Workhorse - RAAF C-130s - E7 - Konfrontasi, with Bob Wheeler

Workhorse - RAAF C-130s

In 1962 the British Cobbold Commission recommended the amalgamation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei to form Malaysia. Indonesia opposed this initiative by arming insurgents in Borneo and by conducting combat operations along its border with Malaysian Borneo. This conflict was dubbed the Borneo Revolt and was also commonly known as Konfrontasi.
RAAF C-130s were involved in the very first missions into Borneo and supported the operation for years. Bob Wheeler was a C-130A loadmaster in that era and flew several missions in support of Konfrontasi. He details some of the incidents from that operation, the impact of Konfrontasi on C-130 flights to Butterworth, and the conditions C-130A crews experienced both in training and on task.