Landing at Pontian

Last updated
Landing at Pontian
Part of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Pontian seaside.jpg
The Pontian seaside, where Indonesian forces landed in August 1964.
Date17 August 1964
Location
Result Malaysian victory
Belligerents
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Malaysia.svg Hassan Yunus Flag of Indonesia.svg Sukarno
Strength
Unknown
108 paratroopers
(accompanied by Malaysian-Chinese guides)
Casualties and losses
4 Killed 104 killed or captured

The Landing at Pontian (17 August 1964) was an amphibious landing made by a small body of Indonesian troops in the Pontian District, Johor, Malaysia. The landing took place during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, an undeclared war fought between Malaysia and Indonesia during the early 1960s over the creation of a Malaysian Federation encompassing parts of northern Borneo, areas that Indonesia sought to increase its own power in Southeast Asia.

Contents

On 17 August 1964, Indonesian President Sukarno announced a 'Year of Dangerous Living' as a part of his country's Independence Day celebrations. To reinforce his point, Sukarno had ordered that a force of Indonesian troops and exiled Malaysian-Chinese land in mainland Malaysia to kick off a campaign of such invasions to create guerrilla bases in enemy territory and stir up Communist sympathizers. The effort was a failure, as targeted Malaysians proved unreceptive to Indonesian efforts and the invaders were swiftly rounded up by Anglo-Malaysian security forces.

The landing shocked the British, who had not expected such a strong and prominent step from the Indonesians, but did not incite them to respond to Sukarno's escalation of tensions. The absence of violent reply stiffened Sukarno's burgeoning resolve, and led him to continue with more landings, amphibious and airborne, throughout the fall and winter of 1964.

Origins

During the celebrations of Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands on 17 August 1964, President of Indonesia Sukarno declared that the year to come would be a 'Year of Dangerous Living.' This was meant to signal his intent upon stepping up the ongoing Confrontation with Malaysia so much as to toe the line of a powerful Anglo-Malaysian military response. Unbeknownst to his people or the Malaysians and their allies, however, Sukarno meant to follow through with his statement, and had planned a series of air and seaborne attacks against the Malaysian peninsula, an overtly aggressive act in what had been so far a conflict contained to northern Borneo. Though this was a risky move, it had a chance of capitalizing upon recent unrest in Malaya and Singapore by putting Indonesian soldiers and sympathizers inside Malaysian territory, where they could attempt to raise the populace against a very new government to whom they owed little loyalty. [1]

Landings

Sukarno planned to begin his 'Year of Dangerous Living' immediately, starting with an amphibious landing that very night (17 August) by Indonesian paratroops and Malaysian-Chinese exiles, who served as guides. [2] Their mission was twofold: the Indonesians were to establish a guerrilla base and begin to recruit and train locals in that style of warfare, whilst the others would commit acts of sabotage and carry out assassinations. The former would establish a foothold for later raids into Malaysian territory as well as attempt to create unrest among the population against the government and the British, and the latter would increase the threat of that Indonesian presence so as to exacerbate internal stresses there. [1] The Indonesians also hoped that the cover of the immense mangrove swamps would conceal the arrival of their intruders. [3]

The landings took place in the Pontian District, on the west coast of the Malaysian state of Johor, highlighted on the map above. MalaysiaJohor.png
The landings took place in the Pontian District, on the west coast of the Malaysian state of Johor, highlighted on the map above.

The landings were carried out as planned, with the troops being secretly landed in three locations along the Pontian coast during the night of 17 August. From there, however, Indonesian plans went quickly astray. The local populace proved extremely unreceptive to the Indonesian incursion, and before they could begin to set up any sort of toehold and provisional government, Malaysian security forces began to arrive on the scene. A number of units were deployed by the Malaysian government, including a company of the Royal Malay Regiment, a reconnaissance regiment, and a squadron of the Senoi Praaq jungle police, who would prove important in rounding up future landings. Half of the raiders were captured immediately upon landing, and as the Malaysians cordoned off an area with a radius of 200 miles surrounding Pontian, it became simply a mopping-up operation to apprehend the others. The Senoi Praaq would be instrumental in this process, proving adept at catching Indonesian intruders while they broke cover to obtain food from Malaysian villagers, as well as following their tracks through the jungle. The perimeter was quickly shrunk to one of only an 8-mile radius as tighter checkpoints were established and security units swept the area, and Indonesian resistance quickly collapsed. All but four were captured or killed in this effort (the vast majority captured). [3]

