In this Episode we talk to Rich Mayfield about his 1994 Expedition into Low's Gully in Borneo. 

Nobody attempted to make a descent into the gully until 1994. On Feb 21 that year, seven British and three Hong Kong soldiers tried to abseil and climb down into the gully.

The team members going into Low’s Gully
The commander of the army that led the expedition was Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Neill. His second-in-command was Major Ron Foster.

Together, they both set up the 10-man team. Joining them, there were two corporals – Steve Page and Hugh Brittan from the Royal Logistics Corps – and Lance Corporal Richard Mayfield. Mayfield was also an expert survivalist and rock climber.

The other two British soldiers were a Territorial Army Sergeant Robert Mann and Corporal Pete Shearer.

Also with them were the three Chinese soldiers from Hong Kong, Lance Corporal Cheung Yiu Keuong and Privates Lam Wai Kee and Chan Wai Keung.

Why the expedition into Low’s Gully was a disaster from the beginning
Even before it started, the expedition seemed to be doomed anyway. The first mistake was not to equip themselves with a radio or flares.

On top of that , the three Hong Kong soldiers only learned how to abseil a few days before the expedition. And then, there was the language barrier among the soldiers.

Although some of the team members were familiar with each other, some of them only met weeks prior to the expedition. Hence, there was no teamwork or rapport right from the beginning.

This is a great conversation that looks into what happened on that expedition.

Here are a link to the Books

Rich Mayfield - Kinabalu Escape - The Soldiers Story

R.M Connaughton - Decent into Chaos

Robert Neill - S.O.S : The Truth Behind the Army Expedition to Borneo's Death Valley

www.thebucketlistcompany.co.uk 

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