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Osprey Men at Arms #431
Britain's Secret War: The Indonesian Confrontation 1962–66
The 'Confrontation' between Malaysia and Indonesia in Bornew (January 20, 2006), the war against Indonesian raids across a 900-mile border in some of the world's worst jungle terrain, eventually involved nearly 20,000 British and Commonwealth troops, with air and naval support; and yet, by mutual consent, it was astonishingly little reported at the time. This 'secret war' saw the perfection of SAS jungle tactics; a Parachute Regiment action described as 'a second Rorke's Drift'; and audacious secret missions deep inside enemy territory, including the award to a Gurkha soldier of the British Army's only 'living VC' for 40 years.
- GenresMilitary HistoryHistory
48 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2006
About the author
Will Fowler
118 books15 followersWill Fowler is Professor of Spanish at the University of St Andrews, where he has taught since 1995. He earned his PhD at the University of Bristol and worked as a lecturer in Spanish at Leicester Polytechnic (subsequently renamed De Montfort University) for four years before joining the University of St Andrews.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 12, 2010
Even in Indonesia, this part of our history is almost completely unknown to most people, especially the younger generation born after 1966. The events described here are usually eclipsed by the much 'glorious' TRIKORA or Indonesia-Netherlands confrontation for the possesion of West Papua that took place right before the 'Ganyang Malaysia' (the author translates this phrase as "Smash Malaysia") confrontation, and also by the ever important September 30, 1965 coup attempt and the subsequent waves of massacres targetting Communist sympathisants. AFAIK, most historical textbooks only gives a couple of fuzzy and unclear short paragraphs about this Malaysian confrontation thing, first of all because it was thought as a crazy Sukarno thing, and perhaps, because we lost. This book for me give a lot of information to regarding the conflict, and I think this one deserves an Indonesian translation.
This book mentions a lot of details of the operations, especially from the British side. Several items listed in there might be of interest to Indonesians like myself:
1. Plate A giving illustrated details of two uniforms Indonesian infiltators might wore during the conflict. First, one of an NCO from the PGT (Pasukan Gerak Tjepat [freely translated: Quick Movement Force], of the Indonesian Airforce, roughly corresponding to Luftwaffe's Fallschirmtruppen. The unit known as PGT now goes by the name of Paskhas/"Pasukan Khas" TNI-AU, "Special Force of the Indonesian Air Force"]. The second, another an NCO of "328 Para-Raider Battalion", or, in Indonesian, "Batalion Infantri Linud 328 Dirgahayu" [free translation: 328th Airborne Infantry "Dirgahayu" Battalion ].
2. Photos of Indonesian infiltrators captured by the British forces. One photo was particularly interesting, as it was recovered from the body of an Indonesian soldier and depicting (perhaps himself and friends) three soldiers posing for the camera, perhaps as a memento before going to action.
3. A very interesting account from the Brits regarding how Benny Moerdany was spared from an ambush by the SAS (the late Benny Moerdany went on to become the the Indonesian Army Chief of Staff and later the Indonesian Defence Minister during the height of Suharto's New Order era). From page 34, 'SAS Claret Operations":
"... In May 1965, Maj Woodiwiss briefed Sgt Don 'Lofty' Large formerly of the Gloucestershire Regt, and a veteran of the Korean War - to lead a patrol across the border to the Koemba river near Poeri. On 10 May they encountered an Indonesian platoon, but carefully skirted their position. When they had located a position for an OP on the edge of a rubber plantation, they watched the river traffic. The following day a 45ft luxury motor yacht appeared. 'At the stern was the red and white flag ... only those boats with soldiers on board had flown it so far. Amidships a ... canopy shaded its occupants so that Large could not make them out. On a short mast ... flew another banner, this one having a strange device that strongly suggested to his practised eye the sort of which very senior officers display to boost their egos and inspire awe. "We'll have this one," Large whispered.' It was then that he saw a young girl among the passengers. Wondering if this meant that the boat carried a civilian official, they let it pass; and 12 years later, Gen Moerdani of the Indonesian Parachute Regt had an opportunity to thank two former members of the patrol for their chivalry. Large had been right: the flag had been the guidon of the then Col Moerdani. ..."
[one day later, the SAS patrol destroyed an Indonesian 40ft lauch carrying petrol and manned by at least two soldiers:].
One thing that is a bit disturbing. The spelling of Indonesian names and terms in this book is sometimes either quite weird (perhaps because the British troops who captured the particular Indonesian just spelled the names as they saw fit) or is clearly mistaken. For example, the "charismatic Indonesian paratrooper, SgtMaj Wogimen" (p. 16) is very possibly be a SgtMaj Wagimin. Wagimin is a quite common Javanese name. Then, the Paskhas or Pasukan Khas is spelled as "Pashkas" (p. 43).
But all in all, i find this book very helpful in getting a glimpse on what happened during the 'Ganyang Malaysia" confrontation. I hope somebody will be willing to write a book about the Indonesian operations in this conflict.