Aftermath

The landings at Pontian, though small in scale, and unsuccessful in nature, caused a huge political crisis for Britain. The Malaysian government was infuriated, and accused the Indonesians of "blatant aggression," threatening to strike (through Britain) at their bases in Sumatra, simultaneously putting immense pressure on London to act. [4] Though Sukarno had suffered a minor defeat, he had still managed to put the British in an extremely awkward position: if they did not retaliate, they would be seen to have lost face and to lack enough resolve to risk escalating the crisis. Retaliation, however, might bring the Confrontation towards open war, which the British were understandably unwilling to consider. The debate whether or not to act raged on in Cabinet backrooms. Lord Anthony Head proved an influential voice in the conversation, stating that interrogation had shown that more raids were impending, which would stretch British forces between the Malaysian Peninsula and Borneo, forcing an unwanted reinforcement of Southeast Asia. Head advocated preventative strikes against Indonesian bases should another raid occur. [5]

HMS Victorious, central to the Sunda Straits Crisis of 1964. HMS Victorious (R38) aerial c1959.jpeg
HMS Victorious, central to the Sunda Straits Crisis of 1964.

Before the British could decide upon a policy, however, Sukarno struck again, making an airborne assault Labis in the night of 1–2 September. Though the raid was a catastrophic failure, with one of the transport planes crashing en route, and the remainder of the troops arriving scattered with little food and battered morale, the move further infuriated the Malaysians, who in turn put pressure upon the British to act. The next day, colonial secretary Duncan Sandys authorized on-site naval commander Admiral Varyl Begg to plan for strikes against Indonesian bases in Sumatra. The British plans for retaliation were pre-empted once again, but this time by an act of their own. On August 27, the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious had sailed through the Sunda Straits without proper permission being gained from Indonesian authorities. The Indonesians, who feared that the British were attempting to provoke them into attacking the carrier as the Americans had the Vietnamese during the Gulf of Tonkin incident that had occurred earlier that month, were incensed. [6] Indonesian Foreign Minister Subandrio barred Victorious return passage through the Strait on 2 September, posing a direct challenge to the British. Officials in London determined that the challenge had to be met, and that Victorious should return through the way it came. This stance, however, met important opposition. Washington did not want to be dragged into a military action due to the British overreaching themselves. And even more importantly, Begg himself opposed the passage, due to the inability of Victorious to defend herself in the Strait. [7] What became known as the Sunda Straits Crisis was peacefully resolved, after several weeks of tension, by the Indonesians offering London another strait to pass through at Lombok, that gave the Allies an out from war, and Jakarta a passage that could be easily screened by their warships. [8] By this time, tensions were beginning to wind to a close, though more landings were attempted that December, as both sides seemed to recognize the disadvantage of fully escalating the Confrontation through any greater action. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation</span> 1963–1966 military conflict

The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the state of Malaysia from the Federation of Malaya. After Indonesian president Sukarno was deposed in 1966, the dispute ended peacefully.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukarno</span> President of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967

Sukarno was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Thorneycroft</span> British politician (1909–1994)

George Edward Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft, was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1957 and 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Kalimantan Communist Party</span> Political party in Malaysia

