By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, April 28: The Sarawak flag was once again featured prominently at the head of a column of Malaya and Borneo war veterans in Adelaide, South Australia, last Friday (April 25).
According to the National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association Australia Inc (NMBVAA), this is to honour their service and sacrifice during the Malayan Wars, and to honour all members of the Commonwealth and Malaysian naval, military, air and police forces, including Iban Trackers, who served and lost their lives.
The Sarawak Flag, in particular, carried a poignant message—honouring the Aussie defenders of Sarawak, and the brave Ibans who supported them.
“Anzac Day is the prime commemorative occasion in Australia. It has as its basis a solemn ceremony to remember the landing of the Australasian soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, 1915.
“Since that time, the term ‘Anzac’ has come to denote courage, resilience, and mateship, and is applied as an honorific for all Australian and New Zealand soldiers.
“Fifty years later, a new generation of Anzacs deployed overseas—to support the defence of Sarawak,” said the association.
It added that the most significant event during the Anzac commemorations is the Anzac March—a solemn commemoration of the sacrifice of some 103,000 Australian service personnel who lost their lives in wars and peacekeeping missions in the service of the nation.
Anzac Day began with a Dawn Service (representing a soldier’s funeral service), and the March that follows is akin to the procession of soldiers to the graveside. The commemorative service at the Cross of Sacrifice, which follows, represents the gathering at the grave of one who has made the ultimate sacrifice.
Confrontation veteran Don Cameron, vice-president of the South Australia & Northern Territory Branch of the NMBVAA, led the contingent of Malaya and Borneo veterans in this year’s Anzac March in Adelaide, South Australia.
In doing so, Cameron was paying tribute to the Iban Trackers he had served beside in Sarawak nearly sixty years ago during the Indonesian Confrontation with Malaysia.
As Private Don Cameron, he served near Kampung Gumbang as a rifleman with 6 Platoon, ‘B’ Company of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR). The two Iban Trackers attached to Don’s platoon were Balling Ajong and Unchat Unyong, from Kapit.
Also marching was Oscar Johnsson. In his long military career in the Australian Regular Army, Johnsson saw operational service as a regimental signaller in the Federation of Malaya in 1957-59 during the Malayan Emergency, on the Malay Peninsula in 1963-65, and in Sarawak on Borneo in 1965, as well as in South Vietnam in 1968-69.
In December 1962, he deployed as a rifleman with ‘C’ Company, 3RAR to Terendak Garrison in Melaka for service with the British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve. On March 20, 1965, Private Johnsson embarked with ‘C’ Company in Singapore on the troopship Auby.
The company disembarked in Kuching on March 22, and the platoons were moved by truck to Bau. From Bau, they moved by ‘tactical march’ to the company’s border position at Kampung Serikin. All companies of the battalion were in position on March 23, and on that day, 3RAR relieved the 1st Battalion, 7th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles (1/7GR) and assumed responsibility for the Bau sector in the First Division of Sarawak.
The Australian soldiers occupied a series of defensive positions, responsible for defending their allocated areas of responsibility within Sarawak and on the Sarawak-Kalimantan border. The battalion conducted counter-insurgency patrols from these fortified company patrol bases in the Bau District, close to the border between Sarawak and Indonesian Kalimantan.
The ‘C’ Company position near Kampung Serikin was the middle of the three forward company positions, covering a major Indonesian infiltration route, the Jagoi Ridge running between Serikin and Stass to the northwest.
Highly effective Iban Trackers supported the Australian rifle companies. The 3rd Battalion had 24 Iban Trackers from Sarawak attached for operational duty, and they selected Banga Rima to be their overall leader.
Oscar particularly worked with two Trackers who were assigned to ‘Charlie’ Company at Serikin—Bala Sigaw (leader) and Ajak Badinding.
A photograph in the collection of the Australian War Memorial shows three members of 3RAR on an early morning patrol, including Johnsson from South Australia and Lulut, an Iban Tracker from the Sarawak Rangers. This is believed to be Lulut Aloh from Kapit, leader of the Tracker group based at Kampung Stass.
State President Major Paul Rosenzweig OAM (ret’d) said that eight Australians lost their lives while on operational service supporting the defence of Sarawak (four died near Kampung Stass, one near Kampung Gumbang, one near Kampung Bokah, and two were swept away during a river crossing), while three Australian soldiers died after being evacuated from Sarawak.
In one of these incidents near Kampung Stass on March 23, 1965, a patrol struck an Indonesian anti-personnel mine near the border. Sergeant Reg Weiland was killed instantly, and Iban Tracker Mudah Jali died of his wounds while being carried back to the 3RAR base camp.
Major Rosenzweig, who has visited Sarawak five times, said, “Their sacrifice was not in vain, upholding the sovereignty of Sarawak. Lest we Forget”.
On April 25 this year, the South Australian Malaya & Borneo Veterans once more marched in Adelaide to honour those who served and lost their lives on active service during the undeclared Malayan wars which immediately followed World War 2.
This was a special occasion, as the NMBVAA prepares to observe the 75th anniversary of the start of Australia’s involvement in the Malayan Emergency on May 31, 1950.
Borneo veteran Cameron again led the contingent— besides his military deployment in 1965, he returned to Sarawak five times, conducting commemorative ceremonies. His son, Anthony Cameron, carried the Sabah flag.
Nathan Price carried the Australian national flag ahead of the contingent to honour his father, Dennis Price, who had deployed on counter-terrorist operations on the Thai-Malay border in 1963 and 1964.
The NMBVAA banner bearers were Matt Kuna and Ben Ortmann, the grandson of Ross Ortmann, who served in 1956-58 during the Malayan Emergency.
Branch member Vicki Crannaford carried the Malaysian national flag in memory of her brother, Signalman John Tassell (1944-1966), who lost his life on the Malay Peninsula in 1966, aged just 21.
State President Major Paul Rosenzweig OAM (ret’d) carried the Sarawak flag to honour the eleven Australians who lost their lives supporting the defence of Sarawak during Confrontation, and to honour the service and sacrifice of the Iban Trackers and all Sarawakians in defence of their homeland. — DayakDaily
