Indonesia-Malaysia Conflict: Rare Footage Inside Borneo’s Jungle War (1964)

Captured Indonesian Commandos

On 4 August, 1964, Sandy Gall reported from the jungles of Borneo on the ongoing undeclared war between Indonesia and Malaysia. The conflict had begun on 20 January 1963 after President Sukarno opposed the formation of Malaysia, established after the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak merged.

Here cameras capture Gurkha soldiers engaged in the jungle warfare, as well as the ’ hearts and minds' campaign of the British Army, and rare footage of Sukarno’s fighters engaged in a raid near Barrio.

Thank you to all the Commonwealth Troops for your services especially in the area of Gunung Gajah now Kampung Bunan village near Mongkos at the border of Sarawak and Kalimantan where a heavy shoot out happened and there was curfew.

As a Dayak from Sarawak, Malaysia, I don’t want to be part of a country that cannot manage its own overpopulation, massive poverty, social issues, and unreported crimes. I’m also proud that we’ve remained Dayak, despite attempts at Islamization to turn us into Malays (happened in 1940s~).

Also, thanks to the British and Brooke family, we were protected, educated, and left with a system that is still acceptable and in use today. Sadly, British politicians now seem to be destroying their own nation. Britain is no longer "Great".

I know our government is not perfect, but for now, it is still far better than many others. We managed to stabilize ourselves, even though Sarawak was neglected under vile chief minister during Mahathir's era.

Corruption and greed exists everywhere, but the only way to fight them is for the community to stay united, informed, and willing to take action.