Desert Air - 37. DA Ch 37 - Intruders

“Not sure yet, the army squad are heading over there on foot, which will take some time, as it is over six clicks from the base camp, and I am on hold to speak to the Police District Superintendant, over,” I replied, “Ok we will head over that way and await instructions, over,’ Hedley said just as the voice came over the other radio.

“Superintendant speaking, is that you Jexon, over?” the voice said, “Yes sir it is, I have found intruders with heavy machinery, on the airbase land, inside the north western boundary, and they have gained access from a locked gate, my Dad is on his way there now, and we currently have some Army personnel on the base doing training, over,” I replied.

“Understood, from what I remember, you said to me on the day of the opening, that the land is freehold and includes all land below the surface, is that correct, over?” the superintendant said. “That is correct sir, can you get onto the minerals and energy department and find out what is going on, as the heavy vehicles should not be on the property, over,” I asked.

“Copy that Jexon, I will get right on it, over and out,” the Superintendant said, “Thanks Air Traffic Control, Tango Juliet over and out,” I added, as I turned and headed for the Corunna Downs airfield, so as not to be in the way of visitors.

Using a station vehicle not needed at the moment, we drove back to the airbase, and the compound. Captain, can you contact the Staff Sergeant, get them to change direction to south-west, and we can collect them from just north of the compound, and from there we can ferry them to the boundary gate,” I said to the Captain, who straight away got in contact with the squad leader, and gave them new instructions.

“I know it wasn’t planned, but this is a great alternative exercise for the squad in the way of training,” Captain Eccleston stated to me, as we drove past the compound, and crossed over the river, before steering off the access track and heading north-east towards the hills, slowing down as it was getting bumpy, until I reached the other access track, which follows up along the creek, and it was a little smoother ride.

Stopping at the end of the track, at the base of the hills, Captain Eccleston checked his compass which also gives coordinates, “Squad leader this is the CO, we are at 21.3765 and 119.7679, over,” the Captain said over the sat com.

“Copy that we are 500 metres due north of you over,” came a response, and soon we could see the squad jogging down a hill. “They must have been doing double time to get that far so fast,” I commented, and the Captain nodded his head in agreement.

Once the squad had arrived, the Captain told them to rest for five minutes, forgetting that I had it, the Sat phone began to ring, and I walked to the Ute to answer it. “Hey Dad, I am just 3 clicks north of the complex, just collecting the rest of the squad, before we head over to the west boundary gate,” I said to Dad.

“Ok, have you spoken to the police?” Dad asked me, “Yes, I spoke to the District Superintendent, and he is checking with the department of Minerals and Energy,” I replied. “Ok, Hedley and I are at a creek crossing about 500 metres before the gate, which you are right, it is wide open and the chains have been cut. There is a newly made track leading off the main track, following up a small creek bed, into the hills and we can easily hear heavy vehicle movement,” Dad said to me.

“Wait there, we will be there shortly, bye,” I said to Dad, and the Captain gave the order to climb into the back of the Ute, which was a bit of a squeeze with backpacks and weapons. We followed the wide rough track created by the heavy machinery for about 2.5 kilometres, before I stopped and backed into a small valley, and Dad and Hedley did the same with Dad’s vehicle.

“What are the plans now?” Dad asked the Captain. “We wait for a reply from the police,” Captain Eccleston replied. A few minutes later my sat phone rang, “Jexon, I have spoken to the Department of Minerals and Energy, they are aware that the Airbase is right next door to the mining project for iron ore, but there is supposed to be a 350 metre wide buffer zone between their operations and the base boundary, and they should not be on the airbase itself,” the Police Superintendent said to me.

“Thankyou for that information, can you email that information to me, so I have a hard copy of it please,” I responded and I gave him the Airbase email address and thanked the superintendent for his time. “Before you go, do you want any police assistance with this matter?’ he asked me.

“Sir, we have a squad of SAS troopers here, and I am sure we will be able to convince them to leave right away, thanks for the offer anyway,” I replied. After ending the call, I walked up to Captain Eccleston, “Sir as the owner of the Airbase I here by gives you permission to enforce eviction of the heavy vehicles that are working on the airbase land illegally,” I said and he smiled. “With pleasure Mr Kendrik, if you would mind staying here with the civilians, we will deal with this,” he responded.

The squad divided into teams of three, and spread out, to surround the work area. When the sat phone rang I jumped a little as I wasn’t expecting another call, “Corporal, can you join me please, just follow the track forward and you will find me,” the Captain said to me before ending the call.

I suggested to Dad that he and Hedley stay with the vehicles, and we will be back soon, before I began jogging along the track to meet up with the Captain. “I thought it might be best to have the property owner present,” he said to me when I arrived, before we slowly moved forward, until we could see the heavy vehicles.

