Battle of Sungei Koemba

Part of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation

An Australian soldier from 3RAR with an L4A4 Bren light machine-gun, on patrol near the Sarawak-Kalimantan border, 1965.

Date	27 May – 12 June 1965
Location	Sungei Koemba river, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
Result	Australian victory

Belligerents

Australia

Indonesia

Commanders and leaders

William Broderick
Ivor Hodgkinson

Unknown

Units involved

3 RAR

440 Battalion

Strength

~120 men

Unknown

Casualties and losses

None

~31 killed

The Battle of Sungei Koemba (27 May – 12 June 1965) took place during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Involving Australian and Indonesian troops, the battle consisted of a series of ambushes launched by the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), along the Sungei Koemba river in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). The ambushes were part of the wider Operation Claret which involved cross-border operations by British-Commonwealth units from bases in Sarawak, penetrating up to 10,000 yards (9,100 m) into Indonesian territory with the aim of disrupting the movement and resupply of Indonesian forces and to keep them off balance.

The first ambush was conducted by two platoons from B Company on 27 May 1965 and resulted in significant Indonesian casualties, for no loss to the Australians. The second ambush was conducted a fortnight later and was set a little further downstream from the last one, this time by a platoon from C Company, occurring on 12 June 1965 and again resulting in heavy Indonesian casualties for no loss to the Australians.

Following Malayan independence from Britain in 1957, proposals to federate the states of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Singapore led to tensions with Indonesia. In late-1962 the Indonesian president, Sukarno, had begun military operations in an attempt to destabilise the new state, including an attempt to seize power in the independent enclave of Brunei in December. Following the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, hostilities grew with military activity increasing along the Indonesian side of the border in Borneo, as small parties of armed men began infiltrating Malaysian territory on propaganda and sabotage missions. Carried out by Indonesian irregular "volunteers", these operations continued throughout 1963. However, by 1964 Indonesian regular army (TNI) units had also become involved.

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