The Appeal...

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30588, 3 November 1964, Page 13

The Appeal...

The appeal in the dropped leaflets read: “Brothers and comrades— “l am Lieutenant Soetikno Tjitrosomarto of the Pasokan Gerak Tjepat. I led one group which landed by parachute into the Labis area in southern Malay peninsula on September 2. I am now lucky to be alive, and I want to tell you something about it. “The facts are as follows: “1. Of the 108 who landed by boat in the Pontian area on August 17, 18 have been killed, 72 have

been captured, leaving not more than 18 lost in the jungle without food and medicine. “2. Of' the 96 who landed by parachute at the Labis area on September 2, 30 have been killed, 60 have been captured, leaving not more than 6 lost in the jungle without food and medicine. “None of the tasks assigned by the authorities in Djakarta have been carried out, and the whole campaign is a complete flop. Those who died have died for nothing. “Do you know the reason why the landings have failed so miserably? “The reasons are as follows: “1. The high authorities in Djakarta have fallen into the trap of working on wrong and misleading intelligence. The landing points chosen were not suitable, and we were discovered and attacked before we could organise ourselves after landing. “2. We were told by the high authorities in Djakarta that we would be welcomed by the local people as “liberators,” but what actually happened was that the people treated us as aggressors and assisted the Malaysian security forces to capture us.

“3. I see that the people of Malaysia live in a prosperous state and are free, and give full support and absolute loyalty to the Malaysian Government.

"4. The Chinese members in our groups are supposed to guide us and help us after landing, but what they did was to desert us and leave us in the lurch.”

The appeal, which was dated October 30, referred to “a useless and purposeless struggle” directed by Djakarta.