Battle of Bau

After relieving the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in August 1965,{{sfn|James|Sheil-Small|1971|p=174}} the 2nd Battalion, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles (2/10 PMOGR), under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Myers, had been tasked with reducing a series of Indonesian camps along the Sungei Koemba river, about {{convert|5|mi|km}} south of Bau.{{sfn|Van der Bijl|2007|p=212}} On 21 November 1965, 'C' Company, under Captain Christopher 'Kit' Maunsell, had been sent out to locate and destroy 'J' Parachute Infantry Battalion that was attempting to establish a base near Serikin in the Bau district of Sarawak, Borneo.{{sfn|Khukuri House}}{{sfn|Rees}} Leaving the majority of the company in a harbour, the company commander and a small patrol set out early in the morning, moving through the dense jungle to search for signs of Indonesian infiltration in the area.{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}}

Hearing movement in the dense jungle, the patrol carried out a close reconnaissance which revealed a platoon-sized Indonesian force entrenched on top of a sheer-sided hill, while another group—estimated to be about company strength—was also located about {{convert|500|yards|m}} away to the west on a lower spur.{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}}{{sfn|Rees}} Moving back to the patrol base, Maunsell began giving orders for the company to carry out a deliberate attack on the Indonesian position.{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}} Because of the way in which the Indonesians had located their positions, it was necessary for the platoon-sized element on top of the hill to be dealt with first by an advanced party using the element of surprise if possible, so as not to alert the support position before the main assault could be undertaken.{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}}

A support position was established about {{convert|800|yards|m}} from the Indonesians, from where the attached forward observer would be able to call in artillery support if required.{{sfn|Rees}} In addition one platoon was positioned in a location from where they could provide support by fire on to the company-sized position in order to distract them during the initial assault.{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}} By noon the battle preparation had been completed and Maunsell led his two assault platoons in single file up the ridge towards the summit. An advance party, consisting of 16 men under the command of Lance Corporal Rambahadur Limbu, led the way, crawling silently up the steep ridge and clearing the way for the rest of the company.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}} It took over an hour to cover the {{convert|50|yards|m}} before the forward machine gun pit was located. The plan was to kill the sentry manning the machine gun silently, however, when the party was {{convert|10|yards|m}} from the pit, the sentry spotted them and opened fire, wounding one of the Gurkhas.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}}

Seeing the danger that they were in, Limbu rushed the machine gun and destroyed it with a grenade.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}} Alerted, the rest of the Indonesian platoon began to fire on the forward pit, thus making it an untenable position from which to provide support for the company attack. In order to report this fact to his platoon commander, Limbu exposed himself to enemy fire before returning to his section to continue on with the assault.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}} At the same time, Maunsell had decided to launch the main assault.{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}} The lead assault platoon, 8 Platoon, under Lieutenant Ranjit Rai, a Queen's Gurkha Officer, suppressed one of the enemy machine guns before clearing a hut that was located inside the Indonesian position. The Indonesian resistance to the assault was increasing, so Maunsell gave the order for Rai's platoon to carry out an assault on one of the secondary pits.{{sfn|Rees}} During this assault, one Gurkha was killed and another wounded. However, it proved successful, and Indonesian resistance began to falter.{{sfn|Rees}}

On the left flank, the second assault platoon, 9 Platoon, began receiving fire from another Indonesian machine gun pit and its advance was halted.{{sfn|Rees}} Under the cover of fire laid down by a two-man Bren light machine gun crew, Rambahadur Limbu charged the machine gun pit and again silenced it with a grenade.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}} The three men pressed on, jumping over the destroyed gun. However, one of the Indonesians was still alive and fired a burst as the men passed, hitting the Bren crew, before being killed himself by a grenade.{{sfn|Rees}} Limbu turned back and over the course of twenty minutes—during which he was almost constantly under fire—he proceeded to rescue them both. He carried the first man to shelter in the hut that had been cleared, before going back out to bring back the second.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}}{{sfn|Rees}} Both soldiers died of their wounds shortly afterward. Limbu returned to retrieve their Bren and provided covering fire to the final stages of the assault. Limbu killed four more Indonesians as they attempted to escape across the border.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}}

