The RAAF in the Malayan Emergency

Australian participation in the Malayan Emergency was a gradual process commencing in the late 1940s with various requests by the British for military aid. On May 31 1950, after consultations with both the British and New Zealand Governments, Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced a decision to deploy transport aircraft – 38 Squadron – to Malaya. On June 27, two days after the commencement of the Korean War, it was further announced that a squadron of Lincoln bombers would also be sent. At a time when the global spread of Communism appeared to be the major threat to democratic countries around the world, these commitments were warmly welcomed by the Australian public and the governments of Britain and the United States. With the arrival of 1 Squadron at Changi in July, both units came under the control of the newly created 90 (Composite) Wing, RAAF commanded by Group Captain P G ‘Paddy’ Heffernan. RAAF operations in Malaya have mostly been ignored by the Australian public as unspectacular and routine. While this is generally the case a number of notable incidents did occur and some of these are related in the following paragraphs.

While there are no confirmed official incidents of RAAF aircraft being fired on by the CT, there is at least one occasion where an aircraft was undoubtedly fired on. This occurred on August 19 1950 when Dakota A65-112, captained by Flying Officer A F Tafe, was taking off from Tourane (now DaNang) airfield in Vietnam during one of the routine courier flights regularly undertaken outside the Malayan mainland by 38 Squadron. A mortar round detonated 200 metres to the rear of the aircraft and no doubt contributed to a hurried takeoff by the Australians.

Just 10 days after this incident 38 Squadron suffered its first fatality when Flight Sergeant G J McDonald was killed while acting as copilot in an RAF Dakota of 110 Squadron. The aircraft (serial number KN240) failed to arrive at Hong Kong on a courier flight. The Dakota had, in fact, crashed into the sea with only one survivor.

While engaged on a supply dropping flight on December 20 1951, Dakota A65-66, captained by Squadron Leader A H Birch, sustained a port engine failure just after dropping its load. Soon afterwards the starboard engine also failed and the pilot force landed his powerless aircraft near Aur Kampong. The crew received only minor injuries in the crash and were evacuated by RAF Auster light aircraft. A65-66 was less fortunate and had to be written off. Later, a detachment of ground staff visited the crash site and salvaged useful components from the wreck.

In June 1951 the crew of a 1 Squadron Lincoln, returning to Tengah after completing a routine strike near Mersing, observed an army convoy being ambushed by the CT. Despite being out of ammunition, the Lincoln descended to tree top height and made several mock attacks on the area bordering the road. The roar of the big bomber’s engines combined with the heavy fire they were already experiencing from the British troops (some of which may have appeared to come from the Lincoln) forced an immediate CT withdrawal. An appreciative British Army commander later signalled his thanks to 1 Squadron.

The first major incident involving a 1 Squadron aircraft in Malaya occurred on the night of August 13 1950 when Lincoln A73-36 was engaged in a night strike against CT positions with the aid of parachute flares. One of the flares hung up in the Lincoln’s bomb bay and immediately ignited, setting the fuselage on fire. With considerable difficulty, the tail gunner, Flight Lieutenant K I Foster, extinguished the fire and the badly damaged aircraft made a safe return to base. After being partially cannibalised for spare parts, A73-36 was eventually made airworthy and flown to Australia for major repairs. Flt Lt Foster was later awarded the DFC (the first to be awarded to a RAAF member since the end of World War II) for his actions which undoubtedly saved both aircraft and crew. Modestly, he later claimed that his heroic actions were only made so that he could get to his parachute further up in the Lincoln’s fuselage!

1 Squadron lost its first aircraft when Lincoln A73-39 was written off after overshooting Tengah’s runway on November 30 1951. The bomber, captained by Warrant Officer Peel, had just completed a test flight after a 100 hour inspection at the time of the accident. The wrecked aircraft languished at Tengah for months before finally being scrapped. A ‘wheeling dealing’ Polish pilot, flying for the RAF in Malaya, took an interest in A73-39 and wanted to buy the aircraft but was refused permission to do so. When this officer later failed to return from a Vampire sortie many at Tengah believed a rumour that, far from being killed, he had flown to Indonesia and sold his aircraft there. According to one Australian “this was quite believable knowing the man”.

The date of April 4 1952 is one likely to remain in the minds of the crew of Lincoln A73-31 for a considerable time to come. Flying Officer Noel Davis, the crew’s regular captain, was grounded at the time recuperating from injuries sustained in a car accident. At 7.45 that morning the crew, with Grp Capt R Green, the then Commanding Officer of 90 Wing at the controls, taxied to the end of the strip and conducted their preflight checks. On taking off however, the Lincoln, laden with 4500kg (10,000lb) of bombs, fuel and ammunition, suffered an engine failure. The bomber staggered into the air, was dragged through a well placed cutting and returned to make a safe landing. It was a close call indeed and a very relieved crew left the aircraft.

