On Monday 28th of August 2023, a team of five from British Forces Brunei (BFB) joined with Australian, New Zealand and Malaysian military veterans to conduct a Service of Commemoration in the Sarawak Heroes Memorial Park in Kuching, Malaysia.
This was to mark the 57th anniversary of the signing of the Malaysia-Indonesia Peace Agreement, which ended the Indonesian Confrontation with Malaysia. The event was kindly facilitated by the Sarawak Tourism Federation.
The team was led by Captain Imbahadur Ghale (Second in Command Support Company, The First Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles (1 RGR)), on behalf of Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Stanford-Tuck, Commanding Officer BFB and 1 RGR, acknowledged the passing of Captain Rambahadur Limbu VC MVO (1939-2023) who was the only recipient of the Victoria Cross from the Emergency and Confrontation campaigns. He then read the Victoria Cross citation and a message from Colonel (Retd) DG Hayes CBE, Chairman of the Gurkha Brigade Association was read out.
Several high-profile dignitaries attended this special day to look back with honour, pride and reflection for those personnel from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Commonwealth military and police forces, including Malaya, Malaysia and Singapore, who served in the post-World War Two campaigns of the Malayan Emergency, the Brunei Revolt, the Thai-Malay border campaign and Confrontation, fought on the Malay Peninsula and in Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak.
By Captain Imbahadur Ghale, The First Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles
