Soldier H: The Headhunters of Borneo

by Shaun Clarke

  The so-called ‘Confrontation’ in Borneo had shown the necessity of having troops who could solve the unique problems raised by an ‘undeclared’ war where British forces could not overtly take the fight into enemy territory. It also confirmed once and for all that the kind of hearts-and-minds campaign devised by the SAS in Malaya could work wonders where direct military action was not a viable option.

  As with every SAS campaign, the men who took part in the Confrontation in Borneo were affected by it in different ways.

  The ‘newcomer’, Terry Malkin, returning from Borneo as a toughened, experienced trooper, was sent almost immediately to take part in the counter-insurgency campaign in Aden. There he became one of that legendary group of men who, disguised as Arabs, infiltrated the souks and bazaars to assassinate leading members of the National Liberation Front by use of the ‘double tap’ – firing a 9mm Browning High Power handgun at close range – as part of the daring ‘Keeni Meeni’ operations.

  Corporal Alf Laughton, who had survived the horrors of the Telok Anson swamp in Malaya approximately five years before his Borneo experience, was deeply shocked by the loss of his best friend, Pete Welsh, and emotionally drained by his two gruelling campaigns. At his own request he was sent for treatment to ‘the thinking man’s Belsen’ – Ward 11 of the British Army Psychiatric Unit – where he was gradually coaxed out of his depression and returned to the regiment to become a ruthlessly efficient member of the Directing Staff at 22 SAS Training Wing, Hereford.

  Like Corporal Laughton, Sergeant Richard Parker had physically survived the horrors of both jungle campaigns, but was psychologically scarred by his experiences, as well as by the loss of so many good friends. Eschewing psychiatric help, Dead-eye solved his problems in his own way, mainly by spending most of his spare time alone, reading books on military theory, and by training himself to live without the need for friends who might be killed in battle. In 1972, by then dubbed ‘Soldier C’ by some snooping journalists, he was one of those who took part in the fight to clear the fanatical Adoo guerrillas from the summit of the mighty Jebel Dhofar in Oman. He survived that as well.

  ‘Tell me in one sentence,’ Terry Malkin said in the Paludrine Club in the SAS base at Hereford, just before they were shipped out to Aden, ‘how you’ve managed to survive all that shit.’

  ‘Who dares wins,’ Dead-eye told him.

  Discover other books in the SAS Series

  Discover other books in the SAS Series published by Bloomsbury at

  www.bloomsbury.com/SAS

  Soldier A: Behind Iraqi Lines

  Soldier B: Heroes of the South Atlantic

  Soldier C: Secret War in Arabia

  Soldier D: The Colombian Cocaine War

  Soldier E: Sniper Fire in Belfast

  Soldier F: Guerillas in the Jungle

  Soldier G: The Desert Raiders

  Soldier H: The Headhunters of Borneo

  Soldier J: Counter Insurgency in Aden

  Soldier K: Mission to Argentina

  Soldier L: The Embassy Siege

  Soldier M: Invisible Enemy in Kazakhstan

  Soldier N: Gambian Bluff

  Soldier O: The Bosnian Inferno

  Soldier P: Night Fighters in France

  Soldier Q: Kidnap the Emperor!

  Soldier R: Death on Gibraltar

  Soldier S: The Samarkand Hijack

  Soldier T: War on the Streets

  Soldier U: Bandit Country

  Soldier V: Into Vietnam

  Soldier W: Guatemala – Journey Into Evil

  Soldier X: Operation Takeaway

  Soldier Y: Days of the Dead

  Soldier Z: For King and Country

  This electronic edition published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

  First published in Great Britain 1993 by Bloomsbury Publishing

  Copyright © 1993 Bloomsbury Publishing

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  eISBN: 9781408842249

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