gnaw at his confidence: that the first person woke the snake up and enraged it and it bit the second person!
Trying to reassure himself on this count Graham forced himself to walk steadily forward. The other members of the section trampled noisily along behind him. They passed by the edge of the 3 Platoon bivouac area and headed towards an old gravel scrape in the direction of the army camp. Suddenly a torch came on behind him.
Angrily Graham swung his head to look. It was Dianne. “Turn that torch off! We are not to use torches except in a safety emergency,” he ordered.
Reluctantly she obeyed, but only for about fifty paces. Then it clicked on again. Graham opened his mouth to tell her to turn it off but before he could CUO McAlistair’s voice rang out from a hundred metres ahead:“Turn that torch off!”
“Turn it off!” Graham snarled angrily, stung by the reproof.
Within ten paces a torch again flickered behind him. “Turn it off Cadet Williams!” Graham snapped.
“It’s not me. It’s Halyday!” Dianne replied hotly.
“Halyday, turn the torch off!” Graham yelled. Even as he did he knew he wasn’t handling things well. ‘I shouldn’t be losing my temper so easily,’ he told himself, ‘and I should always call people by their ranks.’ To help regain control he stopped them. “Listen,” he said, “This is not just to train you to navigate at night. It is to build up your confidence, to show you that you can walk through the bush in the dark.”
“But why?” Dianne asked.
“Because if you turn on a torch and the enemy are watching they could kill you, or your mates,” Graham replied.
“But we aren’t in the army,” Lucy replied.
“And how would they hit you if it is dark?” Halyday added.
“They have night sights on their rifles that allow them to see in the dark,” Graham replied.
“So, if they can see in the dark what difference does it make if we use a torch?” Andrews retorted.
For a moment Graham was unable to reply, stung both by the fact that he had talked himself into a stupid contradiction, and also by Halyday’s tone of voice. It took him a moment to think of what to say, hotly conscious that with every minute he hesitated his credibility and leadership were going down. At last it came to him. “Because you can only see a few hundred metres with a night sight whereas a white light, a torch or match or something, can be seen from kilometres away.”
There was mumbling but no more protests. Feeling that he had things under control again Graham gave the word to Pat to keep going. As he did Andrews called out from the back in a quavering voice. “I want to go back to the fire.”
Graham silently cursed and went back to him. The glow of the fire was clearly visible only about 200m away. “Don’t be silly. We are nearly finished the first leg,” he said.
“I want to go back,” Andrews repeated.
“No. Not unless you have hurt yourself, or are really sick,” Graham replied. He was getting annoyed and short tempered again. “Are you sick?”
Andrews snuffled and shook his head. “Not really, but I want to go back.”
“I heard you. We are going on. Get moving Pat,” he called.
Pat began moving and Graham set off after him. However he had only gone ten paces when Roger called from the back, “Wait for us Graham. Andrew’s won’t move.”
“Oh blast!” Graham thought, angry that Roger had used his first name, and that he now had a problem he didn’t know how to solve.