August 14, 2002 - Friends of Malaysia: Friends of Malaysia honor Royal Marines who saved PCV from terrorists in 1962
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August 14, 2002 - Friends of Malaysia: Friends of Malaysia honor Royal Marines who saved PCV from terrorists in 1962
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Friends of Malaysia honor Royal Marines who saved PCV from terrorists in 1962
Read and comment on this resolution from the Friends of Malaysia to honor the Royal Marines who saved a Peace Corps Volunteer who was kidnapped in a local rebellion by a Moslem leader. The rebels announced that they were going to hang their prisoners if their demands were not met. A contingent of British Marines landed at Limbang and freed the hostages only hours before the first execution was scheduled. Five Marines were killed in this action.
The Date? December 12, 1962
With the recent awareness of Peace Corps on the safety of Peace Corps Volunteers it is important to recognize that this is not a new concern and that sometimes other men and women risk their lives, and give their lives, to extract PCVs from difficult situations. To the best of our knowledge these events have never been acknowledged by Peace Corps.
Read the story at:
Dear PCNews,*
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
Dear PCNews,
I would like your assistance in getting the following message out to other affiliated RPCV groups that might join the Friends of Malaysia in thanking the Royal Marines that rescued a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer who trained and served with me in Malaysia. I can be reached by phone at the numbers listed below. I am in California. Any help that you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Thaine H. Allison, Jr.
Program Chair, Board of Directors
Friends of Malaysia
Borneo I 1962-64
I am the VP of Programs for the Friends of Malaysia RPCV group. Based on the following emails the BoD of FoM adopted the attached resolution. While they did not specifically direct me to do so I am asking Peace Corps to acknowledge the sacrifices of the Royal Marines that gave their lives to rescue a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer that trained and served with me. There is no doubt that he would have been put to death if the Royal Marines had not extricated him from captivity. In this day and age we are seeing more concern about volunteer security. This was a very early terrorist attack on a PCV that has gone un noticed for 40 years.
Based on the following brief history of events in Sarawak in the late fall of 1962 the board of Directors of Friends of Malaysia adopted the attached resolution. One of the out comes of our adopting the resolution was to urge NPCA and affiliated groups to adopt a similar resolution or at least draft a letter of "thank you" to the Marines who are meeting in Manchester in September. I recognize this is short notice but the wheels of democracy always take longer than anticipated. I will be attending the reunion to thank the marines on behalf of FoM and would like to carry an acknowledgement of the their contribution to PCVs safety during a very early terrorist attack on a fellow volunteer.
The Resolution
In an earlier email to the Board of Directors of Friends of Malaysia:
Over the last several months I have mentioned that I have become involved with a British videographer who is interested in producing a documentary video on the raid at Limbang, Sarawak, December 12, 1962. While in general I do not support projects that deal with armed military conflict this one is of particular interest to me, and I think to FoM, because one of the people rescued by the British Marines was Fritz Klattenhoff. Fritz was a Peace Corps Volunteer that I trained with in Hilo during the summer of 1962. We were, as I too often point out, North Borneo/Sarawak I. Fritz was just four days out of high school when he joined us in San Francisco for that flight to Hilo.
Royal Marines
In December of 1962 he was caught up in a local rebellion by a Moslem leader. The group, we would call them terrorists today, killed four Malay policemen, including Fritz's room mate before the defending police surrendered the town of Limbang to the rebels. During the night Fritz snuck into town and buried his friend's body that had been left in the road. Fritz was captured the next day and was held hostage along with the local District Officer and his wife and two nuns. The rebels announced that they were going to hang their prisoners if their demands were not met. On the morning of December 12, 1962 a contingent of British Marines landed at Limbang and freed the hostages only hours before the first execution was scheduled. Five Marines were killed in this action. Fritz received a slight gunshot wound to his leg as the rebels desperately tried to kill them during the fire fight.
The Marines are having a reunion in Manchester England in September. I have been invited to attend the events. I will personally thank them for saving my friend's life. I hope to carry messages from his surviving family. I would like to go as a representative of Friends of Malaysia and carry a small plaque (not to exceed $100) with the attached proposed resolution.
