The Australian Special Air Service (SAS) gained its first experience of active service overseas in Borneo during the Confrontation.
The first SAS soldiers reached Brunei in February 1965. While cross-border operations into Indonesia's Kalimantan had been taking place before the Australians arrived in Borneo, participation was limited to experienced troops.
The Australian SAS's first patrols took place on the Malaysian side of the border from 28 March 1965. The patrols were mainly intended to obtain topographical information on tracks, rivers and villages, as well as conduct surveillance of known border crossing points and shadow Indonesian infiltrators.
Patrols were ordered to avoid contact, but if an incident took place, a ‘shoot and scoot’ policy was employed. Offensive action was to be avoided unless specifically ordered. Instead, most patrols were engaged in ‘hearts and minds’ operations.
For many SAS troops who served in patrols, the experience was of moving through a jungle home to abundant, exotic wildlife. However, the price paid for patrolling such beguiling scenery was mosquitoes, sand flies, leeches, fire ants and numerous other creatures that could inflict painful bites, often leading to infections.
Heat and humidity caused problems, and, as one ill-fated patrol learnt, even wild elephants could inflict mortal wounds on men with no experience dealing with such creatures.
The first member of the SAS to die on active service was killed not by the enemy, but by a rogue elephant. Lance Corporal Paul Denehey died an agonising death in the jungle, suffering unimaginable pain for several days from the terrible wound inflicted by the elephant's tusk.
Many of the patrols encountered villagers, and on more than one occasion, the hospitality offered in return for medical care and other types of aid detained the Australians for longer than had been anticipated.
In May 1965, the Australian SAS began their first cross-border patrols, known by the codename Claret. Like any Commonwealth troops involved in cross-border patrols, the SAS operated under a set of rules. The main rule was that offensive operations could not be carried out without the Director of Borneo Operations' sanction.
Unlike 3RAR, the SAS was eventually permitted to operate up to 20,000 yards on the Indonesian side of the border, beyond the limit set for infantry patrols.
During their 4 months in Borneo, the Australian SAS conducted more than 40 patrols on both sides of the border, almost half of which were solely for reconnaissance.
Patrols were usually inserted into the patrol area by helicopter, which landed at an established landing zone. If it was not possible to land, soldiers would either abseil to the ground or be winched.
Patrols were conducted entirely on foot and without resupply, so everyone involved had to carry everything they needed on their backs.
Those men from the regiment who went on to serve in the Vietnam War remembered operations in Borneo as far more physically demanding, due mainly to the nature of the terrain, the length of the patrols (one of which lasted 89 days) and the need to live on short rations. Borneo did, however, prove to be a valuable proving ground for the SAS ahead of their deployment to the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
The following TV news footage filmed in April 1966 shows an encounter between an SAS patrol and some local villagers.