Confrontation. The Struggle for Northern Borneo.

From late 1962 through mid-1966, President Sukarno of Indonesia sought to gain control of East Malaysia, the northern portion of the island of Borneo, by a combination of political and military means. This process was called Confrontation. His efforts were successfully opposed by British Commonwealth forces under General Walter Walker. Upon assumption of command in Borneo, General Walker developed a concept of operation which included six ingredients of success. These were Unified Operations Timely and Accurate Intelligence Speed, Mobility, and Flexibility Base Security Domination of the Jungle and Winning the Hearts and Minds of the People. The remainder of the campaign was essentially the effort to implement the six ingredients of success. This thesis examines the struggle in northern Borneo with a view to determining whether the factors identified by General Walker were, in fact, the ingredients of success. The investigation reveals that the six ingredients of success, particularly Domination of the Jungle, were in fact the keys to victory.