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 Malayan Emergency (1948-1960): Australians on Operations

Naval Operations

The destroyers Arunta and Warramunga leaving port with a light fleet carrier in 1955. Having seen action in the Second World War, both vessels were modernised in the early 1950s and converted to a mainly anti-submarine role. In mid 1955 Arunta and Warramunga became the first Australian warships to be attached to the newly formed British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve. [AWM 300199]

The destroyers Arunta and Warramunga leaving port with a light fleet carrier in 1955. Having seen action in the Second World War, both vessels were modernised in the early 1950s and converted to a mainly anti-submarine role. In mid 1955 Arunta and Warramunga became the first Australian warships to be attached to the newly formed British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve. [AWM 300199]

In April 1955 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that Australian forces would be part of the newly formed British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (BCFESR).

Between 1955 and 1960 Royal Australian Navy aircraft carriers Melbourne and Sydney, and the destroyers and frigates Anzac, Arunta, Quadrant, Queenborough, Quiberon, Quickmatch, Tobruk, Vampire, Vendetta, Voyager, and Warramunga were attached to the BCFESR for periods of up to six months. These Australian ships took part in patrols and exercises with other Commonwealth vessels throughout the Far East region.

Australian warships in the BCFESR were directly involved in the Malayan Emergency on two occasions. On 29 September 1956 Anzac bombarded a guerrilla camp site, and on 22 January 1957 Queenborough and Quickmatch opened fire against suspected guerrilla positions south of Johore. On both occasions an Auster spotter aircraft directed the Australian naval gunfire, which was reported as having been ‘most effective.’

  • Australian warships cruising in Far Eastern waters in 1956. Above the aircraft carrier Melbourne are the destroyers Tobruk and Anzac, and the frigates Queenborough and Quickmatch are in the foreground. All ships were part of the British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve, while Anzac, Queenborough, and Quickmatch took part in the Malayan Emergency, firing on communist positions. [AWM 304874/02]
  • The crew of HMAS Queenborough at the ship’s re-commissioning ceremony at Garden Island naval base in Sydney in late 1954. The Queenborough had just been converted from a destroyer to an anti-submarine frigate. In 1957 the Queenborough bombarded communist guerrilla positions in Malaya. [AWM 305389]