Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But can the SAS recruit primitive natives to help them thwart an invading rebel force?


1963: Viewing the formation of a new political entity, the Federation of Malaysia, as a threat to his dreams of expansion, Indonesian President Sukarno orders insurgents into Borneo. In response, the British organize a force of Malay, British and Commonwealth troops to contain the rebels.


What is desperately needed, however, is a specialist group who can perform highly dangerous and arduous military tasks in the inhospitable, perilous terrain. Braving jungle and swamp, the SAS are dispatched to live with the primitive, headhunting natives, to try to win hearts and minds with medical aid and assistance, in the hope of recruiting them as Border Scout paramilitaries.


As the training progresses, other SAS soldiers move even deeper into the unexplored jungle – ‘the Gap’ – to establish ambush sites and helicopter LZs. These ‘Tiptoe Boys’ conduct daring ‘Claret’ raids across the border, hitting hard and vanishing fast, ambushing enemy troops moving along the many jungle tracks and rivers. It will be a bloody, nightmarish war – and the SAS must win it.