The Malayan Emergency     -     1948 to 1960

Causes and general description

 

The Malayan Emergency was a conflict between communist guerrillas and British Commonwealth forces including Australians. The guerrillas, most of whom were Malayan Chinese, were seeking to overthrow the British colonial administration in Malaya. The term 'Emergency' is used to describe the conflict because on 18 June 1948 the British declared a State of Emergency in Malaya after guerrillas assassinated three European plantation managers in the northern state of Perak.

 

The Malayan Emergency arose from political and ideological uncertainty in Asia following the Second World War, and from a long-standing antipathy between the British and the Malayan Chinese. Moreover, when the British resumed control after the war, the new administration failed to act firmly or consistently to solve social and economic problems in Malaya. The administration's initial response to escalating violence on the part of the communists was also indecisive.

 

The Malayan Union Proposals were the immediate cause of this violence. In 1946 the British announced the proposals, which would have led to the granting of citizenship to the Malayan Chinese. The proposals were, however, extremely unpopular with the wider Malay population, so the British withdrew them. This about-face enraged the Malayan Chinese, some of whom, abandoning protests and strikes, began a campaign of violence that included intimidation, sabotage, and selective assassination. And in 1948 the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), attempting to redirect this violence, decided to convert the struggle against the British into a rural guerrilla war.

 

Although the assassinations of 1948 led to the declaration of a State of Emergency, the British only appointed a Director of Operations, Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Briggs, in 1950. Briggs completed a report that recommended both active anti-guerrilla operations and cutting the guerrillas off from communities likely to help them, as well as a systematic clearance of Malaya from the south to the north. Yet the assassination of the High Commissioner Sir Henry Guerney on October 1951 still suggested that, from a British perspective, the situation was continuing to deteriorate.

 

According to western accounts, the pivotal point in the conflict was the appointment in January 1952 of General Sir Gerald Templer as British High Commissioner and Director of Operations. During his two-year command in Malaya the energetic Templer carried out Briggs' recommendations including the controversial resettlement of many rural Chinese into 'new villages.' Templer also offered the guerrillas rewards and other incentives to surrender.

 

As early as 1951, however, the MCP leadership was beginning to think that moving to a full-scale guerrilla war had been a mistake. From the mid-1950s communist leaders such as Chin Peng realised that they could not win, and began to press for a negotiated settlement to the conflict. Nevertheless, peace talks held over a three-month period from December 1955 failed, not least because of the strong stance taken by British-backed Malayan representatives such as Tunku Abdul Rahman, who would only consider an unconditional surrender by the guerrillas.

 

When Malaya became an independent federation in August 1957 with Tunku Abdul Rahman as Prime Minister, the avowed anti-colonialism of the communist cause became meaningless. Indeed, the new government was now able to call the struggle against the guerrillas 'the People's War.' The struggle itself was effectively over by 1958 when the last significant group of guerrillas still at large in Malaya surrendered at Telok Anson in Perak, and others fled north into the remote areas near – and across – the border with Thailand. The Malayan government did not, however, declare an end to the State of Emergency until 31 July 1960. By that time 6,700 guerrillas, 1,800 Malayan and Commonwealth troops, and more than 3,000 civilians had lost their lives in the conflict.

 

Australians arrive in Malaya

In April 1950 the British Government asked whether some Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) units could be sent to assist in the Malayan Emergency. The Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies hesitated. Menzies was profoundly pro-British and anti-communist, and he replied that he was 'deeply conscious of the serious position in Malaya.' He nevertheless feared that the electorate would not approve of 'committing Australia to a militaristic policy.' He was also unsure whether the British would win.

 

Menzies therefore postponed any decision on the matter until after the visit of the British Commissioner-General for South-East Asia, Malcolm MacDonald. But the visit, which took place in early May 1950, made a decision more difficult. Despite urgings in the Australian press for intervention in Malaya, the visit sparked some anti-British demonstrations, while Cabinet was unconvinced by MacDonald himself.

 

Menzies nevertheless found a compromise that he announced on 19 May 1950: a RAAF unit would be sent to Malaya, but it was to be a transport squadron rather than a fighter or bomber unit. And so the advance party of No. 38 Squadron RAAF arrived in Singapore in the following month in a low-key beginning to what would become Australia's longest involvement in an overseas conflict.

 

The invasion of South Korea by the forces of communist North Korea on 25 June 1950 changed the outlook of the Australian Government and made stronger measures against the communist guerrillas in Malaya seem appropriate. Just two days after the Korean War began Cabinet decided that the Lincoln bombers of No.1 Squadron would also be sent to Malaya along with a small group of army advisors and intelligence officers known as the Bridgeford Mission.

 

Political and military developments in the mid 1950s led to increased Australian involvement in the Malayan Emergency. In late 1954 Australia signalled a greater commitment to the region by joining the newly formed South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), and by agreeing to the establishment of the British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (BCFESR) in Malaya. At the time Australian army units were also returning home following the end of hostilities in Korea.

 

The BCFESR was made up of an infantry brigade, bomber and fighter squadrons, and naval vessels. The army component of the BCFESR was the 28th Commonwealth Brigade, which had served in Korea, and which re-formed at Penang in Malaya in 1955. Australian infantry battalions and artillery batteries served two-year tours of duty in Malaya from 1955 as part of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade. The RAAF bomber and fighter squadrons based at Butterworth from 1958, and the RAN ships involved in the Malayan Emergency, were also part of the BCFESR.

