FOR wives of police force commandos, the sound of an approaching police truck or whirring helicopter always sends a shiver down their spine, especially during the pre-independence and Malayan emergency era.

While some are still be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the sound would mean that their husbands have returned safely, some can only shed tears when their husbands come out of a truck or helicopter, no longer in a perfect physical condition, or worse still, in a coffin.

Sharing her experience of being married to a Very Able Troopers (VAT 69) commando, Siti Patimah Harun, 63, said that during the communist insurgency, whenever her husband was involved in an operation in the jungle, she would spend a lot of sleepless nights worrying about him as communication was limited.

“He wouldn’t tell me how long it would take, he would just say that he has to go on an operation (against the communist insurgents). There was no mobile phone back then, so I would just have to wait and pray for his safe return.

“Every time we heard the sound of a police truck or a helicopter approaching the barracks, we, the wives of VAT 69 commandos, would rush out to the tarmac because we knew our husbands have returned,” she said recently.

However, she said whenever a helicopter or ambulance arrived without a siren, the wives would cling to each other with tears in their eyes, knowing that the vehicle would be carrying the remains of one of their husbands.

Patimah said her most unforgettable moment was when her husband, Baharuddin Ahmad Junan, 73, was involved in Operation Bamboo II on the Malaysia-Thailand border in 1978 to eradicate the threat of the Malayan Communist Party.

She was six months pregnant with her second child when her husband was called in for the operation.

“He had gone for a week and I was feeding my first child in our barrack in Ipoh when a policeman came and told me that my husband was injured in the line of duty, and was receiving treatment at Penang Hospital.

“When I got to the hospital, I was shocked to see my husband with 28 stitches in the head and a broken arm. It also crushed me when he appeared to be suffering from memory loss,” she said.

Despite facing several tragic situations, Patimah said she never forbade her husband from fighting the communist insurgents as she knew it was for the sake of the country and future generations.

For Siti Hanipah Omar, 59, living as the wife of a VAT 69 commando in the post-independence communist insurgency era required strength and self-sufficiency.

She said she had only been married two weeks when her husband, Basrah Jali, was called in for a three-week operation in 1982.

“I cried day and night because I had no one there. I am from Dengkil, Selangor, and after three days of being married, I followed my husband to live in a barrack in Tanjung Rambutan. Although my husband said it was a three-week operation, it broke my heart when he told me to learn to take care of myself as he wasn’t sure whether or not he would return,” she said.

Hanipah said even when she had no money left and was unwell during her husband’s absence, she never thought about asking him to find another job as she was proud of what he was doing.

Meanwhile, Mastura Ramly, 66, said her husband, Abd Ghani Mahmood, was frequently involved in operations to flush out communist insurgents.

“Living in the barracks brings me closer to the wives of other commandos.

“We know our husbands would spend most of their time in operations, so those closest to us were our neighbours. They were our main support system, in good and bad times,” she added. – Bernama, August 26, 2019.