My Father’s Military Service

My father was a captain in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (R.E.M.E.) and was sent to Malaya with his young family as part of the British government’s response to the armed revolt of the Malayan Communist party.

An emergency was declared which lasted from 1952 until 1960. The British encouraged Merdeka (Independence) through political means whilst instigating military counter-insurgency measures against the MCP. This remains the only successful jungle campaign against Communism ever to be fought by a Western power.