| The Queens’ Own Highlanders’ Coup de main, Brunei |
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To keep the peace and return the rule of law two companies of the Queen’s Own Highlanders moved at very short notice, one by air and one by sea, to Brunei. In a daring air landing operation they captured the airfields and seized back the police station. During a heroic sea assault they also defeated a strong rebel force at the Sultan’s palace and released 46 European hostages. Even today this extraordinary and gallant action is used as one of the best examples of swift armed response to a crisis using air, sea and land forces. |


The Queens’ Own Highlanders’ Coup de main, Brunei on 8th December 1962, an armed rebellion broke out in Brunei on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. A rebel force ruthlessly attacked the Sultan’s palace, various police stations and seized the Shell oilfield at Seria, taking the innocent people who worked there hostage.