appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

SCMP Reporter

The wounds surrounding the ill-fated Anglo-Hong Kong Low's Gully expedition are about to be reopened by one of the British soldiers involved.

Lance-Corporal Richard Mayfield looks set to accuse the three Hong Kong members of the 1994 expedition to Kota Kinabulu of not being fit enough.

He will make clear he told leaders Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Neill and Major Ron Foster that the expedition should not go ahead.

He has just written a book on his version of the disastrous expedition and the British television company LWT has taken him back to Low's Gully for a documentary.

  The Hong Kong trio in the party were accused of being unfit and ill-prepared for the hazardous descent into the gully.

A subsequent army inquiry was muted in its criticism of the leaders, criticising their judgment as 'flawed' although holding back from disciplinary action. Hong Kong men Cheung Yiu-keung, Chen Wai-keung and Lam Wai-ki were praised in a book by Colonel Neill and one was commended for bravery.

But Corporal Mayfield said of the Hong Kong men: 'The Chinese knew nothing about partnering up, or eating chocolate to keep up their energy levels. Neill should have supervised them more closely.' He said he was so concerned about the expedition's overall lack of preparation that he considered deserting, but realised that would be the end of his career.

 He told Colonel Neill that he believed the expedition should not go on into the uncharted depths of the gully when it became evident that there were concerns about the Hong Kong men's fitness and that if they abseiled down the vertical descent into the gully there would be no way back.

When the officers and the Hong Kong men failed to arrive at the bottom of the descent more than a day after the lead party, Corporal Mayfield took his team of five soldiers on ahead. That group split again and finally he and Sergeant Bob Mann reached a village to raise the alarm.

It was another two weeks before a Malaysian army helicopter found the officers and the three Hong Kong men and winched them to safety.

Corporal Mayfield has left the forces.



New twist to Low's Gully saga