Fritz was about as straight arrow as they come. He was a cop in Hawaii for most of his career after Peace Corps. Unfortunately he died of bone cancer 2 years ago. I have met with his mother, sister and brother. I have talked on the phone with his adopted children. Fritz carried the events of that night with him through out his life. Somewhere in the "urban myth" of Peace Corps rumors there is a hint that Fritz joined the rebels. There is no evidence of this from the personal accounts of others that were on scene or in the official documents available, three other volunteers were caught up in related events but none had to be rescued by Marines. Fritz was reassigned to another site after this event and eventually trained PCVs in Hilo.
I therefore Move: That the Friends of Malaysia adopt the attached resolution, subject to editing, to thank the Royal Marines for their brave efforts to save an American Peace Corps Volunteer.
If the motion is carried. I would like to ask the Board to adopt a resolution to urge NPCA and the Peace Corps to send a similar resolution to the reunion. If possible I would like Peace Corps to arrange to send someone from the American Embassy in England to officially represent the US government. With the recent awareness of Peace Corps on the safety of Peace Corps Volunteers I think it is important to recognize that this is not a new concern and that sometimes other men and women risk their lives, and give their lives, to extract PCVs from difficult situations. To the best of my knowledge these events have never been acknowledged by Peace Corps.
Motion carried: 8/15/2002
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Peace Corps - Safety and Security; COS - Malaysia
PCOL886
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I remember Fritz as an instructor for our Malaysia 9 group in Feb.-April 1965, but have no recollection of us being told this story of his capture and rescue. Was this part of the "confrontation" between Malaysia and Indonesia which restricted our travel in parts of Sarawak?
I was one of the Royal Marine Commandos at Limbang. That was the start of a four year war against communism in Borneo,The brunt of the fighting was carried out by Royal Marines Commando Units and the Ghurka Battalions. Both organisations had a continuous presence in Borneo throughout Confrontation. The U.S.A. had a tandem war going on in Vietnam.I served with several fine officers and S.N.C.O s from the U.S.M.C. who served on detachment with the Royal Marines. I spent some time as a jungle warfare instructor with U.S. Special Forces in the late 1960's. Several of my friends left the Royal Marines and joined the Australian S.A.S. in order to serve in Vietnam.
My great great grandfather, an Englishman, served as a doctor in General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army. After the Civil War he returned home to England.
I wish the Peace Corps workers the best of luck for the future may I wish you all Good Fortune, if you need help without doubt a bunch of lunatics wearing Green Berets will appear, do the business and promptly vanish!
Patricia:
This event was a precursor of "Konfrontasi." It was part of the "Brunei Rebellion" of December 1962, lead by a disaffected Brunei Malay politician named Azahari. In addition to the Limbang incident (Limbang, you'll recall, is sandwiched in between two parts of Brunei), the rebels also occupied the Brunei airport, doing so one-half hour after I flew out of it with a group of visiting North Borneo (Sabah) highschool students; it was in rebel hands by the time my flight landed in "Jesselton."
Azahari was Very Upset that the Brunei government (then a British Protectorate) did in his very popular political party. Upon the arrival of the British & Gurkas, Azahari retreated to Indonesian territory (Kalimantan), where he was absorbed into Sukarno's "confrontation" attempt to gain control of "Kalimantan Utara,' which lasted until your times.
Rick Fidler North Borneo I 1962-1964
Thaine,
You are to be commended for leading the belated thanks to the rescuers of an RPCV. Bravo.
Gary
Thaine and Rick Fidler:
After Fritz left the Hilo Training Center I joined the staff. On several occasions we had the opportunity to talk with Fritz about those difficult times. I was very surprised to learn just how difficult his experience had been. I was stationed in Tawau at that time. Since Tawau ws on the Indonesian border, we were blessed with groups of Ghurkas and the British Army in the town. No doubt their formidable presence was why we were able to think of this Incursion as something out of The Mouse That Roared. Fritz certainly disabused me of minimizing it. I am sorry to learn of his passing. He was a man who made an impact.
John Sias, North Borneo/Sarawak I, 1962-1964
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By malaysia13 on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 - 2:30 am: Edit Post |
I trained in Illinois and Hawaii for Malaysia 13, we were told Fritz's story while in Hawaii. I never realized it was not officially recognized. I never did get to Borneo but was in Indonesia right after to coup against Sukarno.
