HMNZS HICKLETON BY JOHN LITTLEFIELD

Below is a good pic of HMNZS Hickleton appearing to be going alongside in Singapore Naval Base circa 65/66.  She, along with HMNZS Santon were Kiwi-crewed sweepers of the 11th MS.  I was the RO in HMS Invermoriston.  The squadron had been formed at the outbreak of the Indonesian confrontation of the newly created Malaysia, with ships of the squadron finding themselves in action against heavily armed Junks and very swift and manoeuvrable sampans. An eagle-eyed gunner will spot the twin Vickers machine guns in the bow and fo’c’sle port aft of Hickleton.  These elderly weapons, together with Bren mountings on the bridge (hold that thought) and quarterdeck, complemented the main weapon fit of fore and aft bofers.   

The next picture is a scene on the bridge of Invermoriston at sea. The civilian is a UK government minister with my captain, Lt Cdr Bert Twiddy.  Not sure who the tiddly lookout complete with bow-wave in cap is. Me, probably. Note the Bren gun mounting, on a pivot and removable.  Once, in action against a strong force of armed sampans,  one of them shot down our port side and across the bow.  Good old Bunts, whose action station was this very weapon, engaged the san pan, and tracked it, the weapon now lifted from its mount, still firing, as it disappeared around the bow, and, still firing, continued his engagement to starboard.  In the meanwhile, the other occupants of the bridge, captain included, had thrown themselves to the deck to avoid certain death.  The alloy superstructure and mast bore the evidence of Froggy French’s antics for the rest of the commission.  The concept of not arming sailors in general and communicators, in particular, has much merit. 

On a separate occasion, the Captain was awarded the DSC for a successful night action against a small boat containing several Indonesian infiltrators in the Malacca Straits. Sadly, one of our midshipmen, Paddy O’Driscall, was killed in the action. 

Even more, action occurred when the two Kiwi ships of the squadron were alongside their RN sisters in Singapore and Hong Kong, but that’s another story and best not told, even at this distance.