Jonathan Moffatt
Mr. Moffatt is co-author of MOON OVER MALAYA: A TALE OF ARGYLLS AND MARINES and editor of BABA NONNIE GOES TO WAR: THE MEMOIRS OF A SINGAPORE VOLUNTEER ON THE THAI-BURMA RAILWAY.

Martin Spirit and team are to be congratulated on the documentary 'Return to Limbang' which reconstructs the dramatic events of a little remembered hostage rescue that took place at Limbang, Sarawak in December 1962 during the Confrontation with Sukharno's Indonesia.

When a disparate group of western hostages are seized by rebels and held, awaiting execution, at the Limbang police station, a company of Royal Marines are called upon to rescue them.

Major-General Julian Thompson RM provides an authorative, steady, 'on the scene' narrative which grips the viewer throughout. He is supported by Royal Marine survivors of the raid, including Jeremy Moore of Falklands fame.

There is little sophistication or technical support to the rescue mission which is heavy on
improvisation, daring, initiative and physical courage. All in the finest traditions of the Royal Marines. We learn of the massive firepower of the old Vickers machine gun.

The raid is not without human cost and there is a most telling, emotional scene when 40+
years on a Royal Marine survivor meets the former rebel leader Salleh Sambas who killed his friend. Given the significant loss of life, one is left wondering how Sambas, like Chin Peng in Malaya, lived to tell the tale.

Bill Elliott's excellent location photography in and around Limbang capture the humid atmosphere of the tropics and the beauty and menace of a jungle river.

The film is a fine tribute to the Royal Marines and their contribution to 'Britain's Small Wars'.