- SURNAME
Hall
- FORENAME
Michael Drummond
- UNIT
RAOC + Chief Ammunition Technical Officer, Northern Ireland, Royal Army Ordnance Corps
- RANK
Captain + Lieutenant Colonel (OBE)
- NUMBER
458126
- AWARD
Officer of the Order of the British Empire, George Medal
- PLACE
Malaya 1966 (GM) Northern Ireland 1985 (OBE)
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1992 retired
London Gazette 43926, 15th March 1966, Page 3055 (GM)
London Gazette 50093, 15th April 1985, Page 5285 (OBE)
CITATION:
George Medal : During the night of 28th October 1965, Captain Hall and the duty Ammunition Technician went to Malacca in response to a call for assistance by the Malacca Police to deal with an Indonesian sabotage device. This was in fact the 23rd occasion that Captain Hall had been called out to deal with such devices in the past six months.
On arrival, Captain Hall was shown the device which was lying on the concrete floor of a garage near the centre of the town. It was at once apparent to him that this was an entirely new and highly dangerous type of bomb. It was found to be built up in a metal box, which made it impossible to ascertain the components. Captain Hall decided that for the safety of all Bomb Disposal personnel in' the Far East, it was necessary to make every endeavour to discover the workings of the bomb. This could only be done by the extremely hazardous operation of cutting sections away from the box with infinite care and rendering safe each component part as it was discovered. In spite of the care that had to be taken, no time could be wasted owing to the likelihood of a timing device.
Captain Hall ordered the whole area to be cleared for a distance of two hundred yards and then arranged with the Police Inspector that he should come forward for a briefing and photographs be taken of each stage of the procedure, so that no knowledge of this type of bomb would be lost if it were to explode whilst being dismantled.
For the next two and a half hours under extremely difficult lighting conditions, Captain Hall and his assistant lay on their stomachs and cut away sections of the metal box dismantling the bomb piece by piece. Two mechanical anti-handling devices were gradually exposed and were made safe. It was at this stage that the removal of another TNT block exposed part of an electrical circuit, indicating the presence of a timing mechanism or an electrical anti-lift device. With the introduction of this new complication, Captain Hall decided to attempt to reduce the explosive content of the charge to minimise the destructive and lethal effects should the device function on a timed basis. After a further hour of intense and concentrated effort, an extremely delicate electrical anti-handling device was made safe, the timing device neutralised and the bomb completely dismantled. The bomb contained 7 pounds of TNT, two hand grenades and incendiary material.
Throughout the whole operation Captain Hall acted calmly and deliberately, fully realising all the time that one slip of the hand or false move would mean instant death not only to himself but also to his assistant.
Captain Hall's gallantry has ensured that the effect of this new and highly ingenious type of terrorist sabotage activity can now be minimised and that Bomb Disposal personnel throughout the Far East now know all the dangers of this particularly fiendish device.
On arrival, Captain Hall was shown the device which was lying on the concrete floor of a garage near the centre of the town. It was at once apparent to him that this was an entirely new and highly dangerous type of bomb. It was found to be built up in a metal box, which made it impossible to ascertain the components. Captain Hall decided that for the safety of all Bomb Disposal personnel in' the Far East, it was necessary to make every endeavour to discover the workings of the bomb. This could only be done by the extremely hazardous operation of cutting sections away from the box with infinite care and rendering safe each component part as it was discovered. In spite of the care that had to be taken, no time could be wasted owing to the likelihood of a timing device.
Captain Hall ordered the whole area to be cleared for a distance of two hundred yards and then arranged with the Police Inspector that he should come forward for a briefing and photographs be taken of each stage of the procedure, so that no knowledge of this type of bomb would be lost if it were to explode whilst being dismantled.
For the next two and a half hours under extremely difficult lighting conditions, Captain Hall and his assistant lay on their stomachs and cut away sections of the metal box dismantling the bomb piece by piece. Two mechanical anti-handling devices were gradually exposed and were made safe. It was at this stage that the removal of another TNT block exposed part of an electrical circuit, indicating the presence of a timing mechanism or an electrical anti-lift device. With the introduction of this new complication, Captain Hall decided to attempt to reduce the explosive content of the charge to minimise the destructive and lethal effects should the device function on a timed basis. After a further hour of intense and concentrated effort, an extremely delicate electrical anti-handling device was made safe, the timing device neutralised and the bomb completely dismantled. The bomb contained 7 pounds of TNT, two hand grenades and incendiary material.
Throughout the whole operation Captain Hall acted calmly and deliberately, fully realising all the time that one slip of the hand or false move would mean instant death not only to himself but also to his assistant.
Captain Hall's gallantry has ensured that the effect of this new and highly ingenious type of terrorist sabotage activity can now be minimised and that Bomb Disposal personnel throughout the Far East now know all the dangers of this particularly fiendish device.
WEB LINKS:
• https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43926/supplement/3055 (GM)• https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50093/supplement/5286 (OBE)
NATIONAL ARCHIVES:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7623803
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