“Ok lads, one long burst of warning fire directly into the air on my go,” I heard the Captain say into the Sat Com. “I believe you left this behind in the Hawkei,” he said to me, passing me my set, and I put it into my ear, so I could listen in.

“Squad, go,” the Captain said, and suddenly the sound of rapid gunfire filled the air, and all heavy vehicles came to a stop, while some people on the ground hit the dirt, as we walked towards the heavy vehicles from all sides. “Who is in charge here?” the Captain demanded, as the drivers of the vehicles climbed down, and all of them had their hands in the air.

My sat phone rang, so I stepped back a few paces to take the call, “Mr Kendrik, I have some additional information, when the approvals were given for the mining project on Corunna Downs, the land was still owned by the Department of Defence, so this mining operation is in breach of Commonwealth laws, even though it has only taken place recently,” the police superintendent said to me.

“Thankyou for that sir, it is very useful information in deed, we have stopped their operations and are about to talk to them, bye for now,” I said before ending the call, and I stepped up to the Captain, “extra info sir, when the approvals were given for the mining operation they not only had to be a 350 metre buffer zone, but the land was still owned by the Department of Defence,” I whispered to the Captain.

“That is excellent news, as that now puts it clearly in my hands,” the captain replied smiling. “Right, who is in charge?” the Captain demanded again, “Our supervisor is not here right now, he is back at camp at his office,” one of the men replied.

“Well you are trespassing on Commonwealth land, so I suggest you pack up everything and get moving back to the other side of the boundary fence, and do not trespass again,” Captain Eccleston responded, “We were told to clear this area, for exploration purposes,” the man protested.

“Not on Commonwealth land you don’t, now pack up and get moving, I want every vehicle and person to do with this mining operation off this property within the next twenty minutes,” Captain Eccleston said in an angry tone.

“Now listen here, you can’t force…” the man began as he stepped towards the Captain which was a big mistake, as the squad raised their guns and aimed at the intruders. “If you want to take another step towards me, you will end up arrested and in prison, and I am sure your family would not like that to happen would they, so get into your vehicles and leave… Now!” the Captain said forcefully, and finally they got the message that they would not win this argument.

There was a total of five vehicles, two front end loaders with rake attachments to push away trees, shrubs and large rocks, a truck which was towing a diesel fuel tank, and two four wheel drive Utes, with a total of 7 men with them, as we watched the heavy vehicles leave first, followed by the Utes.

The last Ute, suddenly turning and heading straight for Captain Eccleston and myself, and we jumped to the side to avoid being hit, while a volley of gunfire blew out all four tyres of the vehicle, as it began to loose control and crashed into a rock.

The two men in the Ute were dragged out and forced to the ground face down, “That was a very stupid thing you just did, and you are both going to prison for it,” as bits of rope were used to tie their hands behind their backs, before they were lifted up onto their feet.

“You are under arrest for two cases of attempted manslaughter of Commonwealth officers, you will be detained until a hearing can be arranged for these charges,” the Captain said, as four squad members marched them down the track towards the vehicles.

When we arrived and Dad saw two men being marched, he looked a little shocked. “Whatever happen in there, you better tell the police, they are on their way to the homestead, as the Superintendent thought it best to get involved,” Dad said to me.

“Yes probably good that he has, as these two idiots are under arrest for attempted manslaughter of Commonwealth officers, namely the Captain and me, when they charged us with their vehicle, which has been disabled,” I explained.

Loading the two men into the back of the Ute, with four of the squad seated in the back with them, I drove slowly back to the airbase, and onto the Corunna Downs homestead, where two police vehicles were waiting for us.

“Sergeant, theses two men are to be charged with attempted manslaughter of two commonwealth officers, and I have ten men as witnesses when they tried to run us over with the mining company vehicle,” Captain Eccleston said to Sergeant Brooks.

“Where is their vehicle?” the sergeant asked, “Disabled, with all four tyres deflated, back at the illegal clearing site. The mining company that employs them has a mining operation just west of the airbase, and they have broken through a boundary gate, and began illegally clearing land,” Captain Eccleston explained.

“Well we can add charges of trespassing, and illegal clearing of protected land onto the two charges that you have on them,” Sergeant Brooks said as handcuffs were placed on both men and the ropes removed afterwards.

“Just one more thing Sergeant, because of our security clearances, we can not give you an official statement of what has happened today, and that includes Mr Kendrik here, as you can see he is in Army uniform and is training with us this weekend,” the Captain announced.

“That will make it a little hard to explain to the Magistrate?” Sergeant Brooks stated, “I will be able to make a statement, as long as you are happy for me not use any names of these soldiers, who are officially training on the base,” Dad said, “I guess that will have to do, thankyou Mr Kendrik, and I will make a request for a closed court hearing,” Sergeant Brooks said as the two men were put in the back of the police van, for the two hour journey to Port Hedland.