"On 6 July 1965 the band was posted on active service and travelled on an RAF Beverley transport via Kuching, to the Second Division in Sarawak to join the 17 Midwest Brigade of the 17 Gurkha Division, Overseas Commonwealth Land Forces (OCLF). The band returned to Port Dickson on Peninsular Malaysia on 23 October 1965 on a Royal Corps Transport, (RCT) Landing Ship, Tank (LST) and HMS Transport MV Auby. In Sarawak the band was based with battalion headquarters at Simanggang while the companies were based in border camps.

Ken and his wife Pauline were a delightful couple and we shared many stories about life in a battalion band in Borneo and elsewhere... Before joining the army Ken had played in bands in Hastings and one of them was the famous Ernie Rouse Trad band of national fame in those days. Ken played trombone with Ernie Rouse, but also played baritone and euphonium. He was a talented musician and later while playing with the A Grade Cairns Brass Band, he won the Queensland baritone championships. His fellow musicians in the Cairns band remember Ken with affection and assured me that Ken was indeed the lead euphonium player in his day." (Roger Carter) AWMM