Prime Minister Kevin Rudd revealed yesterday that the bodies of Private Moncrieff and fellow SAS soldier Lieutenant Kenneth Hudson had been found where they were buried by Indonesian villagers in East Kalimantan.

Private Moncrieff was born in Hamilton, went to Cooks Hill High School, was a keen surfer and worked as a hardware salesman for the Fred Ash firm.

He entered the army in 1964, joining the SASR in April 1965.

Private Moncrieff and Lieutenant Hudson were deployed to Borneo as members of 2 Squadron SASR in February 1966.

Their fateful final mission took place on March 21, 1966.

In line with enduring sensitivities about SAS operations, Mr Rudd said only that the pair were conducting border security operations when they disappeared.

This was the time of ‘‘confrontation’’ when Indonesia’s President Sukarno had threatened the new Malaysian confederation, launching military incursions into Malaysian Sarawak.

Australia and Britain deployed troops into Sarawak to ensure its security.

From July 1964 to July 1966, Australian forces conducted clandestine missions across the border, ambushing Indonesian troops and gathering intelligence.

Details of the so-called ‘‘Claret’’ operations were kept top secret until the 1980s and only officially admitted in 1996.

Private Moncrieff’s four-member patrol was on a reconnaissance mission about three kilometres inside Indonesian territory when they attempted to cross a river in driving rain about 3am.

In the darkness, all were swept away but two survivors, privates Frank Ayling and Bruce Gabriel, made it ashore.

Private Moncrieff and Lieutenant Hudson were never found, despite a search launched when they did not return to base in Sarawak.

Both men were declared dead on April 1, 1966, as two of the three Australian SAS soldiers to die in Borneo.

Private Moncrieff’s body, which had been buried by Dayak locals, was found after research by the Army’s Unrecovered War Casualties team and current and ex-SAS members with support from Indonesian Armed Forces.

His remains were found in October 2009 at a burial site six kilometres from that of Lieutenant Hudson.

Planning is now under way to repatriate the remains, possibly next month. - with AAP