The North Kalimantan Communist Party was a Maoist communist party based in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in northern Borneo. It was formally founded on 19 September 1971. Before that, the group had been operating under the name Sarawak People's Guerrillas. The chairman of the NKCP was Wen Ming Chyuan and the party enjoyed close links with the People's Republic of China. The NKCP's membership was predominantly ethnically Chinese. The two military formations of the NKCP were the Sarawak People's Guerilla Force (SPGF) or Pasukan Gerilya Rakyat Sarawak (PGRS), and the North Kalimantan People's Army (NKPA) or the Pasukan Rakyat Kalimantan Utara (PARAKU). The NKCP participated in the Sarawak Communist Insurgency (1962–1990). On 17 October 1990, the North Kalimantan Communist Party signed a peace agreement with the Sarawak state government, formally ending the Sarawak Communist Insurgency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacDonald House bombing</span> 1965 bombing of the MacDonald House in Singapore

The MacDonald House bombing was a sabotage attack on the MacDonald House building in Orchard Road, Singapore, on 10 March 1965, just a few months before Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. The nitroglycerin bomb was planted by Indonesian saboteurs during the period of heightened Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, also known as the Konfrontasi. The explosion killed three people and injured at least 33 others. At the time, the building was used by HSBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subandrio</span> Indonesian politician

Subandrio was an Indonesian politician Foreign Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia under President Sukarno. Removed from office following the failed 1965 coup, he spent 29 years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guided Democracy in Indonesia</span> Period of Indonesian history from 1959 to 1966

Guided Democracy, also called the Old Order, was the political system in place in Indonesia from 1959 until the New Order began in 1966. This period followed the dissolution of the liberal democracy period in Indonesia by President Sukarno, who centralized control in the name of political stability. He claimed to have based the system based on the traditional village system of discussion and consensus, which occurred under the guidance of village elders. On the national level, however, this meant centralized rule under Sukarno: martial law, a massive reduction in civil liberties and democratic norms, and the Indonesian National Armed Forces and Communist Party of Indonesia acting as major power blocs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore in Malaysia</span> 1963–1965 Singaporean statehood in Malaysia

Singapore, officially the State of Singapore, was one of the 14 states of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 by the merger of the Federation of Malaya with the former British colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. This marked the end of the 144-year British rule in Singapore which began with the founding of modern Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. At the time of merger, it was the smallest state in the country by land area, but the largest by population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senoi Praaq</span> Unit of the Royal Malaysian Police

The Senoi Praaq is a unit of the Royal Malaysia Police made up almost entirely of the tribal people of Peninsular Malaysia known as the Orang Asli (aborigines). The name Senoi Praaq means war people or those who fight in the Semai language. Roy Davis Linville Jumper considered them one of the finest jungle fighting forces and was highly successful in diminishing the threat by communist forces during the Malayan Emergency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Indonesia</span> Geopolitical concept

Greater Indonesia was an irredentist political concept that sought to bring the so-called Malay race together, by uniting the territories of the Dutch East Indies with British Malaya and British Borneo. It was espoused by students and graduates of Sultan Idris Training College for Malay Teachers in the late 1920s, and individuals from Sumatra and Java, including Mohammad Natsir and Sukarno, on 28 September 1950. Indonesia Raya was adopted as the name of what later became the Indonesian national anthem in 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Gilchrist</span>

Sir Andrew Graham Gilchrist was a British Special Operations Executive operative who later served as the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Ireland, Indonesia, and Iceland during the Cold War.

The New Zealand armed forces saw action in Malaysia throughout the 1950s and 1960s, first as part of the British Commonwealth response to the Malayan Emergency, and then in defence of Malaysia in the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Operations Force</span> Malaysian paramilitary unit

The General Operations Force is the light infantry arm of the Royal Malaysia Police. The General Operations Force was established in 1948 during the Malayan Emergency by the British Administration when Malaya was a colony. The police service was mobilised to the field role, primarily to engaging Communist guerrillas during the emerging Insurgency. When Malaysia was formed in 1963, this law enforcement unit was then known as the Police Field Force. The title was adopted when it dropped the previous handle widely referred to as the Jungle Squad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military history of Australia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation</span>

