GAINING INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence is usually referred to as being Background or Current . Background is everything about a country or area : history , geography , politics , economy , religion , customs etc . Today it is amazing what you can ascertain on Google or the CIA Web Site . Current intelligence is something you can act on ie Where is Bin Laden . Compared with the 1960 s there has been a technological revolution . Although , I presume that in Borneo we were listening to Indonesian radio traffic intelligence in the main was acquired from human sources .

In my area you had to turn the clock back to the War against the Japanese . An SAS officer , Tom Harrison , and his team were parachuted into Bario to make contact with the Kelabits who were harbouring downed American aircrew and protecting them from capture by the Japanese . The SAS also organised them to ambush Jap patrols using their blowpipes . In some longhouses you  still see the shrunken heads of Japanese soldiers . At the end of the War Tom Harrison stayed on in Sarawak and became the curator of the Museum in Kuching  ,the capital . However , in 1963 he came out of retirement and helped mobilise his old mates the Kelabits to intercept the rebels fleeing from Brunei after their failed revolt . He also passed onto the SAS some of his old contacts amongst both Kelabits and Muruts .

One of these contacts was Sara Dakung who lived near the border in Ba Kelalan. I had met  him through CSM Smith and it was eventually information from him that led to Mike Peel and I getting the MC indifferent contacts .

The bonding between Brits and these highland tribes during the War was to pay dividends eighteen years later . However , one thing was clear to me and that was that the local women were off limits and I stressed this to my platoon. If they had established relationships it would have upset the local bucks and intelligence would dry up. It was important to respect peoples customs. The Muruts were exceptionally polite people and saying please and thank you in their language was important , respecting women and giving them privacy when they bathed in the river , not swearing , all these little things were important .Perhaps another thing in our favour was that the Indonesian troops opposite were from Java and were Muslim.

Indonesia is a vast conglomerate and identity is complex. Where we were Muruts lived on both sides of the border. One amusing story is of a tribe who lived in Indonesia ( Kalimantan ) who approached a Political Official in Sarawak and indicated they wanted to live in Sarawak . He stressed how difficult it would be with visas etc . They responded you have got it all wrong we do not want to move we want you to move the border .

The Border Scouts were of some concern . I had inherited 20 from the SAS . They came from different kampongs up and down the valley and varied in age from fifteen to forty . They were not really soldiers but were a source of intelligence .Only about five were any good in the jungle .

This is where another character comes into the picture . The big chief General WC Walker had put a bachelor British Gurkha Lieutenant Colonel John Cross in charge of the Borer Scouts . He was an eccentric character and spoke thirteen different languages . Well I was told he was coming to see me and expected him to arrive by helicopter . Well one of my sentries spotted these two figures coming down the valley : it was John Cross with his Gurkha orderly who had walked from Long Semado two days away . He stayed overnight and we had long talks . Having not talked to another officer for some time it was like a health tonic . I explained  my concerns about the Border Scouts and one fear was that living near the border could easily be kidnapped by the Indonesians . In the end we concocted a plan whereby we got the Border Scouts to burn their uniforms : leaked to the Indonesians we had had a mutiny but continued to use the Scouts as a covert source of information . Not sure how it really worked in the end as we then handed over to 2/7 GR.

When the SAS left the Sqn Comd ,Bill Dodd came in and stressed my job was to gain intelligence. He did not really explain how you did it so I had to start working it out for myself . I wished that after the Jungle Warfare Course I had been sent on a Malay language course , that sure would have helped . I was concerned that an Indonesian Intelligence Sergeant , Paul Padan , had been through my area and gone as far north as Long Semado posing as a trader .

My first move was to get all the headman together and explain it was crucial I be informed of any strangers entering the valley and that they were to use the Border Scouts as runners. I then made contact with Sara Dakong to establish a relationship . He would come in now and again to get ammunition for the pump shotgun the SAS had given him .

Whilst over time informants increased Sara Dakong remained our most valuable source . The Indonesian Paul Padan tried to cultivate our medical dresser but he reported all contact to me . Near the end we did have a girl Mikel Ganang who did the laundry for my opposite number in the Indonesian Army .

We did spend a lot of time on patrol .Some of this was high visibility going from kampong to kampong which was to boost confidence and be part of deterrence but we also climbed up onto the hills which flanked the valley to check for any signs of infiltration . Half way through the tour I was given two Iban trackers from the Sarawak Rangers .These guys were fantastic . I know all the theory about tracking but am frankly quite useless. These trackers could provide you with the most incredible information. In the end I never went anywhere without one .

The key in some ways was you had 800 eyes and ears in the valley and you had to keep them on side.Hearts and Minds was the great cry . Not all my schemes worked. I had arranged for the RAF to drop a 40 gallon drum of kerosene as a Christmas present for the locals but the parachute drifted and landed in a paddy field , split open and ruined all the rice . I then got into the issue of compensation . How much is a paddy field worth : they did not teach you that at Sandhurst .