The following post is taken from Corporal Tim Jones' diary as he travelled around with The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers during their recent exercise in Brunei.
Setting off...
Words & Images by Corporal Tim Jones:
Up to my neck in water in the jungles of Brunei with the The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
Recently I went to Brunei to cover 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers whilst they were on Exercise Ula Rajah.
This is how it went and what I got up to.
Home sweet home
I was travelling without team leader for the trip Captain Rich Williams who works at HQ Land in Andover as a team leader for one of the Combat Camera Teams (CCT) there. We were to be joined by Sgt Gary Kendall a few days later on the Saturday. We left Heathrow Terminal 4 on the Thursday ready for the 18 hours of travel to our final destination.
Our first task was just a bit of a recce to see what we were up against. We tucked our trousers into our jungle boots, whacked on a lot of mosquito repellent and jumped into the Hilux for the 20 minute drive to the edge of the jungle.
The British Army Abroad In Brunei: A Photo Diary
We spent the next couple of days covering a few survival lessons. The Jungle warfare instructors were teaching the troops about survival in the jungle from what they can and can't eat or touch.
The light was lovely and warm in the jungle clearing, giving some nice colours. Other times I struggled with the white balance due to there being so much green around, as the camera ended up adding too much magenta in its auto-setting. I always shoot in raw so it was an easy fix to edit after in a lightroom.
You can't get fresh coconut water like this in the UK:
You had to eat the tail end of the ant and spit its head away.
Termites for a few extra calories to your dinner.
Termites for a few extra calories to your dinner.
Lighting A Fire:
The next stage was learning how to start fire using different methods, then killing and cooking your food.
The Jungle Warfare instructor blowing the coconut husk to get it going.
The British Army Abroad In Brunei: A Photo Diary
These next few images are graphic so if your squeamish scroll past!
How to gut a fish:
Killing, skinning and gutting a chicken:
The slaughter, hanging and skinning of a goat ready to be cooked and eaten:
Dinner Time
After all this is was time to eat!
On the menu was Goat, chicken, red Snapper, some small unknown fish, rice in bamboo, Ubi Kayu (a root vegetable like sweet potato) and regular potatoes.
The selection of meats and veg cooked over an open fire in the jungle.
Back To Base
After spending 3 nights in the trees it was time for the troops to come back into camp for a few days of 'admin'. I went over to where they were staying to get some photos of them turning their kit around.
The British Army Abroad In Brunei: A Photo Diary
Rifle cleaning is the first port of call when coming back in off the ground. Once you have cleaned your weapon you can make a start on cleaning yourself!
The British Army Abroad In Brunei: A Photo Diary
Physical Training
Up nice and early for this tasking. We got up beforehand and went for our own run down the beach whilst it was still dark. By the time we came back Y coy were ready to set off to start their PT on the beach. I grabbed my long lens and got involved.
The British Army Abroad In Brunei: A Photo Diary
Live Firing Phase:
We spent the next few days going in and out of the jungle covering the guys working.
The next set of images are from the live firing phase.
Ammo being loaded into magazines.
It can be a struggle to make live ranges seem exciting due to the safety aspects involved. You have to make sure you are not on the front end of a rifle at any point. This leads to most of the images being shot 'over the shoulder'.
We didn't get to see the patrolling or CTR phase as we were pretty busy with the live firing still and video.
Moving into the 'jungle lanes'
This is the new Virtus body armour and helmet.
Anyone guess what these are used for?
Mushrooms grew in the oddest of places.
The British Army Abroad In Brunei: A Photo Diary
A soldier attached from the REME tucks into some instant noodles
The Padre who also got involved in the exercise chats to some of the guys after coming off the ranges.
A section commander gives orders before setting off on a patrol.
A few shots of the type of terrain and landscape out there:
River Crossing
This was a great little extra number I wanted to capture out there. I was determined to get some photos of a river crossing.
I had not seen an up to date one and thought this would be a great opportunity to get it! One of the fusiliers had come across a suitable river that was just the right depth to do it in.
It was about 5K's away from our location. We grabbed our kit and went down there.
Here are a few shots of me at work. Another outing trying to keep the Nikon out of the water!
Some of the guys stripped off and went for a dip after we had finished in the water.
River Boat Patrol With The Gurkhas
Another day and another pretty groovy task! This time we were speeding up and down the river outside of camp with the Royal Ghurka Engineers.
That's about it for the Military side of things in Brunei. Keep an eye out for a blog post about our day trip to the capitol and another about the 35mm film I shot out there.
All else I can say is that I loved it out there. We did some great work and the unit were great to work with. The country itself was amazing and I would love to go back there one day in either a military or civvie context.
