Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell
Distinguished Service Decoration
KEY POINTS:
A platoon commander's decision to lead 16 men to stand between a crowd of 1600 warring political rivals in East Timor has led to his being honoured with the New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration.
Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell, 25, was on patrol near Dili on April 5, just days before the country's presidential elections.
On the outskirts of Manatuto the patrol met a convoy of about 1000 supporters of the Fretilin Party who had been stopped at a 300m-long bridge while returning from a rally.
"The UN police had stopped them because down the road there were about 50 armed men," said Lieutenant O'Donnell, of Feilding.
He said men with machetes were a fairly common sight but not in such large numbers.
"It was only 25 of us [because] one of my sections was away on leave.
"We disarmed them and the police let the convoy through. Once they pushed through us they got ambushed by another group of guys."
About 600 rival supporters set up a road block on the opposite end of the bridge. Boulders and burning trees prevented the convoy from advancing.
The ambushers attacked the Fretilin supporters, throwing rocks and firing steel darts and arrows.
The 20-man police escort decided the situation was too dangerous and retreated to their vehicles, leaving the convoy on the bridge, blocked at one end by the attackers and the other end by their own vehicles as the attackers closed in.
"They were running around with machetes but luckily they didn't quite get there," Lieutenant O'Donnell said.
"I think one of the police fired their handgun and as soon as we heard that I sent 10 guys down there. They ran right in front of the convoy and stopped anyone coming through.
"Then we sent a few more guys down."
With some needing to stay behind and guard the vehicles it meant just 16 men stood between the two groups.
Lieutenant O'Donnell said despite the scenario he did not expect it to escalate further. "We had our rules of engagement and graduated response. As soon as we started stepping that up, firing warning shots in the air and raising our weapons, that was enough for them to keep their distance."
The soldiers also used tear gas to keep the crowd at bay.
"It was four months into the tour and the guys had experience dealing with that sort of thing so they handled it well.
"Unless they got close to us we knew we were pretty safe. But there was a lot of them and if they had charged at us we wouldn't have had a [chance]."
The platoon remained with the convoy for two or three hours until backup arrived in the form of Australian troops and Portuguese riot police and drove the attackers away.
The decoration is awarded for the outstanding performance of military duties and Lieutenant O'Donnell, who has been in the army for just three years, says it is an honour to be selected for it.
"I'm very proud of my platoon. All their training kicked in, they kept their heads and it was all pretty controlled. That's what you train for and to put yourself into a test like that and come out of it is pretty good."
- NZPA
