Gunfire, cannon shells and the longest two minutes

Retired 2nd Ranger serviceman Abdul Rahman Maidin who had several close shaves with death while serving at Pulau Sebatik near Tawau during the Confrontation and as a commando fighting the communists in Perak. (Sept 14)

IT was a still night in 1966. After several hours of night patrol, Pvt Abdul Rahman Maidin was looking forward to some rest.

But just before he and four other Malaysian 2nd Ranger soldiers reached their camp in Kampung Mantadak on Pulau Sebatik, the sound of machine guns filled the air.

Cannon shells landed and exploded just metres away from them.

The shocked soldiers dived for what little cover there was in an area which only had coconut and fruit trees.

The rain of howitzer artillery from the Indonesian military lasted about two minutes.

“That was the longest two minutes of my life,” said Abdul Rahman, a Dusun who was just 16 when he signed up to join the 2nd Rangers of the Malaysian army at the height of the nation’s Confrontation with Indonesia.

He was among 40 Sabahan soldiers of the C Company of the 2nd Rangers deployed to Pulau Sebatik near Tawau in 1966.

Brave soul: Abdul Rahman joined the army when he was 16 and is now the Tambunan district’s community development officer.

That posting at the frontlines of the Malaysian-Indonesian Confrontation largely played out at the border of the state and Kalimantan.

Pulau Sebatik was divided between Malay­sia and Indonesia. The village of Mantadak, where C Company was based, was located about 300m from the border.

“We were returning to camp after patrol one day when the lieutenant decided to test a light machine gun. The Indonesian soldiers must have thought they were under attack,” Abdul Rahman said.

Surviving the barrage, he soon faced ano­ther close shave with death when a grenade exploded near him.

Every evening, the soldiers would set up booby traps around their camp by gingerly pulling the safety pins from a grenade and placing them in tin pots with strings attached around the camp parameter.

The strings would trigger an explosion if touched. If nothing happened at night, the soldiers would carefully reinstall the safety pins in the morning.

“One morning, one of my teammates Cpl Zakaria, another soldier and I were re-installing the safety pins when a grenade suddenly slipped from Cpl Zakaria’s hands.

“He quickly kicked it away while screaming. We dropped like lightning to the ground.

“The grenade exploded just metres from us. Fortunately, no one was injured,” he said.

In 1971, Abdul Rahman underwent commando training at the Sungai Udang Camp in Malacca, graduating with a green beret.

A year later, he was among 42 commandos sent to Perak to take on the communists ope­rating along the Thai border areas.

He retired as a lance corporal in 1974 and returned to his native Tambunan district. Now 66 years old, he has been the area’s community development officer for 22 years.

“I feel a sense of satisfaction that I was able to do my part in ensuring that my children and their children live in a sovereign Malaysia,” he said.