YES, I THINK THIS IS GOOD. MY NAME IS RAUL NAZARIO, RPCV, MALAYSIA XV, 1966 TO 1968. I DID NOT KNOW FRITZ, WHEN I WAS THERE I HAD HEARD 'STORIES' ABOUT DANGERS TO PCV'S SUCH AS VIOLENCE AND BEING KILLED IN TRAFFIC. I VOLUNTEERED IN SUGAI PELEK, SELANGOR STATE AT A SMALL NATIONAL TYPE SECONDARY SCHOOL. I TAUGHT INDUSTRICAL ARTS.
YOUR STORY MOVED ME EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS.
THE MARINES DESERVE TO BE HONORED!
RAUL NAZARIO
PS; IF FRITZ WENT IN JUST OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL HE MIGHT BE THE YOUNGEST PCV EVER. I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS ME., I WENT IN AT 18.
In May of 1969, I received my Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps, my BS in geology and my acceptence into the Peace Corps. I was assigned to Malaysia and ended up with the Malaysian Geological Survey. I lived in Kota Bahru, Kelantan, but spent most of my time mapping in the jungle. I was very aware of the inherent dangers of the jungle and of the comunists that were operating in the jungle. Although I had never heard the story of Fritz, I am not surprised of the incident.
Please pass on my appreciation to the Royal Matines and my condolences to the families that lost loved ones in the action to help Fritz.
I was a machine gunner on the MMGs at the Limbang raid - that day will last forever
My good wishes to all the guys that took part and to the brave hostages - their courage was an example to us all.
from an ex duke of boots; having found the grave of derek powel in bradford 2yrs ago and visit him often to pay my respect; it was only on the 25/4/2004 that i traced the reason for his very sad death,to his old comrades be assured that i will continue to attend his grave.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
IN MEMORY OF MY UNCLE RONNIE,ROYAL MARINE RONALD FORMOY WHO DIED IN ACTION ON DECEMBER 12TH 1962.I WAS A TEENAGER WHEN HE WAS KILLED,THE FAMILY WAS DEVISTATED,HE WAS MY FATHERS BROTHER AND I REMEMBER HIM AS BEING A GREAT BLOKE.HE LEFT BEHIND A BABY HE NEVER GOT TO SEE.ALSO IN MEMORY OF HIS BRAVE FREINDS WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIM.GOD BLESS YOU ALL........Albert Robert Formoy
Where is Grace Decker, Peace Corps Volunteer Kuala Trengannu Malaysia 1964-6?
Last heard of in Detroit
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By Anonymous (88-107-71-234.dynamic.dsl.as9105.com - 88.107.71.234) on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 10:39 am: Edit Post |
In memory of my cousin, Royal Marine Fred Stewart Powell, killed in action during the Limbang raid 12th December 1962.
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By Anonymous (cpc3-seve1-0-0-cust776.popl.cable.ntl.com - 82.2.231.9) on Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 5:23 pm: Edit Post |
In Momory of Ronald Formoy,also my beloved Husband Albert Robert Formoy (his newphew)who died 9/4/06.He often spoke with pride of his favourite uncle who died a hero.I hope they have met up in heaven,which is where they both(all) deserve to be,God bless you both and all the brave Marines who died along side Ron on 12 December 1962..
In memory of Corporal Kim Huat, who fought gallantry and died defending others to live in Limbang 8 December 1962.
This year, 2009 I turn 47. Ironically it was in 1962, I was born, the year my father in-law, Corporal Kim Huat was gunned down sacrificing his life defending others to live. And after 47 years I finally 'met' my father-in-law. May him and others like him rest in peace.
My mother-in-law, Corporal Kim Huat's wife, Salmah bt Baei, passed on in 2005. Both of them left behind one son, Bujang Kim Huat and daughter, Hasnah Kim Huat. Bujang is currently an engineering professor in one of the top university in Malaysia and Hasnah, my wife, a top banker in Kuala Lumpur.
Overwhelmed over come me to discover that with only a bunch of policemen, they were confronted by 200 gunmen. My mother-in-law used to tell me that, Corporal Kim Huat was off-duty that fateful day but due to the sickness of one of the policeman, Corporal Kim Huat has to cover his place. According to my mother-in-law again, normally Corporal Kim Huat would normally bring along his son, Bujang, then two-year old, to the police station, however, on that day, Bujang did not come along. Hasnah was then one-year old.
They did not die in vain. As for Corporal Kim Huat, he left behind 2 very successful kids and grandchildren. I married his daugther, Hasnah and we have 3 grown up boys. Hasnah, simply a very humble person. Her father legacy lives on.
We shall not forget.
Reuben J
