- Other Entry
- SURNAME
Manuera
- FORENAME
Eru Ihaka
- UNIT
New Zealand Squadron (1 Ranger Squadron New Zealand SAS Regiment)
- RANK
Lieutenant
- NUMBER
304479
- AWARD
Military Cross
- PLACE
Borneo 1965
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
parent unit Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
CITATION:
Military Cross : On 19th April 1965, Lieutenant Manuera's four man Special Air Service patrol was sent to locate an enemy camp in Sarawak. They located the camp and by careful movement were able to approach to within 50 yards of the camp and observe it for six hours. The patrol returned to base with valuable information about the location and layout of the camp, enemy strength and equipment. On 16th May 1965, he returned with his patrol to ambush this enemy camp. Before first light on the 20th May, Lieutenant Manuera moved his patrol to within 50 yards of the camp and set up his ambush position on a river which ran alongside the camp. Shortly after first light the patrol saw four enemy soldiers enter a longboat and move upstream toward the ambush position. When the boat was opposite the ambush position Lieutenant Manuera sprang the ambush. He killed one enemy soldier himself and two others were killed and one wounded by the remainder of the patrol. Another enemy soldier, who was bathing near the far bank, was also killed. When the patrol came under fire from enemy in the camp it withdrew from the ambush position. On the way out it ran into an enemy force, about section strength, which had set up a quick ambush on the patrol's escape route. The patrol was fired on from very short range but suffered no casualties. In the initial fire fight one enemy soldier was wounded. Lieutenant Manuera took immediate control of his patrol and moved them from the scene of the contact to high ground. He moved forward himself to a position from which he could observe the enemy. The leader of the enemy section was seen attempting to rally his men and he was shot and seriously wounded by Lieutenant Manuera. From this position Lieutenant Manuera was able to direct the fire of his patrol into the enemy positions and this resulted in two more enemy soldiers being killed. The remaining enemy were forced to withdraw and the patrol returned to base safely. In the space of a month Lieutenant Manuera mounted two very successful patrols. The first patrol provided useful information about the enemy and the second resulted in the killing of six enemy soldiers and the wounding of three without casualties -to themselves. Lieutenant Manuera himself killed one enemy soldier and seriously wounded another. In the second engagement on the 20th May 1965, his quick thinking, personal example and forceful leadership not only saved the lives of the men under his command but turned what could have been a dangerous situation into a successful action.
WEB LINKS:
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43837/supplement/11681https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43837/supplement/11682
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