Operation Claret

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Operation Claret
Sarawak
Planned by	General Sir Walter Walker
Objective	Keep Indonesian forces off balance
Date	July 1964 – July 1966
Outcome	British Commonwealth success

Part of the Formation of Malaysia
Events
Malaysia Bill Cobbold Commission  • 18-point agreement  • 20-point agreement Singaporean referendum Sarawak communist insurgency North Borneo dispute  • Cross border attacks in Sabah  • Moro conflict  • Piracy in Sulu & Celebes Brunei revolt  • North Borneo Federation Konfrontasi Manila Accord Maphilindo Sarawak Self-governance Malaysia Act 1963 North Borneo Self-governance Proclamation of Malaysia Operation Claret 1964 race riots in Singapore MacDonald House bombing PAP–UMNO relations Proclamation of Singapore UN Security Council Resolution 213 Singapore Agreement South Thailand insurgency Double Six Tragedy Pedra Branca dispute 2019 failed constitutional amendment 2021 constitutional amendment
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Claret was the code name given to operations conducted from about July 1964 until July 1966 from East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) across the border in Indonesian Kalimantan during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. They were instigated by the Director of Borneo Operations (DOBOPS) Major General Walter Walker with the agreement of the British and Malaysian governments. Their purpose was to seize the initiative and put the Indonesians on the defensive instead of allowing Indonesian forces to be safely based in Kalimantan and attack when and where they chose. However, it was important not to cause the Indonesians to lose face and possibly escalate the conflict, or to enable Indonesia to present evidence of 'imperialist aggression', so Claret operations were highly classified and never publicised, although it seems that some British journalists were aware of what transpired.^[1] British casualties on Claret operations were publicly reported as being in East Malaysia.

These operations involved both special forces and infantry. Special forces were mostly reconnaissance patrols crossing the border from the Malaysian state of Sarawak or Sabah into Indonesian Kalimantan in order to find and monitor Indonesian forces who might attack Sarawak or Sabah.^[2] Conventional forces were tasked to act on this information and that from other sources to ambush or otherwise attack the Indonesians under a policy of 'aggressive defence'.^[3] Such operations were to be 'deniable' as they may have represented a violation of state sovereignty, however they were justified at the time as an instance of hot pursuit. Operation Claret was largely successful in gaining the initiative for the British Commonwealth forces, inflicting significant casualties on the Indonesians and keeping them on the defensive, before being suspended late in the war.^[3]