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

RAAF Operations

No. 1 Squadron flying crew leaving their Lincoln bomber after a mission over Malaya. [AWM FEAF1030]

No. 1 Squadron flying crew leaving their Lincoln bomber after a mission over Malaya. [AWM FEAF1030]

The use of air power was an important part of the Commonwealth strategy in Malaya. The rough terrain of the Malayan peninsula made land operations difficult, and in the first years of the conflict the Commonwealth forces were not yet ready to undertake extensive land operations. Moreover, as the Communist forces did not have any aircraft of their own, Commonwealth aircraft were able to dominate the environment and to explore the boundaries of air power itself. The RAAF contributed transport, bomber, and fighter squadrons to the Commonwealth effort in Malaya.

The arrival of RAAF transport and bomber squadrons in 1950 represented Australia’s first involvement in the Malayan Emergency. In June 1950 eight Dakota transport aircraft of No. 38 Transport Squadron RAAF landed in Malaya. The squadron was stationed east of Singapore at Changi airfield until April 1951, when it began operating from Kuala Lumpur with No. 1 squadron RNZAF. No. 38 Squadron moved back to Changi in July 1952 and returned to Australia in December that year.

Six Lincoln bombers of No. 1 Squadron (Bomber) RAAF arrived in Malaya in July 1950. The squadron was based at Tengah on the west of Singapore Island. The Lincolns operated in Malaya until 1958, when they were replaced by Canberra bombers of No. 2 Squadron RAAF.

  • A Lincoln bomber on a demonstration flight over Victoria in November 1946. Like the Second World War Mosquito, the Lincoln was assembled in Australia under licence from its British parent company. Between 1946 and 1961 the RAAF operated 54 Lincolns divided among four squadrons. [AWM 043069]
  • Canberra bombers of No. 2 Squadron RAAF about to land at Butterworth in northern Malaya in August 1958. The completion of Butterworth airfield meant that jet-propelled Canberras could replace the piston-engined Lincolns of No. 1 Squadron as the RAAF’s front-line bomber in Malaya. [AWM P00448.121]
  • No. 77 Squadron RAAF Sabres lined up on the tarmac at Butterworth in 1960. The first Sabre operation of the Emergency took place on 13 August 1959 when pilots dive-bombed communist camps and supply dumps near the Thai-Malay border. By the time Australian Sabres arrived, however, the Emergency was all but over and their operational role was limited. (Image courtesy of Kevin Stapleton)
  • A 3 Squadron RAAF Sabre at Butterworth is dwarfed by a Royal Air Force Valiant. (Image courtesy of Kevin Stapleton)
  • A mechanic fits an ejection seat to a RAAF Sabre at Butterworth during 1959. The triangular sign under the cockpit reads ‘Danger ejection seat’. (Image courtesy of Kevin Stapleton)

Although at first serving in Malaya as part of Britain’s Far East Air Force, RAAF transport and bomber squadrons received a degree of autonomy by being placed under the immediate control of RAAF Headquarters in Singapore. In the late 1950s, however, RAAF squadrons operated from the recently rebuilt Butterworth airbase in northern Malaya as part of the British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (BCFESR). As well as No. 2 Squadron, No. 3 Squadron RAAF and No. 77 Squadron RAAF were based at Butterworth, and both were equipped with Sabre jet fighters.

3 Squadron Sabres taxi before take-off from Butterworth. (Image courtesy of Kevin Stapleton)

The RAAF’s service in Malaya was both the foundation of Australia’s contribution to the conflict, and a significant part of the wider Commonwealth effort. And the RAAF’s role in the BCFESR meant that even after the official end of the Malayan Emergency in 1960, Australian squadrons continued to be stationed at Butterworth.

 

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Operation Termite, this film is a fascinating look at July 1954’s Operation Termite [AWM F02784]