The Watch on the Coast: Lutong’s Forgotten Shore Battery and the Strategic Denial of Miri Oil

By Terry Justin Dit

In most writings on the state of the defences of Miri during the Second World War, it was a popular misconception that Miri, particularly the refinery at Lutong, was not defended against a possible sea attack and landing from the sea. This is incorrect.

Located within the compounds of a maritime occupational health and safety training centre in Kuala Baram today are two forlorn, dilapidated concrete buildings that may have once been part of a British defensive position, where a coastal gun battery was located with the intention of protecting the valuable and strategic Lutong oil refinery from naval raiders.

Before the shadow of war fully descended on Miri, the low-lying coast near Lutong held an asset of immense strategic value: the Lutong oil refinery and its essential network of sea-loading pipelines. Guarding this prize was a defensive emplacement centred on a pair of six-inch naval guns, manned by a detachment of the Royal Artillery. Their mission was clear: static defence against naval threat and the absolute, stringent control of the maritime approaches.

The very existence of the shore battery transformed the loading area into a formal Prohibited Area. This was not a passive defence; it was an active policing of the sea. Any vessel arriving to take on bunkers or cargo was immediately rerouted to a dedicated examination anchorage. Here, a rigorous multi-layered procedure began where ships were boarded and searched to confirm that no armed forces were hidden among the crew or cargo.

This required constant, risky coordination, particularly given the frequent rough weather off the coast. To manage this volatile environment, the boarding vessel, ‘Doreen’, was modified early in 1941, adapted specifically to handle the demands of the sea-check duty.

Manned primarily by the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery (HKSRA) detachment, which arrived in March 1941, the two naval guns served as the final defensive measure, intended to deter and repel any hostile vessel approaching the perimeter.

Apart from the Royal Artillery, the defence of the Lutong oil infrastructure in 1941 was orchestrated by a multi-service contingent of Imperial Forces, which included 150 men from the 2/15th Punjab Regiment who were stationed near the oil refinery. Specific technical and defensive roles were carried out by detachments from other units, including personnel from the Loyal Regiment.

Crucially, the Royal Engineers (RE) were tasked with cooperating with Sarawak Oilfields Ltd. to prepare and execute the demolition of the refinery and landing ground, playing a major role in the ultimate denial scheme.. Together, these units were positioned not only for defence, but also for the ultimate strategic task of ensuring that the critical oil assets did not fall intact into enemy hands.

Despite the palpable tension of 1941, the guns never fired in anger. Their only recorded discharges were acts of regulatory enforcement. On two separate occasions, the six-inch ordnance roared, but the targets were errant, not enemy, ships. The first incident was purely procedural, aimed at a vessel that failed to comply with regulations by not using the examination anchorage. The second was attributed to a simple communication error – a mistake by the Officer Commanding the Battery in the signals flown.

In both instances, records confirm that the actions served only as warnings; no damage was inflicted. Ultimately, the battery’s restricted operational history confirmed its true mandate: to act as a deterrent force, strictly enforcing the limits of the Prohibited Area.

As the geopolitical situation deteriorated in early December 1941, the coastal battery’s role changed from defence to denial. The military high command, recognising the oil assets could not be held against a full-scale invasion, activated the plan to deny the facilities to the enemy Preventing the oil from falling intact into hostile hands became the ultimate objective..

On December 12, 1941, the guns fell silent forever .In accordance with instructions from Singapore, the Permanent Denial Scheme for the Miri Landing Ground was executed by the Royal Engineers and the Sarawak Oilfields employees. Concurrently, the coastal battery was dismantled. One of the six-inch naval guns was successfully recovered, transported to Miri, and loaded onto the naval vessel HMS Lipis.

However, in the rush to evacuate, the other gun was lost in the Miri River near the Lutong ferry, a consequence of the urgent pace of the demolition and retreat. One can only wonder if the gun is still at the bottom of the Miri River and not recovered and scrapped at the end of the war.

The successful execution of the complete denial – the destruction of the oil field across Seria and Miri and the demolition of the refinery and sea-loading lines at Lutong – was achieved through the precise collaboration of the Royal Engineers, the Loyal Regiment, and the HKSRA detachment. This action ensured the enemy captured only ground, not strategic resources.

Although the Japanese occupation of Miri followed quickly and without resistance on December 16th , the prior work of the defence force, including the coastal guns, is credited with potentially deterring a surprise landing intended to capture Lutong and Miri intact. Today, the strategic location of that six-inch gun battery, integral to the denial of Sarawak’s oil, is a significant piece of Miri’s wartime history that risks being overlooked.

One of the concrete structures which may have been an ammunition or command bunker which was connected to a gun battery that protected the Lutong refinery. The second structure is currently used as a document storage room. Both are in a very sorry dilapidated state.

Terry Justin Dit is a lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications, Faculty of Humanities and Health Sciences at Curtin Malaysia, where he teaches Borneo Studies and Media. He can be reached via email at terry.j@curtin.edu.my.