Historical touchstone: Jack Tredrea (centre) arriving at the Bario Memorial Park, accompanied by Maj Gen Datuk Stephen Mundaw (right) and Rurum Kelabit Sarawak president Datuk Isaac Lugun (second right).
ON March 25, 1945, eight British and Australian men parachuted into the Kelabit Highlands to begin an onslaught against the Japanese army occupying Borneo.
Led by Major Tom Harrisson, they were members of the voluntary Z Special Unit participating in a mission codenamed Semut 1 to establish initial contact with the indigenous people of Borneo, train and deploy them as guerilla troops against the Japanese forces. This marked a significant chapter in the fight for freedom and peace in Sarawak and the liberation of Borneo from the Japanese.
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