Fearless Iban warrior, Awang anak Raweng died today, at his home in Sri Aman, Sarawak.
The 91-year-old was from Nanga Skrang and was a member of the Worcestershire Regiment, who in May 1951, fought off 50 communist terrorists (CTs) while defending the position of an injured British soldier, Private G. Hughes, in Johor.
Awang was himself seriously wounded in the gunfight, but held a live grenade in his left hand after his right hand was severely injured. He dared the communists to attack him but they withdrew instead.
Awang’s actions saved Private Hughes’ life.
This is an excerpt from The Star, written in 2014.
At 9am on May 27, 1951, Awang’s 20-man platoon was ambushed by a group of 50 communist terrorists (CTs) while they were seeking out the enemy in Kluang.
In the first burst of gunfire, three of his colleagues, including a second lieutenant, were killed.
“Three British soldiers were dead while two others were badly hurt,” he recalled.
“When I realised that we were outnumbered, I ran across to the soldiers who were lying in the open.
“The CTs who were perched on top of a hill opened fire, but the bullets did not hit me.”
Awang then dragged one of the injured soldiers, Private Griff Hughes, into the underbrush and stood his ground. While defending his position, Awang was shot in the thigh and arm.
He added: “How could I abandon Private Hughes? I was only 19 and he was hardly older. I told myself, and also somehow communicated to Hughes, that if we were to die, we would die fighting.”
Finally, after holding his position for almost six hours, reinforcements arrived and the CTs fled.
Within a year, Awang would become the only Sarawakian or Malayan to be awarded Britain’s highest civilian award, the George Cross, and with the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in September 1963, he would be invited to attend the biennial Victoria Cross and George Cross Veterans Day gathering at Buckingham Palace.
He is one of only nine George Cross and 20 Victor Cross survivors and hopes to hear from Private Hughes, whose leg was amputated soon after the incident.
Awang,who attended the Heroes Gathering on Tuesday, reflected:
“After Malaysia was formed, the British government invited me to Buckingham Palace every two years, where I would meet Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and, more recently, Prince Charles.
“But the saddest thing is that while I was a guest of our former colonial masters, I was never invited to any Heroes Day event here until very recently…I was very conveniently forgotten!”
A tracker in the British army, Awang enlisted in December 1950 and a month after his training he was attached to the 10th Platoon, D Company of the 1st Battalion, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment when the incident occurred.
Awang, who was given a private dinner and some pocket money by Dr James Jemut Masing at a restaurant last Friday, said the biggest insult came when he was invited for the Merdeka Parade in Kuala Lumpur in 2011.
Awang, who is illiterate, added: “I thought, finally, it was worth the wait and that at last they would recognise my sacrifice to the nation. The organisers paid for my airline ticket and those of my two grandsons.
“But sadly we were treated like peasants…When I asked if we could have our daily allowance, one of the members of the organising committee gave me RM20 – our allowance for the day.
“We returned to Sarawak feeling very insulted.”
Awang said the fault could lie with the Merdeka Day organising committee and not the top officials, who were unaware of the contributions.
“Actually, I have never wanted all the publicity but if that is the way we treat our own kind, then it is going to be a very sad day.”
Awang belonged to the elite Iban trackers who served during the Malayan Emergency from 1948-1960 and were recruited as “scouts”, attached to British units to help in the defence against the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
By 1950, there were a total of 484 Iban trackers serving in the Federal Civil Liaison Corps in Malaya. In 1953, they were organised into a regimental formation as the Sarawak Rangers, among whom was the late Malaysian hero Kanang Langkau.
Marion Hebblethwaite in her book One Step Further said:
“During operations against the bandits in Malaya a section of a platoon of the Worcestershire Regiment was ambushed by about 50 of the enemy. The leading scout was killed instantly and the Section Commander fatally wounded.
“Awang anak Raweng was hit through the thigh bone and at the same time, a soldier, moving behind him, was hit below the knee, the bullet completely shattering the bone. Awang anak Raweng although wounded and lying exposed under heavy fire and automatic fire, collected his own weapons and that of the soldier and dragged him into the cover of the jungle.
“In view of the impending bandit attack, Awang, completely disregarding his own wound, took up a position to defend the injured man.
“There he remained, firing on every attempt made by the bandits to approach, and successfully drove off several attacks.
“Ultimately Awang was again wounded, the bullet shattering his right arm and rendering further use of his rifle or parang impossible.
“Despite loss of blood from his undressed wounds, he dragged himself over to the wounded soldier and took a grenade from the man’s pouch. He resumed his position on guard, pulled out the pin of the grenade with his teeth and with the missile in his left hand defied the bandits to approach.
“So resolute was his demeanour that the bandits who had maintained their attacks for some 40 minutes, and who were not threatened by other sections, withdrew.
“The coolness and fortitude and offensive spirit by Awang anak Raweng were of the highest order.
“Despite being twice wounded he showed the utmost courage and resolution to continue the fight and protect the injured soldier.”
Agi idup agi ngelaban!
If the old uncle was a member of the Worcestershire Regiment, that would make him somewhat of a colonial stooge, a traitor, no?
He would be something of a “Sambo” to the white Brit uncles, a term us Brit public school-educated types would give to those “damn natives” of the “wrong” colours, a brown Samuel “Django” Jackson, so to speak…
Brit imperialistic presence in Borneo was for illegal occupation not so that some of you guys can learn English cheaper., salute the Union Jack, and pretend heartily and in the most gracious of servility to be brown and yellow-skinned “English men” and turd-class white-whatever.
And speaking your rather weird patois, pidgin, half-baked sing-song “English” lah – in many quaint accents.
All that would make our Commie “terrorists” uncles of our still slavish colonial history somewhat of patriotic “freedom fighters” liberation front-ish types, no?
Old soul has many bits of tin and ribbons on his Savile Row suit, one is reminded of the occasion when a bunch of Indian stooges and mercenaries serving the motherland during WWII came visit Mother England.
They specially showed up at the servicemen’s club in Mayfair (expensive dark blue in Monopoly), all resplendent with rows of medals, two Vicky Crosses among them.
The doorman noticing they looked somewhat “foreign”, ignored the many bits of tin and ribbons, summarily told the bunch to “Fcuk off!”
Sorry to say, whether they served or died for Mother England or not, the “Sambos” are just as liberally referred to as “monkeys” by the white massahs.
You guys might want to remember the very brave Gurkha mercenaries fighting at the front for most Brit wars, were prevented from entering Blighty after their stint with the army. That was not all that long ago when a fund was created to help fight the cause of the loyal lot.
It didn’t do the Gurkhas any good, there’s still heated dispute today over where the fund went!
Anyway, you know the saying “Old soldiers never die…”, well them commies never surrendered, they received a stipend and a bit of land for their “surrender”, if there were other funds for them, the money probably disappeared somewhere too.
Interestingly, not their memories.
Last that was heard of him, Old Abdullah CD was having a grand time in another country that revered him and his bunch. I suspect, too, his lot probably p
like Thai as their preferred language.
And good job Old Uncle here didn’t leave for Mother England, he would have broken his heart if told to fcuk off…