The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation was fought from 1962 to 1966 between the British Commonwealth and Indonesia. Indonesia, under President Sukarno, sought to prevent the creation of the new Federation of Malaysia that emerged in 1963, whilst the British Commonwealth sought to safeguard the security of the new state. The war remained a limited one however, and was fought primarily on the island of Borneo, although a number of Indonesian seaborne and airborne incursions into the Malay Peninsula did occur. As part of Australia's continuing military commitment to the security of Malaysia, Australian army, naval and air force units were based there with the Far East Strategic Reserve, mainly in the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist insurgency in Sarawak</span> Communist insurgency in Malaysia

The communist insurgency in Sarawak was an insurgency in Malaysia from 1962 to 1990, and involved the North Kalimantan Communist Party and the Malaysian Government. It was one of the two Communist insurgencies to challenge the former British colony of Malaysia during the Cold War. As with the earlier Malayan Emergency (1948–1960), the Sarawak Communist insurgents were predominantly ethnic Chinese, who opposed British rule over Sarawak and later opposed the merger of the state into the newly created Federation of Malaysia. The insurgency was triggered by the 1962 Brunei Revolt, which had been instigated by the left-wing Brunei People's Party in opposition to the proposed formation of Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combat operations in 1964 during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation</span>

In 1964, command arrangements changed. 99 Gurkha Infantry Brigade HQ returned from Singapore and replaced 3 Commando Brigade HQ in Kuching. 3rd Malaysian Infantry Brigade HQ arrived to take over East Brigade in Tawau, and 51 Gurkha Infantry Brigade HQ arrived from UK to command the Central Brigade area with the 4th Division of Sarawak added to it. Its headquarters was in Brunei, and there were no roads to any of its battalions. In DOBOPS, all HQ elements were concentrated in one HQ complex on Labuan. At least one of the British batteries stationed in Malaysia was always deployed in Borneo with its 105 mm guns.

The Battle of Plaman Mapu was one of the largest battles of the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, a protracted undeclared war between Indonesia and a British-led Commonwealth of Nations over the creation of a new Malaysian state. The battle occurred as a result of an Indonesian effort to storm a British hilltop base at Plaman Mapu, on the border between the Malaysian state of Sarawak and Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landing at Kesang River</span>

The Landing at Kesang River was an amphibious raid conducted by a small force of Indonesian volunteers near the Kesang River, on the border between the Malaysian states of Malacca and Johore on the southwestern part of the Malay Peninsula. The landing was part of the broader Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, an undeclared war fought between Malaysia and Indonesia during the early 1960s over the creation of an independent Malaysian Federation. The conflict chiefly encompassed parts of northern Borneo, areas that Indonesia sought control in her bid to increase her power and influence in Southeast Asia; however, the landing represented a shift of the operational sphere toward the mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunda Straits Crisis</span> 1964 diplomatic incident in Indonesia

The Sunda Straits Crisis was a two-week confrontation between the United Kingdom and Indonesia over the passage of the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier HMS Victorious through the Sunda Strait, a major waterway separating the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, occurring between August and September 1964. The incident was part of the larger Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, an armed conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia over the formation of the latter as an independent state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indonesian Fleet Command</span> Military unit

Indonesian Fleet Command is a naval combat force of the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL), it was formed and inaugurated by the Commander of the National Armed Forces Gen. Andika Perkasa on 21 January 2022. The Fleet Command consists of three fleets, namely: 1st Fleet Command located in Tanjungpinang, 2nd Fleet Command located in Surabaya and 3rd Fleet Command located in Sorong. The Indonesian Fleet Command Headquarters is located on Jl Gunung Sahari No. 67 Central Jakarta, Jakarta.

References

  1. 1 2 Easter 2012, p. 98.
  2. Tuck 2016, p. 31.
  3. 1 2 Davis Linville Jumper 2001, p. 146.
  4. 1 2 Freeman 2003, p. 200.
  5. Boon Kwan 2005, p. 404.
  6. Easter 2012, p. 99.
  7. Easter 2012, pp. 100–101.
  8. Boon Kwan 2005, p. 411.

Sources