Malayan Emergency

Malayan Emergency Darurat Malaya
Part of the decolonization of Asia and Cold War in Asia
Clockwise from top left: Australian Avro Lincoln bomber dropping 500lb bombs Communist leader Lee Meng in 1952 RAF staff loads bombs to be used against communist rebels King's African Rifles search abandoned hut Civilians forcibly evicted from their land by the British as part of the Briggs' Plan
Date 16 June 1948 – 31 July 1960 (12 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 1 day) Location British Malaya Result Commonwealth forces victory Independence of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957 CPM retreats to the Malayan-Thai border Insurgency continues (1968-1989) Conflict resolved through the Peace Agreement of Hat Yai (1989)
Belligerents
British Empire and Commonwealth forces:  United Kingdom Federation of Malaya  Singapore Kenya  Southern Rhodesia (until 1953)  Rhodesia and Nyasaland (after 1953) Fiji  Australia  New Zealand Supported by:  Thailand (Thai–Malaysian border)  United States	Communist forces: Malayan Communist Party Malayan National Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom Clement Attlee (until 1951) Winston Churchill (1951–1955) Anthony Eden (1955–1957) Harold Macmillan (1957–1960) Harold Briggs Roy Urquhart Edward Gent Henry Gurney † Gerald Templer William Goode Malaya Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan Tunku Abdul Rahman Tun Razak Tun Ismail Singapore David Marshall Lim Yew Hock Yusof Ishak Lee Kuan Yew Australia Robert Menzies Henry Wells New Zealand Sidney Holland (1951–1957) Walter Nash (1957–1960)	Malayan Communist Party Chin Peng Yeung Kwo † Lee An Tong Chang Ling-Yun Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) Abdullah CD Rashid Maidin Shamsiah Fakeh S. A. Ganapathy  Lau Yew † Mat Indera  Lee Meng Toh Kar Lim Liew Kon Kim
Strength
Over 451,000 troops. 250,000 Malayan Home Guard (Malayan Regiment) troops 40,000 regular Commonwealth personnel King's African Rifles Gurkha regiments 37,000 Special Constables 24,000 Federation Police Unknown number of Orang Asli allies. Over 1,000 Iban (Dayak) headhunters	Over 7,000 troops + 7,000 MNLA full-time troops (1951) + Estimated 1,000,000 sympathisers + 200–400 former Japanese troops Unknown number of Orang Asli allies Unknown number of Min Yuen civilian supporters
Casualties and losses
1,443 killed 1,346 killed 2,406 wounded 39 killed 15 killed	6,710 killed 1,289 wounded 1,287 captured 2,702 surrendered
Civilians killed: 2,478 Civilians missing: 810 Civilian casualties: 5,000+ Total killed: 11,107

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Formative era BMA of Malaya/Borneo 1945–1946 Crown Colony of N. Borneo 1946–1963 Crown Colony of Sarawak 1946–1963 Anti-cession movement 1946–1963 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Sungai Siput incident 1948 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Batang Kali massacre 1948 Bukit Kepong incident 1950 Baling Talks 1955 Malayan Independence 1957 Singapore Self-governance 1959 ISA 1960 1960–2012 Communist insurgency in Sarawak 1962–1990 North Borneo Self-governance 1963 Konfrontasi 1963–1966 Sarawak Self-governance 1963 Formation of Malaysia 1963 Singapore in Malaysia 1963–1965 ASEAN Declaration 1967 Second communist insurgency 1968–1989 13 May incident 1969 National Operations Council 1969–1971 Declaration of Rukun Negara 1970 New Economic Policy 1971–1990 Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989
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The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War^[1] (1948–1960), was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces of the Federation of Malaya, British Empire and Commonwealth. The communists fought to win independence for Malaya from the British Empire and to establish a socialist economy, while the Malayan Federation and Commonwealth forces fought to combat communism and protect British economic and colonial interests.^[2][3][4] The term "Emergency" was used by the British to characterise the conflict in order to avoid referring to it as a war, because London-based insurers would not pay out in instances of civil wars.^[5]

The war began on 17 June 1948, after Britain declared a state of emergency in Malaya following attacks on plantations,^[6] which had been revenge attacks for the killing of left-wing activists.^[7] Leader of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) Chin Peng and his allies fled into the jungles and formed the MNLA to wage a war for national liberation against British colonial rule. Many MNLA fighters were veterans of the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), a communist guerrilla army previously trained, armed and funded by the British to fight against Japan during World War II.^[8] The communists gained support from many civilians, mainly those from the Chinese community.^[9] The communists' belief in class consciousness, and both ethnic and gender equality, inspired many women and indigenous people to join both the MNLA and its undercover supply network the Min Yuen.^[10] Additionally, hundreds of former Japanese soldiers joined the MNLA.^[11] After establishing a series of jungle bases the MNLA began raiding British colonial police and military installations. Mines, plantations, and trains were attacked by the MNLA to gain independence for Malaya by bankrupting the British occupation.

The British attempted to starve the MNLA using scorched earth policies through food rationing, killing livestock, and aerial spraying of the herbicide Agent Orange.^[16] British attempts to defeat the communists included extrajudicial killings of unarmed villagers, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.^[17] The most infamous example is the Batang Kali massacre, which the press has referred to as "Britain's My Lai".^[a] The Briggs Plan forcibly relocated between 400,000 and 1,000,000 civilians into concentration camps called "New villages".^[22][23][24] Many Orang Asli indigenous communities were also targeted for internment because the British believed that they were supporting the communists.^[25][26]

Although the emergency was declared over in 1960, communist leader Chin Peng renewed the insurgency against the Malaysian government in 1968. This second phase of the insurgency lasted until 1989.

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