| Background | |
|---|---|
| Battles | |
| Foreign involvement | |
Australian involvement in the Malayan Emergency lasted 13 years, between 1950 and 1963, with army, air force and naval units serving. The Malayan Emergency (Anti-British National Liberation War) was aguerrilla war fought betweenCommonwealth armed forces and theMalayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the military arm of theMalayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960 inMalaya. The Malayan Emergency was the longest continuous military commitment in Australia's history. Thirty-nine Australians were killed and 27 wounded.[citation needed]
The Australian Government sentRoyal Australian Air ForceDakota transport aircraft ofNo. 38 Squadron andLincoln bombers ofNo. 1 Squadron to Malaya in June 1950. The2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR), arrived in 1955.[1] The battalion was later replaced by3 RAR, which in turn was replaced by1 RAR. In 1955, the RAAF extendedButterworth air base, from whichCanberra bombers ofNo. 2 Squadron (replacing No. 1 Squadron) andCAC Sabres ofNo. 78 Wing carried out ground attack missions against the guerillas.[citation needed]
TheRoyal Australian Navy destroyersWarramunga andArunta joined the force in June 1955. Between 1956 and 1960, the aircraft carriersMelbourne andSydney and destroyersAnzac,Quadrant,Queenborough,Quiberon,Quickmatch,Tobruk,Vampire,Vendetta andVoyager were attached to theCommonwealth Strategic Reserve forces for three to nine months at a time. Several of the destroyers fired on Communist positions inJohor State.[citation needed]
In 1973 an Australian Armyinfantrycompany, known asRifle Company Butterworth, was deployed to RAAF Base Butterworth to provide a protective and quick-reaction force for the base during aresurgence of the Communist insurgency in Malaysia.[2] While the base was handed to theRoyal Malaysian Air Force in 1988 and the insurgency officially ended in 1989, Rifle Company Butterworth was maintained as a means of providing Australian soldiers with training injungle warfare and cross-training with theMalaysian Army.[3]
