HISTORICAL

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>MALAYA BORNEO VETERANS-1948/66</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MALAYA BORNEO VETERANS1948/66"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Death of Sir Henry Gurney"><U>Death of Sir Henry Gurney</U></A>   |   <B>HISTORICAL</B>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Commonwealth Forces"><U>Commonwealth Forces</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gods Little Acre"><U>God's Little Acre</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CASUALTIES "><U>CASUALTIES </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MALAYAN GOVERNMENT FORCES"><U>MALAYAN GOVERNMENT FORCES</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Notice Board"><U>Notice Board</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LINKS"><U>LINKS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bibliography"><U>Bibliography</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MAPS"><U>MAPS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PHOTOS"><U>PHOTOS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TRUE TALES"><U>TRUE TALES</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Enemy in Malaya"><U>The Enemy in Malaya</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Aboriginal Factor"><U>The Aboriginal Factor</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id108.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kamunting Rd.Cemetery,Taiping"><U>Kamunting Rd.Cemetery,Taiping</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="0736d950.gif" border=0 width="109" height="149" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto:rufe@agn.net.au" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:rufe@agn.net.au"><U><B>mailto:</B></U></A><A HREF="rufe@bigfoot.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="rufe@bigfoot.com"><U><B>rufe@bigfoot.com</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>HISTORICAL</I></div> <div> <B>Federation of Malaya</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >In 1948 the Federation of Malaya comprised nine States(Johor, Negri Sembilan,Pahang,Perak,Kedah,Kelantan,Selangor,Trengganu & Perlis) governed by hereditary Sultans, and two Settlements(Malacca & Penang) governed by Govenors appointed by the British Government. Each Sultan had a British Adviser appointed by the British Government to advise him on matters of Defence,Security,Trade etc.,such advice did not extend to religious matters.During the occupation of Malaya by the Japanese(1941-45)  the main organised opposition to the occupiers was by the Malayan Peoples Anti Japanese Army,a communist organisation comprising,mostly, Malayan Chinese. The MPAJA was supported by the British Govt.who provided arms and supplies plus British Army personnel for training purposes. Upon the defeat of the Japanese the MPAJA was disbanded and members were paid a small gratuity,arms were supposed to be handed in but not all were.Thereafter the aim of the Communist Party of Malaya was to gain control of the Malayan Govt. by destabilising it through establishment and control of Trade Unions and in this it had some success but was never able to achieve official recognition and become a legitimate political party. The CPM decided to attempt to attain their aims by armed insurrection and formed the Malayan Peoples Anti British Army with some three thousand members,again mainly Chinese although there were some Malay and Indian recruits. The insurrection started in Perak with the execution of three European rubber planters on 16th.June,1948 and other killings soon followed,mainly confined to the rural areas by way of road ambushes and assasinations,however,as the Malayan Government built up it's security forces and took administrative measures to restrict supplies to the terrorists the tide started to turn.This process was given extra momentum in 1951 when the</FONT> <A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Death of Sir Henry Gurney"><U>High Commissioner</U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > was killed in a road ambush and General Templer was appointed as his successor with the additional powers as Commander of all security forces and overall control of all security operations.In mid 1955 the Government received a letter from" Supreme Command Headquarters of the Malayan Racial Liberation Army" offering to negotiate an end to the Emergency. This offer was rejected and in September a general amnesty was declared by Government:</FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>              <I><B>To all who have taken up arms against the Government of the Federaton of Malaya and those who have consorted with them.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>1.  </B></I><I>The Government,representing the people of Malaya,make a declaration of amnesty on the following terms.</I></div> <div> <I><B>2.</B></I><I>Those of you who come in and surrender will not be prosecuted for any offence connected with the Emergency which you have committed under communist direction,either before this date or in ignorance of ths declaration</I></div> <div> <I><B>3.</B></I><I> You may surrender how and to whom you like including to members of the public.</I></div> <div> <I><B>4. </B></I><I>There will be no general "ceasefire"but the Security Forces will be on alert to help those who wish to accept this offer and for this purpose local "ceasefire" will be arranged.</I></div> <div> <I><B>5. </B></I><I>The Government will conduct investigation on those who surrender. Those who show that they genuinely intend to be loyal to the Government of Malaya and to give up their communist activities will be helped to regain their normal position in society and be reunited with their families. As regards the remainder,restrictions will have to be placed on their liberty but if any of them wish to go to China their request will be given due consideration.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Kuala Lumpur</I></div> <div> <I>9th.September,1955</I></div> <bR> <div> Amnesty leaflets in Malay,Indian,English and various Chinese languages were distributed widely in the Towns and Villages and air dropped over jungle areas.This led to a meeting in December between the Chief Ministers of Malaya and Singapore and Chin Peng,Secretary General of the Malayan Communist Party. Talks were held over two days but no agreement could be reached.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I> </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Indonesian Confrontation(Konfrontasi)</B></div> <div> Prior to the Pacific War the island of Borneo was under the control of two colonial powers,Holland and Britain, Sabah,Sarawak and Brunei were under British rule,the remainder of Borneo under Dutch.With the advent of the Indonesian Republic in 1949 the Dutch part of Borneo passed to Indonesia. In 1963 Brunei was granted independence and Sarawak and Sabah were encouraged to join with Singapore and Malaya in the creation of the Federation of Malaysia,Indonesia objected to this and mounted armed opposition.The Indonesian campaign opened in April,1963 when "Volunteers" crossed the Sarawak border and attacked a Police Station,however the opening moves were made several months earlier in Brunei when on December 8th.1962 at the instigation of a local politican with pro Sukarno views some 4000 rebels led by Yassin Effendi tried to takeover the Sultanate. Initially they had some success capturing the Brunei Power Station and taking over several small towns and detaining some Govt.officials but the authorities reacted swiftly by airlifting several Coys.of Gurkhas from Singapore followed by other British units by air and sea, by December 20th.,under the overall command of Brigadier Glennie,the rebellion was, to all intents and purposes , over. Many of the rebels tried to escape to the Indonesian border but the indigenous tribesmen were hostile and many were captured or killed. Mopping-up operations continued for some time, In May,1963 Yassin Effendi and some of his followers were discovered in a secret hideout,all were killed or captured. During the Confrontation Indonesian incursions were confined to Borneo except for the landing of two small Indonesian Army parties on the west coast of the Malayan peninsular,these were soon rounded up.Initially,forces opposing the Indonesians were Malaysian,Brunei and British,later on Australian and New Zealand forces were also employed. Major General Walker,Officer Commanding British Forces Borneo was faced with the formidable task of defending a border some 900 miles long mostly in heavy jungle plus the sea approaches. His answer was to establish fortified posts along the border as bases for patrols and sites for field artillery and 105mm mortars capable of shelling known crossing points and providing support for infantry units on patrol,helicopters played a major role in maintaining these outposts. Indigenous tribes were encouraged to supply information on enemy movements and some 1500 were recruited as Border Scouts. Towards the end of 1963 it was clear that the Indonesian 'Volunteers'had been contained and could not achieve their objective so the Indonesian Army was employed but by this time the British forces were of sufficent strength* to counter this escalation and prevent any major incursions.This stalemate continued throughout 1964/65 and it was not until Sukarno was deposed by General Suharto in March 1966 that peace became a possibility and a reality in August.</div> <div> *<I>see </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Commonwealth Forces"><U><I><B>British Commonwealth Forces</B></I></U></A></FONT></div> </td> </tr></table></body>