|
In April 1963, the first recorded infiltration and attack occurred in Borneo as part of the wider Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. An infiltration force training at Nangabadan was split in two and prepared for its first operation. On 12 April 1963, one infiltration force attacked and seized the police station at Tebedu in the 1st Division of Sarawak, about from Kuching and from the border with Kalimantan. The other group attacked the village of Gumbang, South West of Kuching, later in the month. Only about half returned. Confrontation could be said to have started from a military perspective with the Tebedu attack. For the next five months, the Chinese guerrillas undertook further raids, typically attacks on longhouses. In June, an operation by about 15 was dealt with. In this period, it was a platoon commander's war for the British. Platoons deployed individually in semi-permanent patrol bases, initially in villages but then outside them to reduce the risk to inhabitants in event of an Indonesian attack. Helicopter landing sites were cleared a few kilometres apart all along the border area, and platoons patrolled vigorously. Small parties of Gurkhas, police and Border Scouts were stationed in many remote villages. ==Battle of Long Jawai== The Battle of Long Jawai was the first major incursion for the centre of the 3rd Division, directed by an RPKAD Lieutenant Mulyono Soerjowardojo, who had been sent to Nangabadan earlier in the year. Up to 200 guerillas with 300 porters and longboats moved to Long Jawi, some from the border and with a population of about 500. It was a junction for river and track communications. The British outpost in the village was in the process of establishing a new position on a nearby hill, but their communications remained in the village school. The total British force was 6 Gurkhas, 3 Police Field Force and 21 Border Scouts, with a handful in the school and the remainder in the new position. An Indonesian reconnaissance force had entered the village on about 26 September, but their presence was unknown to the British, and their main body arrived. At 5:00 am on 28 September 1963—the day Malaysia came into being—the force opened fire with small arms and mortars on the two posts. The communications post was heavily attacked and hit by mortar fire and communications were lost without the attack being reported. Gurkha and police radio operators were killed. The fighting lasted four hours; one Gurkha, one policeman, one Border Scout and five Indonesians were killed. Ammunition ran low, and the Border Scouts became demoralised and started to slip away. Some were captured, but the Gurkhas and police successfully withdrew into the jungle. The Indonesians plundered the village and executed ten of the captured Border Scouts. The lost communications meant that it took two days for news to reach the HQ 1/2 Gurkhas, but reaction was swift and the entire Royal Navy Wessex helicopter force was made available. Helicopters enabled the Gurkhas to deploy ambush parties to likely withdrawal routes in orchestrated action that lasted until the end of October. The tortured bodies of 7 Border Scouts were found. In the ensuing confrontations, 33 Indonesians are known to have been killed, 26 in a boat ambush on 1 October. The failure of the Border Scouts to detect the incursion, particularly since the Indonesians were in Long Jawi for two days before the attack, led to a change of role. Instead of being paramilitary, they concentrated on gathering intelligence. The situation also emphasised the need for the "hearts and minds" campaign. However, the Indonesians had lost the trust of the local population, who had witnessed the plundering of the village and the executions of the Border Scout prisoners. The locals had also been impressed with the quick Gurkha reactions. For the rest of the war, civilians would inform British forces of Indonesian troop movements they saw. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Combat operations in 1963 during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|