Page 63 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
the Indonesians and the British.
In their confrontation of Malaysia (Saracrok and
Katmatun) the Indonesians landed small groups of army personnel or armed raiders into Malaya and the islands of Singapore. The sole aim being to provoke an uprising of the population against the government. The Indonesians also infiltrated small parties across the land border into Borneo in an attempt to stifle the indigenous Communist guerrilla bands – preparing the way for a later much larger scale invasion. Friendly security forces succeeded in foiling the invasion and eliminated the external aggression, despite the invaders being well-trained as a modern Army, with Naval and Air support.
What became known as the Brunei Revolt, or ‘Azohori Revolt’ (named after its leader), took place on 8th December 1962. Pro-Sukarno rebels, known as the North Kalimantan National Army, tried to capture the Sultan of Brunei who had called on the British for help. Within hours, two companies of Gurkhas had been airlifted in from Singapore to be joined over the following days by other units including the Queen’s Own Highlanders and 42 Royal Marine Commando. After rescuing several hostages and securing Brunei’s key strategic points – such as its radio stations, government buildings and oil refineries – the Indonesian supported rebellion was easily suppressed. However, the Revolt marked a change in Indonesian policy towards Malaysia. The background to the rebels’ plan to take the Sultan, spoke volumes about local feelings of allegiance, anger and ...fear.
Raids from across the border in Kalimantan (Indonesian border) increased with the raiders being recruited from Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore and led by the Indonesian Army and Marine Corps. The uprising was suppressed by the British. Sukarno’s extensive subversive campaign on ’our’ side of the border was met with a spectacular lack of success, due in no small part to the vast, and aforementioned, ‘Hearts and Minds’ campaign which won friends among the tribes living near the border.5
Brunei covers only 2,230 square miles. At the time of the Brunei Revolt its ninety thousand people, numbered just over 50% Malays, around 25% Chinese, living alongside those native to Borneo. The Sultanate lived on its agriculture and the supply of timber from its abundant rainforests. And that’s the way it remained until Shell Petroleum discovered oil in the small town of Seria (located close to today’s British Army Jungle Warfare Wing). From then on, oil took over as the
Sultan’s prime and universally attractive source of wealth.
In the 1960s, the Sultan, Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin, ruled the State autocratically, nevertheless it was with an amount of direct pressure from the Malay and British Governments. Saifuddin agreed to elections from a legislative council for the first time and was allowed to nominate over half the council. The opposition, the People’s Party and its military wing, the North Kalimantan National Army, exercised and influenced more and more to establish, by force, if necessary, a Confed- eration of the Borneo States – Sarawak, North Borneo (Sabah, formerly British North Borneo) and Brunei. The final stage was to have had an obligation to Indonesia.
Many Bruneians were attracted to this Confed- eration and assumed that the Sultan would be their Head of State. This presumption, coupled with the new wealth of Brunei oil, was in contrast to neighbouring Sabah and Sarawak who had little in the way of revenue. Elections were held, and although the People’s Party won, the Sultan overruled, and dominated the Legislative Council with his own supporters. The North Kalimantan National Army Commander raised a sizeable group of rebels – semi-trained volunteers – who would not go unnoticed. The rebels’ objectives were three-fold: firstly, to seize the Sultan, second to seize weapons and ammunition by capturing many police stations and finally to take over the oilfield in Seria. The rebel force planned to achieve their third objective by using European hostages and costly equipment as bargaining chips with the UK and Brunei Shell Corporation.
In the early hours of Saturday 8th December 1962, the rebels launched their attack. Initially they stormed the police stations, and then the Sultan’s Palace, or Istana, as well as the Prime Minister’s house and the power stations. Fortunately, due to some advanced warning, several of the attacks in Bandar-Seri-Begawan were thwarted, and conse- quently, the Sultan evaded capture.
From a social and economic point of view the most concerning situation had unfolded in Seria, where the rebels had captured the Police station and were dominating the oilfield. Despite success- fully seizing several hostages, the rebels lacked momentum allowing the Panaga Police Station nearby to hold off their advance. Across the South China Sea from Singapore, UK Forces were mobilised with the aim of retaking or securing the capital – then called, Brunei Town – before going on to urgently recapture the Seria oilfields.
5 ‘Confrontation’ by Russell Miller.
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