Tales from the Sixth Floor: Indonesia 1989

I was fortunate enough to be John Chapple’s ADC or chief bag carrier and bird spotter for eighteen months from 1989-1909, during his time as Chief of the General Staff. A fascinating time in the MOD when the iron curtain was crumbling and the Minister for Defence Procurement unleashed his Machiavellian plan; optimistically called ‘Options for Change’. The General (as he was then) was the ultimate ‘Whitehall Warrior’ and with sagacity steered the army through a very difficult time. We could have ended up with the numbers similar to the decimated Service that we have today. In my humble opinion, and being a fly on the wall, he was the right man in the right job, at the right time.

One of the first official visits we undertook was to Indonesia. This was a revelation at the time as this was the first time that such a senior British officer had visited the country since the end of the Indonesian confrontation and the first time the General had returned to the Sarawak Sabah side of the Indonesian border since he was a captain. What follows are my meandering memories of a tour over thirty years ago.

The Dinner Night

What had not been briefed to us back in UK was gleefully announced by the Defence Attaché the afternoon before the dinner with the head of the Indonesian army. He explained that it was customary for the host of the dinner to perform a ‘musical part piece’. What slightly threw the General was that the chief guest was expected to repay the compliment in a likewise manner. He looked at me, the DA looked at me with a wry smile and all I could think of was Stanley Holloway’s monologue ‘The Battle of Hastings’ (it was not musical and I am not sure the Indonesian generals would have appreciated my Yorkshire accent). After making me sweat for a couple of hours the DA graciously, of course, mentioned he had to do it frequently and had a piece prepared. That night he and his wife gave a rendition of the Rolf Harris song ‘The Court of King Caractacus’ which was sufficiently long and incomprehensible to fulfil our obligation.

The Briefing

The General’s key note briefing, in front of the Indonesian military hierarchy, was about the Falklands conflict. At the end of a very comprehensive talk, a small Indonesian general in the front row, raised his hand and asked “General, thank you for your talk, but what is your secret?”, to which the reply was ‘Please explain’.

“You have told us about these very remote and barren islands that British people want to live on and you went to war to defend them. In Indonesia we have over 17,508 tropical islands or which only 6,000 are permanently inhabited and the vast majority of our population live on Java. We have been trying for decades to redistribute the population of Java to the other islands…..they do not want to go. And so I ask you again what is your secret?”

Ujong Kulong

On the very western tip of Jave is the wild life reserve of Ujong Kulong. It home to last 50 to 70 Javan rhinos. The General, as president of the WWF, was more than keen to spot this elusive animal. After two days of searching, my knowledge of LBJs (Little Brown Jobs (Birds)) was profound. The only sight of the rhino was a BBJ (Big Brown Job)!

 

You can see Krakatoa from the reserve as it sits between Sumatra and Java. It is west of Java unlike the film would lead you to believe.

Surprise Reunion and the Ghee Tin Missile

During the visit the General met, for the first time, the Indonesian officer who was on the other side of the valley that formed the border during the confrontation. They swapped their experiences. One stood out in particular: the Indonesian officer asked about the missile that the local Iban tribesmen had told him that the British had. To save the officer’s face the General feinted surprise and said the tribesmen must have been mistaken.

The truth was that the General had got his men to build a fake missile; the body was made out of ghee tins, it was given fins and a nose cone, and painted red and black (of course!). This was secured to a trailer that could be moved up and down to simulate a launch position. This was situated just outside the village. It was covered by a tarpaulin and guarded by two soldiers, night and day. Every morning the tarpaulin was removed and the missile elevated to launch position, a lot of false fire commands issued, the missile was brought down to its rest position and recovered. As there was a lot of cross border traffic the General had hoped that word of this would get back to the Indonesians. He was delighted to know (20 years later) that the subterfuge had been a success.
Historical Footnote on Indonesian C130B Registration T-1306 (September 26, 1965).

In September 1965 one of the few Indonesian C130 transport planes was carrying paratroopers (reinforced platoon of RPKAD 1st Battalion Company C ‘Cobra’) and was flying along the valley of Long Bawen. Their mission was to neutralise a gun position on the border ridge. Indonesia had so few C-130s that the troops on the ground thought it must be an enemy plane. Commonwealth troops knew it was an Indonesian plane. Both sides opened up and it was hit by friendly fire. One of the two right hand engines caught fire, which developed onto the wing. All the paratroopers were forced to bail out over the forest at low altitude. The flight crew made an emergency landing, saving 17 flight crew and passengers.

We were subsequently told on the visit that this incident, indirectly, changed Indonesian history. The paratroopers were from the presidential guard. As the guard had been depleted, the September 30th Movement staged an abortive coup, kidnapped and killed six of Indonesia’s most senior generals. Major General Suharto, crushed the coup attempt within days. He blamed the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) for masterminding the plot and a brutal, state-sanctioned purge took place. The destruction of the PKI shattered the delicate political balance President Sukarno had maintained between the military, communists and Islamists. This paved the way for Maj Gen Suharto to be elected president in 1968, initiating his 32-year ‘New Order’ authoritarian regime.