After a fire fight that lasted over an hour, the Indonesians were cleared from the top of the hill. However the fire from the company-sized position on the lower spur began to increase and the Gurkhas found themselves under pressure to withdraw.{{sfn|Rees}} Realising the danger if they remained in the location, Maunsell gave the order to retire and the company began to withdraw from the position.{{sfn|Rees}} Under the cover of accurate howitzer and mortar fire directed by the Forward Observation Officer, Lieutenant Douglas Fox, C Company was successfully extracted. The column was met by the Medical Officer, Captain Jack Wynters RAMC, who treated the wounded and, while holding the intravenous drip of one, accompanied them on the march back to Serikin in the pitch dark.{{sfn|Van der Bijl|2007|p=215}}

After the battle it was estimated that the Indonesians had suffered at least 24 men killed in the action, while the number of wounded remains unknown.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}} Against this, the British lost three men killed and two wounded, one of them seriously. Two of the dead had been the two men that Rambahadur Limbu had attempted to rescue.{{sfn|Rees}} Nevertheless, for his bravery during the action, Limbu was awarded the Victoria Cross.{{sfn|London Gazette 21 April 1966|p=4947}} For their leadership Maunsell, Rai and Fox were all awarded the Military Cross.{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}}{{sfn|Van der Bijl|2007|p=215}}{{sfn|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6109}}

• Brigade of Gurkhas
• List of Brigade of Gurkhas recipients of the Victoria Cross

{{reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = James

| first1 = Harold

| last2 = Sheil-Small

| first2 = Denis

| year = 1971

| title = The Undeclared War: The Story of the Indonesian Confrontation 1962–1966

| publisher = Rowman and Littlefield

| location = Totowa

| isbn = 978-0-87471-074-8

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Van der Bijl

| first = Nick

| year = 2007

| title = Confrontation: The War with Indonesia 1962—1966

| publisher = Pen & Sword Military Press

| location = Barnsley

| isbn = 978-1-84415-595-8

}}

Online sources

• {{cite web

| title = VC Rambahadur Limbu

| publisher = Khukuri House

| url = http://www.khukurihouseonline.com/Content/StoriesFacts/Page4.php

| access-date = 1 June 2009

| ref = {{sfnRef|Khukuri House}}

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200014/http://www.khukurihouseonline.com/Content/StoriesFacts/Page4.php

| archive-date = 3 March 2016

| url-status = dead

}}

• {{cite web

| last = Rees

| first = Simon

| title = The Scourge of Sukarno

| publisher = Historical Eye.com

| url = http://www.historicaleye.com/sukarno.html

| access-date = 1 June 2009

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100315093603/http://www.historicaleye.com/sukarno.html

| archive-date = 15 March 2010

}}

• {{wikicite

| reference =

{{London Gazette

| issue = 43959

| supp = y

|page=4947

| date = 21 April 1966

}}

| ref = {{sfnRef|London Gazette 21 April 1966}}

}}

• {{wikicite

| reference =

{{London Gazette

| issue = 43990

| supp = y

|page=6108

| date = 20 May 1966

}}

| ref = {{sfnRef|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6108}}

}}

• {{wikicite

| reference =

{{London Gazette

| issue = 43990

| supp = y

|page=6109

| date = 20 May 1966

}}

| ref = {{sfnRef|London Gazette 20 May 1966, p. 6109}}

}}

{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bau, Battle of}}

Category:Conflicts in 1965

Category:1965 in Malaysia

Category:Battles involving Indonesia

Category:Battles involving the United Kingdom

Category:Battles of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

Category:Brigade of Gurkhas

Category:History of Sarawak

Category:November 1965 in Asia