Australian involvement in South-East Asian Conflicts

The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) and the Indonesian-Malaysian Confrontation (Konfrontasi) (1962-1966)

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The Indonesian Confrontation (Konfrontasi) (1963-1966): Australia's Allies: Britain and other Commonwealth forces

Overview

Pilots from (left to right) New Zealand, the Philippines, Britain, and Australia in front of a Vampire jet fighter at Singapore in the late 1950s. The pilot from the Philippines is in Malaya because of his country’s commitment to the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), while the others are part of the British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (BCFESR). The Australian, Flying Officer Peter Hearnden, is a member of No. 1 Squadron RAAF, Australia’s longest serving military unit in the Malayan Emergency. [AWM FEAF0974]

Pilots from (left to right) New Zealand, the Philippines, Britain, and Australia in front of a Vampire jet fighter at Singapore in the late 1950s. [AWM FEAF0974]

During the Malayan Emergency and the Indonesian Confrontation Australians cooperated with British forces, locally raised units, and military personnel from various British Commonwealth countries including New Zealand.

New Zealand’s involvement in Malaya and Borneo followed a similar pattern to Australia’s. After requests from Great Britain, New Zealand sent a flight of three Dakota transport aircraft to Malaya in September 1949. The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) contributed further transport units and, in the late 1950s, squadrons of Venom fighter jets and Canberra bombers to the Commonwealth forces in Malaya.

New Zealand did not have a standing army in the early 1950s. She did, however, provide the officers for the Fiji Infantry Regiment, which served in Malaya from 1952 to 1956. And from 1957 there was a New Zealand infantry battalion in the 28th Commonwealth Brigade in Malaya. Unlike their Australian counterparts, New Zealand SAS personnel also took part in the Malayan Emergency.

  • British Brigadier-General HJ ‘John’ Mogg (centre), the commander of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade, inspecting the Commonwealth Signal Squadron at Taiping in northern Malaya in 1959. The Signal Squadron was an integrated unit, composed of British and Australian soldiers. Australian signals, transport, and engineer sub-units were absorbed into British formations in Malaya. This process of integration caused some anxiety; a number of Australians were concerned that they would be forced to dispense with their slouch hats. [AWM ELL/59/0508/MC]
  • A Sakai tribesman and a Commonwealth-forces tracker in northern Malaya in 1960. The Sakai people were indigenous to the region. The tracker is an Iban from Borneo. Ibans operated as specialist trackers for the British, and they were attached to Commonwealth units during both the Malayan Emergency and the Indonesian Confrontation. Iban trackers often accompanied Australian soldiers on patrols. [AWM P02222.002]
  • Iban tracker Bilong (left), Australian Second Lieutenant Douglas Byers, and Engill, a Dyak tracker, at Stass in western Sarawak in 1965. The Ibans were a branch of the Dyak peoples, who were spread across all of Borneo. Byers led a platoon from the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) in an ambush of a 100-strong force of Indonesians at Kindau in Kalimantan or Indonesian-controlled Borneo in June 1965. [AWM P04701.011]
  • A British Army Ghurkha soldier in Borneo in early 1965. The Nepalese Ghurkhas fought for the British from the early nineteenth century. This association continued during the world wars, the Malayan Emergency, the Indonesian Confrontation, the Falklands War, and recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Australian infantry and gunners regularly cooperated with Ghurkha units in Borneo during the Indonesian Confrontation. [AWM P04762.012]

New Zealand initially acceded to British and Malaysian requests for assistance in Borneo by training members of the Malaysian Armed Forces, and by again sending a transport flight. From 1965 a New Zealand infantry battalion and New Zealand SAS squadrons served in Borneo. Royal New Zealand Navy vessels also operated in Malaysian waters as part of the Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve during both the Malayan Emergency and the Confrontation with Indonesia.

British Army troops were the mainstay of the Commonwealth forces in Malaya and Borneo. British infantry regiments, mechanised units, a Commando brigade, an SAS regiment, the Royal Artillery Regiment, and a Ghurkha infantry brigade all served in Malaya. The Royal Tank Regiment augmented these units in Borneo. Ghurkha soldiers were heavily involved with Indonesian infiltrators in the early stages of the Indonesian Confrontation, and Australian infantrymen and gunners worked closely with the Ghurkhas in Borneo from 1965.

Most Australian patrols in Borneo were accompanied by an Iban tracker. The indigenous Iban people of Borneo had an ambivalent relationship with the British: some, especially those in eastern Borneo, maintained relatively friendly relations with the Indonesians, while others were willing to assist Commonwealth soldiers. Ibans were also used as trackers on the mainland during the Malayan Emergency, and an Iban with the Australians was wounded in the Pipeline Ambush.

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Interview with Neil Davis, this excerpt of an interview with cameraman Neil Davis, features the legendary war correspondent speaking about his first experience of armed conflict; the Confrontation with Indonesia in Borneo. Here he speaks about the Ghurkhas and the high regard in which he holds them. [AWM F10571]