Malayan Emergency Essay

708 Words3 Pages

Background 1. After WWII the Malayan economy was disrupted, there were strikes between 1946 and 1948 due to low wages and food inflation. During this time the British administration was trying to repair Malaya’s economy. Protestors were dealt with harshly by being arrested or deported (Perryman, n.d.). On 18 June 1948 three estate managers were murdered in Perak, Northern Malaya by guerrillas of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) who were ordered to go on the offensive in accordance with the Soviet global strategy from this the Malayan emergency was declared. The British were quick to bring emergency measures into law, this was firstly done in Perak in response to the incident. Aim 2. To end the Malayan emergency, it was imperative that the …show more content…

Once the British declared the Malayan emergency in June 1948 the Malayan government was slow to react to the MCP and did not appoint a director of operations to counter the MCP insurgency until March 1950 (Perryman, n.d.). In 1951 the situation further deteriorated when the British High Commissioner was assassinated in October 1951. This attack galvanised the British resolve to meet the threat posed by the MCP. In 1955 Royal Australian Navy ships began their contribution to the development and defence of the Federation of Malaya in many different ways and at variable levels. The units of the Strategic Reserve trained against the other Navies to ensure that if the time came they would be ready to engage either in a regional or global conflict, for the defence of Malaya. The first contribution from the RAN would be either two destroyers or frigates and an aircraft carrier would visit the area on an annual basis along with any additional ships needed if an emergency was to arise. The first ships assigned to help with the Malayan emergency were HMA Ships Warramunga and Arunta. Other ships that served in Malayan waters during the Emergency were HMA Ships Anzac, Melbourne, Quadrant, Queenborough, Quiberon, Quickmatch, Sydney, Tobruk, Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager; some of which took part in shore bombardments against terrorist positions in the Johore

Open Document