SHAH ALAM: Ranger memorial officiated. A memorial to mark the location of a 1972 deadly ambush near Lundu, Sarawak, involving the Seventh Royal Ranger Regiment (7 RRD) was unveiled in a ceremony on May 3. The ceremony was officiated by the Sarawak Tourism Minister DS Abdul Karim Hamzah.
The idea for the memorial was first mooted by Colonel (rtd) Suhirtharatnam a/l Kulatratnam in 2017 and work on it was completed on March 21, 2020. However, the unveiling ceremony was only conducted on May 3 due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
According to a release by BTDM and 9th Infantry Brigade, the memorial marked the ambush on March 26, 1972 where 15 soldiers from the 7th RRD were killed. Four others were injured. In response, a large-scale operation was conducted where eleven communist terrorists were killed, two captured and two surrendered. The release:
Tugu peringatan ini didirikan bertujuan untuk memperingati peristiwa serang hendap terhadap Batalion Ketujuh Rejimen Renjer Diraja (7 RRD) pada 26 Mac 1972. Dalam insiden tersebut, seramai 15 orang anggota telah terkorban dan empat orang anggota lagi cedera.
Pada akhir tahun 1971, pasukan 7 RRD yang berpangkalan di Sungai Petani, Kedah telah diaturgerakkan ke Lundu untuk melaksanakan operasi membanteras ancaman Pengganas Komunis (PGK) dan Pasukan Gerila Rakyat Sarawak (PGRS) yang semakin meningkat di Bahagian Pertama dan Kedua Sarawak. Setelah berlakunya insiden serang hendap tersebut, Operasi BELLA telah dilancarkan dan 7 RRD berjaya menghapuskan seramai 15 anggota PGK (11 dibunuh, 2 ditawan dan 2 menyerah diri) sebelum pasukan pulang ke Sungai Petani pada bulan Disember 1972.
Selain itu, Tugu Peringatan Kampung Jangkar ini juga menjadi simbolik sokongan dan kerjasama yang diberikan oleh masyarakat setempat kepada Pasukan Keselamatan dan agensi-agensi kerajaan dalam membanteras PGK dan PGRS di kawasan tersebut.
Pembinaan tugu peringatan merupakan cetusan ilham serta idea oleh Kol Suhirtharatnam a/l Kulatratnam (B) pada tahun 2017. Pembinaan tugu peringatan telah siap sepenuhnya pada tahun 2020. Namun, majlis perasmian yang dirancangkan pada 21 Mac 20 terpaksa ditangguhkan kerana pandemik COVID-19.
The late father of a childhood friend, I believed, was part of the Seventh RRD when the ambush occurred but he was not directly involved in the incident. Scant details were offered to us apart that the incident occurred in Sarawak. Nonetheless, we were told that his father who was then an officer, was demoted following the ambush. The father retired as an NCO. Unfortunately, as the childhood friend had died of Covid 19 in 2020, I cannot get a confirmation now.
Do note the memorial is located some 80 kilometres south-east of Kuching, the capital of Sarawak.
–Malaysian Defence