 

The BCFESR therefore provided the organisational structure for most of the Australian involvement in the Malayan Emergency, including that of 7,000 Australian soldiers. And although the BCFESR only existed in the later stages of the Malayan Emergency, the heaviest fighting involving Australians took place in that period. During the Malayan Emergency there were 15 Australian operational deaths, including 13 from the Australian Army.

 

Naval operations

In April 1955 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that Australian forces would be part of the newly formed British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (BCFESR).

 

Between 1955 and 1960 Royal Australian Navy aircraft carriers Melbourne and Sydney, and the destroyers and frigates Anzac, Arunta, Quadrant, Queenborough, Quiberon, Quickmatch, Tobruk, Vampire, Vendetta, Voyager, and Warramunga were attached to the BCFESR for periods of up to six months. These Australian ships took part in patrols and exercises with other Commonwealth vessels throughout the Far East region.

 

Australian warships in the BCFESR were directly involved in the Malayan Emergency on two occasions. On 29 September 1956 Anzac bombarded a guerrilla camp site, and on 22 January 1957 Queenborough and Quickmatch opened fire against suspected guerrilla positions south of Johore. On both occasions an Auster spotter aircraft directed the Australian naval gunfire, which was reported as having been 'most effective.'

 

Army operations

The Australian Army was involved in the Malayan Emergency from 1955, and Australian soldiers remained in the region until 1963, three years after the conflict's official end. The 2nd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR) arrived in Malaya in October 1955. Stationed initially on Penang Island, the battalion crossed to the mainland on 1 January 1956 to begin operations as part of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade. The battalion mainly operated in the northern areas of Kedah and Perak, which had been centres of guerrilla activity. Although there were few contacts with the guerrillas when the battalion patrolled these areas, heavy fighting took place in June 1956 during the Pipeline Ambush, in which three Australians were killed.

 

The 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) replaced 2 RAR in October 1957. After training at Johore in southern Malaya, 3 RAR began patrolling operations in Perak and Kedah. These operations were mainly intended to cut the guerrillas off from their food supplies. The battalion's patrolling resulted in two notable successes: in July 1958, acting on information received from a surrendered communist, members of the battalion destroyed several local guerrilla camps; and on 20 November 1958 another camp was attacked. One of the guerrillas killed in the latter operation was found to have taken part in the infamous assassination of the British High Commissioner in 1951. The clearest indication of the battalion's success came in April 1959 when the British announced that the state of Perak was secure.

 

The 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) replaced 3 RAR in October 1959. On its tour of duty 1 RAR conducted patrols in northern Malaya, sometimes crossing the border into Thailand in order to follow communist guerrillas and drive them back into Malaya. The battalion's tour continued after the Emergency was declared over on 31 July 1960. Replacing 1 RAR, 2 RAR returned for a second tour of duty in October 1961 and carried out patrols in Perlis and Kedah. Elements of 2 RAR also took part in SEATO exercises in Thailand. The Australian Army's involvement in Malaya ended when 2 RAR returned to Australia in August 1963.

 

RAAF operations

The use of air power was an important part of the Commonwealth strategy in Malaya. The rough terrain of the Malayan peninsula made land operations difficult, and in the first years of the conflict the Commonwealth forces were not yet ready to undertake extensive land operations. Moreover, as the Communist forces did not have any aircraft of their own, Commonwealth aircraft were able to dominate the environment and to explore the boundaries of air power itself. The RAAF contributed transport, bomber, and fighter squadrons to the Commonwealth effort in Malaya.

 

The arrival of RAAF transport and bomber squadrons in 1950 represented Australia's first involvement in the Malayan Emergency. In June 1950 eight Dakota transport aircraft of No. 38 Transport Squadron RAAF landed in Malaya. The squadron was stationed east of Singapore at Changi airfield until April 1951, when it began operating from Kuala Lumpur with No. 1 squadron RNZAF. No. 38 Squadron moved back to Changi in July 1952 and returned to Australia in December that year.

 

Six Lincoln bombers of No. 1 Squadron (Bomber) RAAF arrived in Malaya in July 1950. The squadron was based at Tengah on the west of Singapore Island. The Lincolns operated in Malaya until 1958, when they were replaced by Canberra bombers of No. 2 Squadron RAAF.

 

Although at first serving in Malaya as part of Britain's Far East Air Force, RAAF transport and bomber squadrons received a degree of autonomy by being placed under the immediate control of RAAF Headquarters in Singapore. In the late 1950s, however, RAAF squadrons operated from the recently rebuilt Butterworth airbase in northern Malaya as part of the British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (BCFESR). As well as No. 2 Squadron, No. 3 Squadron RAAF and No. 77 Squadron RAAF were based at Butterworth, and both were equipped with Sabre jet fighters.

 

The RAAF's service in Malaya was both the foundation of Australia's contribution to the conflict, and a significant part of the wider Commonwealth effort. And the RAAF's role in the BCFESR meant that even after the official end of the Malayan Emergency in 1960, Australian squadrons continued to be stationed at Butterworth.

 

 

Casualties

Malayan Emergency

Number of Deaths  39