Stories from the times of Operation Denial, a mysterious disappearing oil tank cover, and dentists part-timing as secret agent spies, at a time when Miri was facing the brink of war...
" A great story retold again.... My late grandpa John Chen KM was the fire chief when the firemen were involved in destroying the oil tanks and facilities. An unsolved mystery was the disappearance of an oil tank cover flung high into the air after the tank had been destroyed which was never found despite an intensive search. Another point, the popular friendly, humble local Japanese dentists were actually spies in disguise and obviously their intelligence gathering was so effective that it was easy to bring back the whole lot of skilled oil workers in Singapore. Overnight, when the Japs landed, local Jap professionals were seen in the uniforms of the Land of the Rising Sun!"
On June 10, 1945, troops of the Australian 9th Division occupied Labuan Island. Within 11 days, they had landed on the mainland and liberated Miri and Seria.