KUCHING: The first and more well-known George Cross recipient from Sarawak was the late Awang Raweng but there was another George Cross winner from the Lun Bawang tribe.
He was the late Ganung Labung Ukap, a Lun Bawang from Long Semadoh, Lawas – just a mountain away from the Ba-Kelalan Highlands in Northern Sarawak.
Awang, an Iban, fought in the 1950s against the communist terrorists in Malaya. Ganung Ukap fought with the British soldiers during the Japanese in the 1940s during the Japanese Occupation in Sarawak.
When war reached his village of Long Beluyu during the Japanese Occupation in the 1940s, Ganung, a farmer, was recruited by British soldiers to assist in their campaign against the Japanese.
Knowing the jungle like the back of his hand, he, his brother, and fellow villagers served as trackers, helping to defend their village against the invading troops.
Born in 1951, Ganung who passed away in 2004 was an ordinary farmer when the war came. He was absorbed into the Border Scouts when the war was over. He retired from the police force and was made the village chief of his village.
His wartime efforts were long forgotten after peace returned to his village — until the 1970s, when Peace Corps volunteers arrived in Sarawak and, out of curiosity, began asking about the sacrifices made by local Indigenous people who had played a significant role in the war.


Ganung’s youngest son Richard Labung Ganung was the person instrumental in giving the information as he was contacted to give interviews with the Peace Corps volunteers serving as teachers in the villages.
The Peace Corps then contacted the Central Chancery of the Orders of the Knighthood in London responsible for the administration of the George Cross awards about the pivotal role and heroic efforts of Ganung Ukap who gave his life defending his village.
From the enquiries, contact was made to the ambassador to Malaysia 1980s RS Hardman Defense Secretary High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur who informed the British Veteran Association in the United Nations.
In 1980, the Ambassador to Malaysia arranged a ceremony at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur to posthumously award Ganung the George Cross and the Star of the Pacific. His son received the honours on his late father’s behalf. The medals were presented by R.S. Hardman, the British High Commissioner based in Kuala Lumpur.
The George Cross was the highest award for valour and can be bestowed posthumously with either the next of kin or the son as the recipient.
As the youngest son of his late father, Richard who was not born during the war remembered the stories told by his father when he was about five years old.
”My father was just an ordinary farmer before the war,” recalled Richard who was a standout sportsman from the Lun Bawang tribe.
“He was living in Long Beluyu of 50 doors with an estimated about 200 people in the early days he was recruited as a jungle tracker and later absorbed into the Sarawak Rangers.

“I was not born yet but my eldest brother Ben was born at that time. The story was told by my father that the people all go to the jungle while the trackers guard our village.
“He was recruited by the British soldiers as border scouts working as trackers for they knew the jungle very well.
“As they lived his whole life in the village he and the Lun Bawang villagers know the jungle well and can name the rivers or the hills in their area.
“After the war ended, he retired from the force and returned to tend his farm with his war exploits faded into the background and forgotten.
“Credit should go to the Peace Corps volunteers who made that link and highlighted their war gallantry and their precious role in bringing to light their efforts contributed by the Lun Bawang who played a hand in Sarawak’s freedom.
“Our village in Long Semadoh was just a mountain away from the Ba-Kelalan Highlands in Northern Sarawak before the Japanese war came to his village in the 1940s.
“The Japanese soldiers wanted to capture the airfield at Long Bawan in Ba-Kelalan, but they were trapped in the valley as they were blocked by the mountain.


“The Japanese walked through the valley and halfway to Long Semadoh. The British surrounded them from both sides and the villagers threw rocks at them and they could not escape. “
“The villagers used rifles during the war and we don’t use much blowpipe but do use the poison called “Laneat” said Richard.
“During the Japanese time, the people in our village all go to hide in the jungle and they managed to survive the ordeal for they are used to living near the jungle.
“After the war ended, my late father retired from the force and returned to tend his farm with his war exploits faded into the background and forgotten.
“All these are featured in the mini Museum at the old wing of the old Museum building. The Japanese tried to capture the airfields at Ba-Kelalan and. I also heard from some people that there are remains of war ordnance like bombs or plane wreckage at Batu Lawi which are remnants of the war in that area.
“Of course, I am quite proud of my father being awarded the George Cross medal as very few in Sarawak receive that same award.
He added these medals are won by the recipients on special occasions such as the national day or other special occasions.
The Lun Bawang who lived in the Highlands of Long Bawan numbered some 17,676 in Sarawak in the 2020 census, 6,941 in Sabah and 23,000 in Indonesia, 1,110 in Brunei dialect. They are sometimes called Trusan or Lundayeh.