Australian Involvement in the Malayan Emergency

Abstract

Australian defence and foreign policy experienced a great shift in 1942. From that year on, the nation began to think of itself as an independent entity, and a key player in Southeast Asia. The first armed conflict that Australian units participated in after the end of the Second World War was the Malayan Emergency, where all service branches contributed forces to the successful counterinsurgency war. The aim of this article is, firstly to look at the events and factors that initiated this shift in Australian policy, and secondly to analyse the forces the nation committed to fighting the Emergency. This analysis includes the fighting forces of the Royal Australian Air Force, the Army as well as the Navy.