The Battle of Long Jawai was one of the earliest battles of the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation

Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation during 1962–1966 was Indonesia’s political and armed opposition to the creation of Malaysia. It is also known by its Indonesian/Malay name Konfrontasi...

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Background

On 25 September 1963, Captain John Burlingson arrived at the village of Long Jawai, population of 500, and began setting up defenses. His forces consisted of four Gurkhas led by Corporal Tejbahadur Gurung, two PFF Troopers, and 21 local Malaysian Border Scouts. However, an Indonesian reaconaissance party had been hiding in one of the village longhouses, and was soon reinforced by a full scale raiding party. The Ghurkas and Malaysians were oblivious to the danger. The Indonesians had moved into this area with 200 men and 300 porters.

Battle

On the early morning of 28 September, a Malaysian border scout left his position to visit his sick wife in the village. While in the village, he spotted some Indonesian soldiers and raced back to warn his comrades. Corporal Gurung then rushed to the signalers and told them to call for support. He then grabbed a case of grenades and returned to the hill. As soon as he reached the top, the Indonesians fired 60mm mortars at them. As the signalers were trying to call in support from a school hut, the Indonesians raked the hut with gunfire, killing one Gurkha and one PFF operator. Another PFF operator was wounded, but managed to stagger away back to his comrades. Meanwhile, the forces on the hill received heavy fire, but returned fire and put up a spirited defense. The fighting lasted for several hours. One Gurkha was killed by mortar fire, and another wounded by a bullet to the leg. Five Indonesians were killed. The Malaysian border scouts tried to slip away when they lost spirit. All but one were captured and frog marched away. The remaining Gurkha's retreated. The Indonesians proceeded to execute 10 of the captured border scouts, plunder the village, and bury their dead. Other Gurkha units were soon airlifted in by helicopter and began attacking stragglers and small units broken off from the main force, all the while hunting for the main force. 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. 26 Indonesians were killed in a boat ambush, with 2 others being killed in separate ambushes.

Aftermath

The battle had proved costly for both sides, with 13 British and Malaysian deaths and 33 Indonesian deaths. The local population lost all trust of the Indonesian after watching the killings of the captured border scouts.