BAU: The Indonesia Malaysia Confrontation may have been described as an undeclared conflict, but those who served along Sarawak’s border knew it as war.
National Malaya and Borneo Veterans Association Australia president Major Paul Rosenzweig said returning to Stass brought the veterans back to a place closely connected to the beginning of Australia’s involvement in the conflict.
“People say in Australia that the Confrontation wasn’t a war, but when we come here to the border, we all know that it was a war.
“For our veterans who served here, they knew it was a war,” he said when speaking at the association’s Operation Hornbill 2026 Stass Chapter Reunion Dinner at the Kampung Krawong Stass Community Hall here on Monday (Aug 24).
Rosenzweig said A Company of the Third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment established its campsite on what is now the grounds of SK Stass when Australian troops first arrived in Sarawak for Confrontation operations.
On the first day of operations, Sergeant Reg Weiland and Iban tracker Muda Jali were killed during a reconnaissance patrol towards the border, he said.
An Australian soldier and another Iban tracker were wounded and subsequently evacuated.
Rosenzweig said the deaths gave Stass a special place in the association’s history and made returning to the former campsite deeply significant for its members.
He said the association’s work rested on four pillars, namely honouring the fallen, acknowledging veterans, remembering Malaysia and looking towards the future.
“We hold our ceremonies in Australia, and every few years we come back and hold a ceremony in Kuching to honour the fallen,” he said.
During the reunion, the association contributed RM2,000 to SK Stass in remembrance of the school ground’s historical role as the Australian troops’ campsite.
The contribution, intended to support the development and needs of the school’s pupils and staff, also commemorated the association’s enduring connection with Stass.
It also presented books recording the veterans’ experiences and the history of the Confrontation to help preserve their accounts for future generations.
