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Auction: 16001 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 148

A Scarce Borneo 1964 M.C. Group of Six to Captain M.J. Peele, Royal Leicestershire Regiment, Whose Bold Jungle Raid on 80 Terrorists Was Used to Illustrate the Covers of The Victor Comic - Entitled 'A Gamble Against The Odds'; His M.C. Was the Last Gallantry Medal Awarded to the Regiment
a) Military Cross, E.II.R., reverse officially dated '1964'
b) General Service 1962-2007, three clasps, Borneo, South Arabia, Northern Ireland (2/Lt. M.J. Peele. R. Leicesters.)
c) Oman, General Service Medal, with Dhofar clasp
d) Oman, As Sumood Medal
e) Oman, Peace Medal, with Sultan's Operational Award Emblem on riband
f) Oman, Tenth Anniversary Medal, generally very fine or better, mounted as originally worn, with four photographic images of recipient and original cover of The Victor, 6.2.1965, in which the recipient is illustrated (lot)

M.C. London Gazette 13.11.1964 2nd Lieutenant Michael John Peele (472597), 4th (Leicestershire) Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment [sic]
'On the 23rd January 1964, 2nd Lieutenant Peele was the commander of a patrol of 20 men flown into the jungle, in Sabah, to follow up a suspected band of 80 to 100 armed intruders. Early next morning he found the tracks of a large party and followed them up rigorously, even abandoning packs to enable his men to move faster. After five hours he sighted some terrorists in two shelters which were the beginning of an enemy camp. Although he believed himself to be outnumbered he at once planned a surprise attack but one of the enemy stumbled on to his assault group. Realising that surprise was lost, 2nd Lieutenant Peele shot this man and ordered the assault group to charge through the camp firing from the hip. In the face of fire from a light machine gun the assault group fought through the camp which proved to be about 250 yards long and to have contained some 60 armed men. The enemy fled into the jungle leaving behind 6 dead, a quantity of weapons, valuable documents and the majority of their equipment and ammunition.
The important success achieved by 2nd Lieutenant Peele and his patrol was largely due to his courageous and aggressive leadership.'

Captain Michael John Peele, M.C. (1942-1983), was in born Leicester and educated at Wyggeston Grammar School, Leicester and Sandhurst. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant, Royal Leicestershire Regiment, 21.12.1962. Peele served with the 1st Battalion in Hong Kong, and as Patrol Commander in Borneo. Marching with The Tigers gives the following information on the action for which Peele was awarded the MC:

'Early on 23rd January [1964] a Border Scout patrol returned with stories of an enemy camp of some 80-100 near Long Miau, a few miles northeast of Long Pa Sia [in Sabah - formerly North Borneo]. In what was called Operation Arrant, 2nd Lieutenant M.J. (Mike) Peele was flown into Long Pa Sia from Long Semado with ten men of his own 6 Platoon of B Company. They were joined by a further eight men from 9 Platoon of C Company and two Border Scout trackers, and the patrol was ordered to find the enemy tracks, follow them up with all speed, and attack. Leaving that evening, they basha'd up near Long Miau village, the inhabitants clearly knowing something was afoot as the women and children had left.

Setting out at first light 24th January, they reached the empty enemy camp at 0900 hours and found tracks leading east. At full speed in pursuit and later abandoning their packs in order to be able to move faster, they found another camp at 1100 hours that they estimated to have held about eighty, with further tracks leading from it. The patrol pressed on and at about 1300 hours heard three shots. A little further on, it sighted two bashas which appeared to be the start of an enemy camp spread along the side of a stream and which may have contained eighty men.

Peele planned to attack, and sent a strong cut-off party under Corporal A. Walton round to the rear of the camp before launching his assault. Detected by an unarmed enemy soldier but with still an element of surprise, Peele's assault group had to attack earlier than he had intended. Charging some 200 yards through the camp, it killed seven of the enemy, the remainder - probably about forty - fleeing into the jungle, having been caught completely unawares whilst preparing camp and the midday meal. Some forty men's worth of personal equipment, small arms, ammunition, and documents were captured. Peele's patrol then rendered all the weapons unserviceable and hid the ammunition. As it had unfortunately been out of communication since leaving Long Pa Sia, it set out to return to base, spending a further night in the jungle en route before reaching Long Pa Sia on the morning of 25th January. Later that day Lieutenant David Michael's C Company patrol engaged three enemy near Long Miau.

On 26th January Peele led his patrol back to the enemy camp where with explosives it blew down trees to create an HLS, via which a helicopter lifted out the half-ton weight of captured weapons and ammunition. These were subsequently conveyed to Brunei Town where on 30th January the Sultan inspected the haul. Meanwhile an SAS patrol following up from the 24th January battle, found tracks of about twenty others, probably the balance of the sixty listed on the captured nominal roll, and made fleeting contacts.

For this action Peele was awarded the MC, which was the last gallantry medal to be won by a man serving in The Royal Leicestershire Regiment.... The other members of his patrol were later awarded a Regimental lanyard as a mark of distinction for their contribution.'

Confusingly, the London Gazette dated 13.11.1964 (published after the formation of The Royal Anglian Regiment in September that year) describes Peele's unit as 4th (Leicestershire) Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, which of course did not exist in January 1964.

The details of the camp attack were later used as a basis for an Army Kinema Corporation training film on jungle warfare. Peele subsequently served in the 4th Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment in Aden, Malta and as a Recce Platoon Commander in Libya. He was seconded for service in the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces, and was attached to the Muscat Regiment, January 1967-August 1968. Peele returned to his parent regiment as a Company 2IC in Bahrain, before transferring to the 3rd Battalion in 1970. He retired in May 1973, before serving as a contract officer in the SOAF. In later life he was employed by the postal service, and died in Eastbourne.

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