Taking off again in a different Lincoln (A73-46) just after midnight, the crew bombed a target in the Kluang area. Later over Tengah, they discovered that a fault had developed in the compressed air system which operated the Lincoln’s brakes. As there was no headwind into which to land, there would be no way of stopping the aircraft from overrunning the runway and wrecking itself. The alternatives for the crew appeared to be bail out or stay in the aircraft as it crash landed. Finding neither alternative acceptable, the crew decided on a most unusual course of action. Flight Sergeant Lance Edwards and Warrant Officer Ray Turner, the Lincoln’s gunners, connected a parachute harness to the fuselage leading to the rear turret. Warrant Officer Turner then reoccupied the rear turret as the bomber came in for landing. The second pilot advised the tail gunner when the Lincoln was just about to touch down and the parachute was fed out the turret into the slipstream, filling with air and dragging the Lincoln to a halt halfway down the runway. The normal stopping distance for a Lincoln with brakes was two thirds of Tengah’s strip. By their cleverly conceived action the crew had saved a valuable aircraft, and, more importantly, themselves from injury. Nonetheless it had been a trying day, to say the least, and the beers consumed in the mess that night tasted better than usual!

In a war in which the enemy was rarely seen and 1 Squadron’s aircrews were disparagingly referred to as ‘monkey killers’ an unusually successful strike occurred on June 30 1955 near Mentakab. After the Lincoln’s attack, ground forces swept through the area taking nine prisoners (the highest single number to surrender up to that time) and recovering one body.

As far as confirmed ‘kills’ went, 1 Squadron’s most successful attack of the Malayan Emergency occurred on February 21 1956. Seven Lincolns led by Wing Commander K V Robertson, the unit’s last Malaya commander, dropped 98 1000lb (454kg) bombs from 3000ft on a CT camp in swampy terrain near Kluang. The aircraft returned to base, rearmed and attacked the position later in the day. In all almost 90 tonnes (196,000lb) of bombs, a squadron record, were delivered. When the camp was scoured by troops of the 1st South Wales Border Regiment, the bodies of eighteen CTs were found, some still had notebooks in their hands. Apparently they were participating in a lecture at the time of the strike. One of the dead was later identified as Go Pen Taun the Political Commissar of southern Johore – an important kill indeed. This particular strike was later assessed as the most successful air attack of the whole Emergency.

On May 28 1956, Lincoln A73-40 returned to Tengah with several other aircraft after participating in some low level formation flying. The pilot, Squadron Leader L Britt put the bomber onto the strip whereupon its tailwheel promptly broke off. The rear gunner, Warrant Officer K O’Connell, felt the bang and told the pilot what was happening as the Lincoln’s tail fins were ground away in a shower of sparks. Looking back down the runway, the gunner then realised that the other Lincolns were also down and rapidly catching up to the damaged aircraft. A shouted warning of “for gods sake keep her going” was sufficient to allow the captain to increase power (despite causing further damage to the Lincoln) to increase the distance from the other aircraft and avoid what could have been a disastrous accident. Eventually stopping when it was safe to do so, the crew surveyed the damage and counted themselves fortunate to escape without injury. A73-40’s tail unit had suffered considerable damage and it was some months before the groundstaff, who had to wait for components to arrive from Australia, could effect repairs. When repaired and fully serviceable after its earlier incident, A73-40 became the second Lincoln lost by 1 Squadron.

On February 1 1957, shortly after taking off on a night strike from Tengah, the bomber, captained by Squadron Leader E Goldner, experienced engine trouble and began to lose height. Before the bomb load could be jettisoned the aircraft hit trees on Mount Purelai. The captain was incapacitated, however Pilot Officer T Thorpe, the copilot, regained control. With only two engines now functioning, he avoided crashing into Pontai village before ditching the Lincoln in shallow water in the strait of Johore. The tail section broke off on impact but all the crew were rescued without serious injury.

Another well remembered strike occurred on the night of May 13-14, 1957 when five Lincolns led by Wing Commander Robertson bombed a camp in the Jelebu area. Four CTs were killed and a fifth mortally wounded. The wounded terrorist was found to be the Negri Sembilan leader, the notorious Teng Fook Loong (popularly known as Mr Ten Foot Long). Teng had been prominent in the British backed anti Japanese underground and was decorated with an OBE – an award which was later revoked. After lingering for 10 hours, Teng succumbed to his injuries.

