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.

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.

3 RAR, which was based at Camp Terendak in Malacca, was subsequently used to mop up two small airborne and seaborne landings near Labis and Pontian in September and October 1964.

However, by the time the Australian battalion deployed the British had decided on more aggressive action, crossing borders to obtain information and forcing the Indonesians to remain on the defensive, under the codename Operation Claret.

[2] Given the sensitivity of Claret operations and the potential consequences if they were exposed they were controlled at the highest level, and were highly classified at the time, with the participants sworn to secrecy.

[9] 3 RAR formally relieved a British Army battalion, the 1/7th Gurkhas, in the Bau area of Sarawak on 22 March 1965, although they had mounted a number of familiarisation patrols inside Malaysian territory over the proceeding weeks.

[10] Joining the West Brigade, the Australians were initially deployed in a series of company bases along the border, guarding the approaches to the capital Kuching just 31 miles (50 km) away.

[11] Opposing them were a number of Indonesian units, including elements of the Resimen Para Komando Angkatan Darat (RPKAD) and the Diponegoro Division, normally based in KODAM 7 in central Java.

After several days of careful and laborious movement through the thick jungle Broderick established a patrol base on the high ground overlooking the river on 26 May and sent forward a small reconnaissance party of three men with Lieutenant Patrick Beale.

The forward element subsequently detected a party of Indonesians in a re-entrant below, talking loudly and firing random shots, seemingly unaware of the proximity of the Australians and unconcerned with basic notions of security.

The fourth vessel subsequently pulled quickly to the shore out of sight of the remainder of the Australians, with Jackson engaging it with two grenades and small arms fire before his weapon jammed.

[21] The action had lasted just two minutes to this point, yet already a party of approximately 10 Indonesians across the river began to engage the Australians with heavy automatic fire, although it was largely inaccurate.

[22] Jackson was subsequently awarded the Military Medal for his "complete disregard for his own safety, [which] prevented the Indonesians from landing on the near bank and attacking the other members of the ambush.

He contributed much to the overwhelming success of the engagement"; while Beale received the Military Cross for "his personal bravery, inspiring leadership, judgment and skill".

[25] For his leadership of C Company throughout 3 RAR's deployment, which "[brought] out those highest qualities expected of professional soldiers", Hodgkinson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 24 May 1966.

[27][28][29] As a consequence, the Indonesians planned to increase their activity against the Gumbang, Tringgus and Bukit Knuckle areas, while additional forces were also subsequently redeployed against Serian.

[32] Following the resumption of Claret operations the Australian battalion later followed this up with another profitable mission at Babang on 12 July, contributing to the wider success of the British-Commonwealth forces in slowly asserting control on the war.

[25] Overall, Operation Claret was largely successful in gaining the initiative, inflicting significant casualties on the Indonesians and keeping them on the defensive, before being suspended late in the war.

However, by this time the war was winding down as peace negotiations had begun between Malaysia and Indonesia, and although 4 RAR was involved in a number of contacts, its tour was less eventful.