Tri-Service

We Were There: Return To The Jungle

Troops from the Parachute Regiment, outnumbered by more than 10 to one, withstand a ferocious enemy attack lasting more than two hours.

A firefight which should have ended in bloody defeat instead becomes an astonishing victory against the odds.

Paratrooper from B Company, 2 PARA at Plaman Mapu camp, Borneo.

The feat has been likened by one senior officer to the Battle of Rorke’s Drift during the 19th century in Africa, when a garrison of 150 British troops fought off up to 4,000 Zulu warriors.

"I’d thought we were just there for a bit of guard duty and never imagined we’d actually have to fight"

But you will struggle to find much in the history books about the battle for Plaman Mapu, which happened 50 years ago on the border of Malaysia and Indonesia.

That is about to change though, with the imminent screening of a new documentary about this largely forgotten incident.