The Worcestershire Regiment in Malaya 1950-53

In 1948 the Malayan Communist Party began a campaign of terror which drew many thousands of troops from the British Commonwealth into a campaign that was to last until 1962.
The 1st Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment served a three-year tour there during the early part of the Emergency, arriving in Singapore in June 1950 aboard the Troopship Empire Pride.
Senior members of the Battalion had taken part in active operations during the Second World War but a high proportion of the younger men were National Servicemen who, after training in England, only spent about 18 months in Malaya during their two-year period of military service.

Most of them Worcestershire men but the Battalion was also kept up to strength by drafts of soldiers from Staffordshire and Cheshire who had originally been called up into their own county regiments. Although about 1200 officers and men served with the Battalion during the tour, of whom only 34 remained continuously for the whole 3-year period in Malaya.
On arrival in Singapore after a month at sea the Battalion underwent a period of acclimatisation and jungle training before starting operational duties which included patrol and ambushes in the jungle, swamps and rubber estates, cordon and search operations in support of the police, guards and vehicle escorts.

Iban trackers from Borneo were attached to the Battalion and accompanied most jungle patrols to provide local knowledge and expertise.

During the three years of operations the Battalion killed or captured 54 terrorists and lost one officer and 10 men killed in action; a further 10 died in accidents or of natural causes. 33 members of the Battalion received awards for gallantry or valuable service, including one Iban tracker, Awang anak Rawang, who was awarded the George Cross for rescuing a soldier under fire during the ambush.

By the time the Battalion left on the Troopship Empire Windrush in July 1953 the Security Forces had regained the initiative and the number of incidents initiated by the terrorists had been greatly reduced, but it was another nine years before the Emergency was declared over.
Fifty years after the deployment of the Battalion to Malaya a large contingent of those who had fought there gathered in Worcester on Saturday 17 June 2000 to unveil a plaque in Worcester Cathedral commemorating their comrades who had died there.