Source: Facebook Hj Robert Rizal Abdullah 6 April 2021
BACKGROUND
The year was 1973. The State was Sarawak. The situation in Sarawak was that it was still battling the Communist insurgency which had started in 1970, almost at the same time that Chin Peng had begun his second phase of the Insurgency War in Malaya.
On April 20, 1970, seven of our men from C Coy 3rd Rangers were killed in an ambush by a group of 30 to 40 CTs near Kroh, Perak. A year later on May 14, 1971, we had our revenge when we eliminated 7 of the 8 CTs from the 6th Assault Unit who had came down to Kulim, Kedah for certain missions. That success catapulted 3rd Rangers into the limelight. The Unit was the best choice to be sent to Sarawak to help fight the Communist menace there.
Sarawak Operational Tour 1973.
I was then a Lieutenant (two pips) and just before the Battalion moved to Sarawak, I was honoured to be the Commander of the Battalion’s Strike Force named Kilat Platoon or Lightning Platoon. That was what I had been hoping for. I would have every opportunity to battle the CTs – something I had been yearning for.
Op Jelaku 3.
No sooner had the first group arrived in Serian in January 1973, it was sent to the inaccessible Nonok Peninsula to seek and destroy the CTs that had been making it their safe sanctuary for a long time. The group had made contact and killed one CT. My platoon was airlifted in to help out.
I didn’t waste any time. I straight away began my search. Just to let you all know the terrain was extremely difficult. Nonetheless, no obstacle, however difficult they might be, could hold me and my men back.
January was the landas season in Sarawak. As Nonok Peninsula was a flat area, it was one vast swamp that at times reached up to our chests. Finding dry ground was by sheer luck. Map reading and ascertaining our positions too was difficult as there were no visible reference points. I had to rely on the compass and common sense.
On the second day, the non-stop rain fizzled down into drizzles and the sun appeared momentarily and with it the welcomed heat. There was the “hujan panas”. According to my elders in my long house, it was always associated with something not good. I told my men to be extra careful.
A few minutes after that my leading scout whispered to me ” ada bunyi tin kosong tuan”. That must be a CT sentry giving the warning to his comrades on our presence.
I shook the platoon into an extended line with one Section of ten men on my left flank and another Section to my right. We advanced in that formation towards the sound. A few minutes later I heard my men on my right shouted “musuh hadapan” followed by bursts of automatic fire. I hastened towards the soldier who had shouted and released the shots. “I saw a CT sentry and fired at him”.
We doubled up our pace and I found myself facing an open ground that seemed to be the CTs overnight resting place. They had just broken camp and was probably just about to leave.
Bullets splashed in the water to my left and I saw a figure took cover behind a huge tree 30 metres in front of me. He must had been a bad shot, I thought. I crouched low and waited for the figure to reappear which he did in a split second. That was enough for me. I fired a couple of short bursts from my Baretta 5.56mm Automatic Rifle. I saw him stumbled backward as my bullets slammed into him.
There were stiff fighting to my right which stopped after a few minutes.
We searched the place and found two dead CTs which we winched out a couple of days later. That was my first success. Two weeks in the swamp had its toll. Many of us, including me, had developed itchy rashes on both our feet from the knee down.