1 Squadron returned to Australia in 1958 its job well and truly done. During its participation in the Malayan Emergency, 1 Squadron dropped approximately 15,000 tonnes (33 million pounds) of bombs – 85% of the total delivered by all Far East Air Force aircraft – in about 4000 sorties. Personnel from the squadron were awarded six DFCs, two bars and one second bar to the DFC, one OBE, one DFM, four BEMs and fifteen MIDs.

By the time of 1 Squadron’s return the Malayan Emergency was virtually over. Terrorist attacks were rare and the few CTs still at large were faced with constant harassment from the air and ground. Support from the local populations, on which they depended for their very existence, was almost non existent. Despite the desperate plight of the surviving CTs, however, the Emergency would not officially end for another two years, and the RAAF’s combat role in the campaign had not quite finished.

In the mid 1950s Australia had agreed with Great Britain and New Zealand to base substantial combat forces in Malaya as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve. This force, which included two RAAF Sabre fighter squadrons, a Canberra bomber squadron and an airfield construction squadron (as well as the commitment of two destroyers or frigates and an infantry battalion) had assembled in Malaya towards the end of the Emergency. Apart from its primary role of deterring Communist expansion in South East Asia and protecting Malaya from external threats it was, as a secondary role, made available for anti terrorist operations. Commanded by Wing Commander C W Steley, 2 Squadron, equipped with nine Canberra jet bombers and two Dakotas, moved from Amberley to Butterworth in June 1958. After a leisurely settling in period the unit flew its first ‘Fire Dog’ strike (coincidentally the RAAF’s first jet bomber strike) on September 3, when Canberras A84-230, A84-233, A84-240, A84-246, and A84-242 attacked a CT camp near Ipoh in conjunction with RAF Canberras and Venoms. The Australian formation, led by Squadron Leader D C Harvey, bombed through cloud, each Canberra delivering six 1000lb (454kg) bombs onto the target.

On September 30, a second strike occurred when five aircraft, along with RAF and RNZAF Canberras, struck another CT camp. On this occasion the bombs were set to detonate above the trees. The consequent spread of shrapnel caused considerable damage throughout the area. A third strike, again directed at a base camp, was so accurate that the target area was devastated and a patrol sent in afterwards could not ascertain whether it was occupied at the time of the bombing.

Australian Aviation December 1995

Ten Canberras led by Wing Commander Steley participated in 2 Squadron’s largest and (as it turned out) last strike of the Emergency, when in January 1959 they bombed an enemy position in a swamp. As with its earlier missions, and almost all of 1 Squadron’s in the preceding period, results were difficult to assess. It is unlikely that any CTs were killed in the attacks, however, the strike’s main purpose was to destroy the enemy’s infrastructure and keep him on the move. In this, the very accurate Canberra attacks were undoubtedly successful.

RAAF Sabre jet fighters of 3 and 77 Squadrons, based at Butterworth, also participated in the Malayan Emergency towards its last conclusion. The first Sabre mission was flown on August 13 1959 when 12 jets, six from each squadron, bombed and strafed a jungle covered target. No results were observed during the attack. Several other strikes were made prior to the formal end of the Emergency, as well as a more economical ruse against the CT. Over areas in which it was thought the CTs were operating, the Sabres were pushed into shallow dives to create ‘sonic booms’ which, it was hoped, would sound like artillery fire. These few Sabre strikes remain the last operational missions flown by RAAF fighter aircraft, although some RAAF fighter pilots later saw action in Vietnam while on exchange duty with the United States Air Force.

While not formally concluded until July 31 1960, the Malayan Emergency had to all intents and purposes ended much earlier. The 2000 or so CTs who remained free were reduced to a pitiful existence, confined to the country’s northern jungles (and also within Thailand) where they subsisted on edible roots and whatever else the jungle would yield up to them. In 1987 the survivors accepted a Thai Government offer to settle them within its borders.

5000 Australians participated in anti terrorist operations in the Malayan Emergency. Unlike Korea and Vietnam, the Malayan Emergency was brought to a successful conclusion without a prohibitive cost in lives or the needless destruction of civilian property, through the use of well considered tactics and, amongst other things, a wise application of air power.

The RAAF’s part in this victory was significant both politically and militarily and, while never acclaimed in the same way as other campaigns, the Australian squadrons performed creditably and carried out a significant portion of the Far East Air Force’s operational efforts.

Source: Odd Jobs a history of RAAF participation in the Korean War, The Malayan Emergency, the occupation of Japan, the Berlin Airlift and at Malta, 1946-60, by Steve Eather