page_title: Military history of Australia
section_title: Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, 1962–66
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of Australia / Cold War / Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, 1962–66
caption_attribution_description: L/Cpl Brian Swayne from 3 RAR on active duty in Borneo during the confrontation with Indonesia. The entrance to B Company forward camp referred to at the time as FOO Bukit Knuckle.(Input from Dave1185: The 7.62mm MAG58 machine gun is actually the Australian version of the Belgian FN MAG produced under license.)
context_page_description: The military history of Australia spans the nation's 230-year modern history, from the early Australian frontier wars between Aboriginals and Europeans to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 21st century. Although this history is short when compared to that of many other nations, Australia has been involved in numerous conflicts and wars, and war and military service have been significant influences on Australian society and national identity, including the Anzac spirit. The relationship between war and Australian society has also been shaped by the enduring themes of Australian strategic culture and its unique security dilemma.
  The six British colonies in Australia participated in some of Britain's wars of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, as a federated dominion and later as an independent nation, Australia fought in the First World War and Second World War, as well as in the wars in Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam during the Cold War.
context_section_description: The Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation was fought from 1962 to 1966 between the British Commonwealth and Indonesia over the creation of the Federation of Malaysia, with the Commonwealth attempting to safeguard the security of the new state. The war remained limited, and was fought primarily on the island of Borneo, although a number of Indonesian seaborne and airborne incursions onto the Malay Peninsula did occur. As part of Australia's continuing military commitment to the security of Malaysia, army, naval and airforce units were based there as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve. Regardless the Australian government was wary of involvement in a war with Indonesia and initially limited its involvement to the defence of the Malayan peninsula only. On two occasions Australian troops from 3 RAR were used to help mop up infiltrators from seaborne and airborne incursions at Labis and Pontian, in September and October 1964.
  Following these raids the government conceded to British and Malaysian requests to deploy an infantry battalion to Borneo. During the early phases, British and Malaysian troops had attempted only to control the Malaysian/Indonesian border, and to protect population centres. However, by the time the Australian battalion deployed the British had decided on more aggressive action, crossing the border into Kalimantan to obtain information and conduct ambushes to force the Indonesians to remain on the defensive, under the codename Operation Claret. The fighting took place in mountainous, jungle-clad terrain, and a debilitating climate, with operations characterised by the extensive use of company bases sited along the border, cross-border operations, the use of helicopters for troop movement and resupply, and the role of human and signals intelligence to determine enemy movements and intentions.
  3 RAR deployed to Borneo in March 1965, and served in Sarawak until the end of July, operating on both sides of the border. The battalion had four major contacts with Indonesian forces and several smaller ones—including at Sungei Koemba, Kindau and Babang during which they inflicted heavy casualties on the Indonesians—as well as suffering casualties in two mine incidents. 4 RAR served a less-eventful tour between April and August 1966, and also operated over the border, successfully clashing with the Indonesians on a number of occasions. A squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) was also deployed in 1965 and again in 1966, taking part in cross-border operations and inflicting significant casualties on the Indonesians, even though they were often tasked with covert reconnaissance. Other units included artillery and engineers, while a number of RAN ships were involved in shelling Indonesian positions in Borneo and in repelling infiltrators in the Singapore Strait. The RAAF played a relatively minor role, although it would have been used far more extensively had the war escalated.
  Operations in Borneo were extremely sensitive and they received little press coverage in Australia, while official acknowledgement of involvement in cross-border missions only occurred in 1996. Following a military coup in Indonesia in early 1966 which brought General Suharto to power, a peace treaty was signed in August 1966 which ended the conflict. 3,500 Australians served during Confrontation; casualties included 16 dead, with seven killed in action and eight wounded.
caption: An Australian soldier manning the machine gun while on guard duty in Borneo during 1965
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Demi 35", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery 6.0.6000.16386", "Image DateTime": "2009:04:27 21:37:33", "Image ExifOffset": "2264", "Image DateTimeOriginal": "1965:01:01 12:00:00", "Image DateTimeDigitized": "1965:01:01 12:00:00", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4622", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2278", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "1965:01:01 12:00:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "1965:01:01 12:00:00", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1277", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "801", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "910064AEDF194BC3950B950301C72DDF", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}