(From left) Lim, Heimann, Tredrea and Sanderson ready to take questions from the audience.
KUCHING: Over 100 people, including secondary school students, assembled at the Sarawak State Library’s Special Collections Room yesterday to learn about history from at least one history maker and other experts.
Australian Sgt Jack Tredrea, 95, from the Allied Forces was a member of Semut 1 in Bario under Major Tom Harrison.
He was speaking about his experiences at the Sarawakiana Talk ‘WWII Operation Semut – The Unsung Heroes’, recounting stories not yet recorded anywhere.
According to Tredrea, he was branded ‘Tuan Doc’ by the Bario longhouse folk after performing a simple operation on a stricken local, a title that stayed with him ever since. The Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) produced a booklet based on Tredrea’s account, titled ‘Bario Borneo Reflection’.
Also speaking yesterday was David Sanderson, second son of the late Charles Fredrick Sanderson who was involved in the Z Special Unit. David had been keeping his father’s war memoirs and had even returned with his brothers and nephews in 2010 to retrace his father’s journey.
Author and retired senior foreign service officer Judith M Heimann also presented, showing the audience photos of Semut operations, including Belawit Airstrip which was built out of bamboo in two weeks with the help of locals.
Tredrea, Sanderson and Heimann are in Sarawak to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of Operation Semut which took place in Bario on Wednesday.
Earlier Sarawak State Library (Pustaka) chief executive officer Rashidah Bolhassan said knowledge not written down, recorded or preserved in any way will be lost.
“Pustaka will be recording this programme to preserve memories shared by our speakers and participants as part of our oral history initiative,” she said, adding that the library will be organising via Sarawakiana more public talks with local content.
Also present were Jason Brooke from The Brooke Heritage Trust and STF Heritage Development Committee chairman Lim Kian Hock.