This book mentions a lot of details of the operations, especially from the British side. Several items listed in there might be of interest to Indonesians like myself:
1. Plate A giving illustrated details of two uniforms Indonesian infiltators might wore during the conflict. First, one of an NCO from the PGT (Pasukan Gerak Tjepat [freely translated: Quick Movement Force], of the Indonesian Airforce, roughly corresponding to Luftwaffe's Fallschirmtruppen. The unit known as PGT now goes by the name of Paskhas/"Pasukan Khas" TNI-AU, "Special Force of the Indonesian Air Force"]. The second, another an NCO of "328 Para-Raider Battalion", or, in Indonesian, "Batalion Infantri Linud 328 Dirgahayu" [free translation: 328th Airborne Infantry "Dirgahayu" Battalion ].
2. Photos of Indonesian infiltrators captured by the British forces. One photo was particularly interesting, as it was recovered from the body of an Indonesian soldier and depicting (perhaps himself and friends) three soldiers posing for the camera, perhaps as a memento before going to action.
3. A very interesting account from the Brits regarding how Benny Moerdany was spared from an ambush by the SAS (the late Benny Moerdany went on to become the the Indonesian Army Chief of Staff and later the Indonesian Defence Minister during the height of Suharto's New Order era). From page 34, 'SAS Claret Operations":
"... In May 1965, Maj Woodiwiss briefed Sgt Don 'Lofty' Large formerly of the Gloucestershire Regt, and a veteran of the Korean War - to lead a patrol across the border to the Koemba river near Poeri. On 10 May they encountered an Indonesian platoon, but carefully skirted their position. When they had located a position for an OP on the edge of a rubber plantation, they watched the river traffic. The following day a 45ft luxury motor yacht appeared. 'At the stern was the red and white flag ... only those boats with soldiers on board had flown it so far. Amidships a ... canopy shaded its occupants so that Large could not make them out. On a short mast ... flew another banner, this one having a strange device that strongly suggested to his practised eye the sort of which very senior officers display to boost their egos and inspire awe. "We'll have this one," Large whispered.' It was then that he saw a young girl among the passengers. Wondering if this meant that the boat carried a civilian official, they let it pass; and 12 years later, Gen Moerdani of the Indonesian Parachute Regt had an opportunity to thank two former members of the patrol for their chivalry. Large had been right: the flag had been the guidon of the then Col Moerdani. ..."
[one day later, the SAS patrol destroyed an Indonesian 40ft lauch carrying petrol and manned by at least two soldiers:].
One thing that is a bit disturbing. The spelling of Indonesian names and terms in this book is sometimes either quite weird (perhaps because the British troops who captured the particular Indonesian just spelled the names as they saw fit) or is clearly mistaken. For example, the "charismatic Indonesian paratrooper, SgtMaj Wogimen" (p. 16) is very possibly be a SgtMaj Wagimin. Wagimin is a quite common Javanese name. Then, the Paskhas or Pasukan Khas is spelled as "Pashkas" (p. 43).
But all in all, i find this book very helpful in getting a glimpse on what happened during the 'Ganyang Malaysia" confrontation. I hope somebody will be willing to write a book about the Indonesian operations in this conflict.
May 24, 2024
After World War II ended and the Japanese troops were all evacuated from their residences in areas they took from European powers, there was an overwhelming movement towards independence. Since the colonial powers had drawn the borders without regard to ethnicity and the leaders of the newly independent countries sought more land to rule, many small wars broke out between newly or soon to be independent countries.
Indonesia was a Dutch colonial possession and Malaysia and Borneo were British. Although the Dutch tried to reassert their authority after the end of World War II, they had no success and Indonesia became an independent country in late 1949. Malaysia did no achieve independence until 1957 and in 1963 a federation consisting of Malaysia, Sarawak and Borneo was formed. This event triggered a military response from Indonesia.
When armed forces from Indonesia threatened the federation, the British military responded to defend their former territories. It was a small and unusual war. Although both sides engaged in cross-border incursions, neither one ever spoke out in public. Both were content to engage in the battles over where the final border should be.
This book is a brief description of this war, and the reporting style is that of a military commentator. The uniforms and weapons are described and there are maps of the more significant battles. In the history of border wars between newly independent states, this was one of the smallest. In the end, nothing really changed concerning the borders of the two new states. Yet, it was geopolitically significant, for it was a significant drain on the postwar British military resources and so is worthy of study.
Indonesia was a Dutch colonial possession and Malaysia and Borneo were British. Although the Dutch tried to reassert their authority after the end of World War II, they had no success and Indonesia became an independent country in late 1949. Malaysia did no achieve independence until 1957 and in 1963 a federation consisting of Malaysia, Sarawak and Borneo was formed. This event triggered a military response from Indonesia.
When armed forces from Indonesia threatened the federation, the British military responded to defend their former territories. It was a small and unusual war. Although both sides engaged in cross-border incursions, neither one ever spoke out in public. Both were content to engage in the battles over where the final border should be.
This book is a brief description of this war, and the reporting style is that of a military commentator. The uniforms and weapons are described and there are maps of the more significant battles. In the history of border wars between newly independent states, this was one of the smallest. In the end, nothing really changed concerning the borders of the two new states. Yet, it was geopolitically significant, for it was a significant drain on the postwar British military resources and so is worthy of study.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews