#l2a3

In Action: L2A3 in Malaya

In the photographs above we can see a section from the Commonwealth Field Ambulance, part of the Royal Army Medical Corps tending to a casualty in Malaya during the Indonesian Confrontation, in August 1964. 

While Lance Corporal A.J.R. Lea and Private J. Davies tend to the casualty,  Private M. Moore stands guard with his Sterling L2A3, providing security for the others in his team. The team are part of the Commonwealth Field Ambulance, a mobile medical unit that acted as the first tier of battlefield medical treatment.

The Sterling Submachine Gun had been officially adopted a decade earlier in 1954, it saw extensive service in the jungles of Malaya and Borneo. The Sterling was the standard personal weapon issued to any man whose primary job wasn’t firing a rifle or GPMG. Officers, some NCOs, radio operators, mortar teams, dog handlers, drivers, vehicle crews and as we see here medics all carried the L2A3. It remained in service right up into the early 1990s. 

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Images: 1 2 3

The Sterling L2A3 In Action: How Lance Corporal Amarjit Pun Won The Military Medal

On the 29th August 1964, during the Indonesian Confrontation, a company strength patrol from the 2nd Gurkha Rifles was returning to base when they were ambushed by Indonesian infantry. Lance Corporal Amarjit Pun of number 10 Platoon, C Company won the Military Medal for his actions in the ensuing firefight. 

The citation for Lance Corporal Amarjit’s medal describes the action and his bravery: 

‘Lance Corporal Amarjit Pun was second in Command of the point section of Number 10 Platoon, C Company, which was ambushed on the border South of Kumpang Langir by the enemy on 29th August 1964. The enemy waited until Lance Corporal Amarjit's section had started entering the killing ground before opening fire at point-blank range. The point section commander was seriously wounded, another non-commissioned officer killed, a rifleman wounded and the light machine gun team knocked out, with the Number 2 killed and the Number 1 wounded.

Lance Corporal Amarjit at once took command of the section and rushed for the fallen Bren gun in order to pick it up and turn it upon the enemy. No sooner did he seize the gun than it was struck by enemy fire and put out of action. Lance Corporal Amarjit then turned his own weapon [an L2A3 Sterling submachine gun] on the enemy. Regardless of cover and his own safety, he stood up at the edge of the track in the centre of the enemy's killing ground, fully exposed to rapid fire from ten yards range. From this position, yelling encouragement to the men in his section this brave non-commissioned officer poured magazine after magazine from his machine gun into the enemy ambush position until the Indonesians' fire dwindled and they commenced to pull out in retreat. During this time three enemy bullets hit different parts of Lance Corporal Amarjit's equipment. 

His audacity and courage in the face of heavy odds and his complete disregard for his own safety was well in keeping with tradition. His behaviour, beyond doubt, adversely affected the enemy's plans, causing him to pull out prematurely from his ambush site and thus saving Number 10 Platoon from suffering further heavy casualties.’

Amarjit’s bravery and the close range firepower of his Sterling were enough to briefly achieve fire superiority and allow other sections to move up and break up the Indonesian ambush. 

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London Gazette, 18th June 1965, Supplement: 43689, Page: 5969 (source)