Published: Friday, 16th May, 2008 12:00
Malaysia Medal honour for Danny
By David Knox
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Danny proudly holds his medals and a photo of himself as a young soldier
A PEEBLES war veteran has been honoured by the Malaysian government, 45 years after helping to rid the former colonies of rebels.
Danny Scott was amongst the Queens Own Highlanders which was part of a Gurkha Division who helped free hostages and aid local police in preventing piracy.
The 75-year-old was amongst 200 former services personnel at a ceremony in Motherwell last week to receive the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal for his peacekeeping work during the troubles of the early 1960s.
Danny told the Peeblesshire News: “I am honoured to receive this medal from the military attaché for Malaysia. We were in Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak for six months fighting against rebels and pirates.
“It was mainly deep jungle penetration duties although we also were out in boats to try stopping the pirates.
“When you were out doing jungle penetration it was the leeches that were the biggest problem – they were waiting for us. I was one of the few who didn’t smoke and had to get my mates to burn them off me.”
On December 8, 1962 there was a revolt in the Sultanate of Brunei which saw rebels storm the Sultan’s palace and other government and consulate buildings.
Many hostages were taken and control of the Shell oil field at Seria was also captured.
Danny and the rest of the Gurkha Division, which was based in Singapore, were dispatched immediately to face up to the rebels and release the hostages.
The successful campaign freed 46 European captives and defeated the rebels without a single casualty.
Although the tour of duty was seen as a major triumph, Danny and his comrades encountered some harrowing scenes on the South China Seas.
He continued: “We could never catch the pirates as their boats were quicker than ours.
“We were sent to an island called Paula Bum Bum where we believed the pirates were but by the time we’d arrived they had slaughtered the fishing communities. All we could do was bury the bodies.”
Danny, who is originally from Glasgow, was called up in 1951 as an 18 year-old to join the Cameron Highlanders.
His two years of national service were followed by a five-year association with the Territorial Army in Peebles.
He joined the Queen’s Own Highlanders in 1958 to serve a further 10 years.
Following his active service, the corporal emigrated with his late wife, Kathleen, to Australia.
Danny added: “We came back to Peebles after two years in Australia.
“Kathleen put up with a lot of traveling around during our marriage and these new medals are for her.”
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