AN INCH OF BRAVERY : 3 RAR IN THE MALAYAN EMERGENCY 1957-59

The detailed account of the 3rd Battalion (The Royal Australian Regiment) operations during the Malayan Emergency from 1957 to 1959. 3RAR arrived in Malaya in September 1957. While in Malaya, the battalion was stationed at Minden Barracks, in the foothills on the eastern side of the island. Although Minden was the nominal home of the battalion while it was in Malaya, it rarely spent any length of time there. Operations through the jungle lasted for days or even weeks at a time, and breaks between operations were brief. During its service in Malaya, the battalion operated with three rifle companies, instead of the usual four. In January 1958, the battalion joined Operation Ginger. Ginger aimed to disrupt food supply by searching the areas between terrorist bases and food stores. Ginger was waged across an estimated area of 3,100 square kilometers, searching for approximately 170 terrorists and 24 hostile native inhabitants. The majority of the work involved tracking, searches and setting ambushes. It was monotonous and frustrating work that rarely yielded measurable results. It was not uncommon for rain to wipe out tracks that had been followed for over a week, or for the terrorists to cross the Thai border, where the battalion was unable to pursue them. Operation Ginger was ultimately a success, and when it ended on 21 April 1959, Perak was declared a safe area.