Background - NZ and the Malayan Emergency

Background

Declared on 18 June 1948, the Emergency was the immediate response to the murder of three British planters in northern Malaya but had its roots deep in the post-war economic and political dislocation of Malaya and a sense of alienation among the Chinese community in particular. The guerrilla campaign mounted by the military arm of the MCP, which in 1949 became the 'Malayan Races Liberation Army' (MRLA), soon confronted the British authorities with a serious security problem. This was partly because of the MRLA's military effectiveness. Its origins lay in the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army, which had been formed during the Second World War.

Although the Anti-Japanese Army's resistance activities were relatively limited, and it was ostensibly disbanded following the war, its structure and much of its weaponry remained available for reactivation. At its peak in 1951 the MRLA numbered about 8000 men.

The support the guerrillas received from a segment of the Chinese community, and the acquiescence of much of the rest, was an important element in sustaining their campaign. This stemmed from discontent among Chinese over their status within the colony - the British withdrawal of proposed measures that would have offered eventual citizenship in 1946 had inflamed Chinese opinion - and from the failure of the administration to ensure law and order.

British response

The British response to the guerrilla challenge was at first marked by uncertainty and ineptitude. Not until 1950 was a more coordinated programme developed, following the appointment of the retired British army officer, Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Briggs, as Director of Operations. He emphasised the need to separate the guerrillas from their support, both by improving the position of the Chinese community generally and by physically concentrating civilians living near guerrilla areas in 'New Villages'.

A coordinated and systematic approach, moving from south to north, was proposed. This programme was vigorously implemented by General Sir Gerald Templer, who was appointed High Commissioner with full powers over the military, police, and civil authorities in early 1952 (his predecessor, Sir Henry Gurney, had been ambushed and killed by guerrillas in October 1951). By 1954, when Templer departed, these measures had transformed the situation. The CTs (communist terrorists), as the guerrillas were now termed, had been forced back into the jungle, where they struggled to sustain themselves. From this time, the operations against them were in the nature of a mopping-up exercise.