It wasn't only the SAS in action in Borneo, they were only deployed towards the end to assist the Australian, NZ , British and Ghurka troops already there and of course the Malay's. The Brits and the Kiwis already had their SAS deployed prior to us. The Brits had about 60,000 troops in Malaya, only some along the border, but the border was the hardest to control. The SAS had it's origins during WW2 with the commandos with "Z" Force unit probably being one of the best known ones operating in SE Asia. SAS was formally formed in 1957 so technically you are right, they had limited experience as a unit. However they are only the elite selected from the regular army concentrating all the best skills and experience and in those early days included experience from WW2, Korea and the Malayan Emergency, so individual members had considerable previous fighting experience. They may be the best but you don't develop that reputation by engaging mediocre enemy nor are you wasted fighting them. If the Brits, Kiwis and Australian SAS's were all deployed to the one action it tells something about what they were up against. Not much is known about what took place there because it was officially kept secret and was also overshadowed by Vietnam which immediately followed Confrontation. By the way, your mate that spent 6 years in Indonesia, obviously he enjoyed it to spend so long there, what is his opinion about the Indonesian people and their general attitudes. Mind you not all that work there are able to adjust but most find they learn more about life than they ever expected and find that things aren't as black and white as we have been bought up to accept.
