REVIEW: ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS AND MILITARIA 25 MAY

Rebel action to prevent Brunei becoming part of Malaysia in 1962 led to the capture and threat of execution of the British Government agent – and a dangerous and daring rescue mission…

Rebel action to prevent Brunei becoming part of Malaysia in 1962 led to the capture and threat of execution of the British Government agent – and a dangerous and daring rescue mission… The success of that December operation resulted in the award of one of only four Distinguished Service Medals over a period of 30 years, from the Korean War in 1953 until the Falklands War in 1982.

That DSM, awarded to Petty Officer Mechanician P. J. D. Kirwin of the Royal Navy, sold at Noonans on 25 May for a top-estimate £20,000.

Kirwin was part of a rescue party sent to recover British ‘Resident’, ‘Dick’ Morris, his wife and a nursing sister, among other hostages of the rebel TNKU, at Limbang across the border in Sarawak.

The mission was complex and dangerous, not least because none of the Royal Navy men sent to land the amphibious assault force had any experience in handling Z-Craft or landing craft operations, and because they were faced with an opposed landing by heavily armed rebel forces.

When 200 yards off the beach the Commando Intelligence Sergeant called through the loud-hailer in Malay: “The rebellion is over … you should lay down your arms”, automatic weapons, a dozen rifles, and over 100 shotguns fired in response.

Counter-fire from the assault party’s Vickers machine-guns enabled the leading craft to beach half a minute later only 30 yards from the police station, with marines storming the shore. Two were killed during the landing. Others were wounded, with more deaths and injuries resulting from further action, including another assault upstream near the hospital and the Resident’s home.

However, the mission was a success, with town of Limbang secured the next day and the action, along with that of the Gurkhas and Queen’s Own Highlanders elsewhere in Brunei, helping to break the rebellion.

At Limbang alone 15 rebels had been killed and 50 captured from a force of 350 – twice the number expected.

A number of awards resulted from the mission. In Kirwin’s case, The Naval Chronicle recorded how, with his craft coming under heavy fire, he chose to leave the safety of the engine room and, grasping an automatic weapon, engaged the rebels himself at very close range. As his commander, Captain J. J. Black, would later write: “After having heard the battle raging around his craft, he left his engines under the charge of his assistant, picked up his sten gun and joined in the gun battle by sticking his head out of his hatch.”

“This was an astonishing feat of bravery and coolness under fire,” says Noonans’ Medal Specialist Oliver Pepys. “Kirwin’s disregard for his own safety in supporting such a complex and perilous operation was an outstanding act that was eminently worthy of this rare DSM.”

Patrick John Dennis Kirwin was born in 1932 at Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, the son of Kathleen Mary Magee and John Kirwin. He died at Salford, Greater Manchester, in 1989.

The unique DSM pair was sold with a print showing the action, by the artist Terence Cuneo.