The Malayan Emergency (''Anti-British National Liberation War'') was a guerrilla war fought between

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960 in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. Australia's commitment to the emergency lasted 13 years, between 1950 and 1963, with army, air force and naval units serving. The Malayan Emergency was the longest continuous military commitment in Australia's history. Thirty-nine Australians were killed and 27 wounded. The Australian Government sent

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

Dakota transport aircraft of No. 38 Squadron and Lincoln bombers of No. 1 Squadron to Malaya in June 1950. The

2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR) is an amphibious light infantry battalion of the Australian Army part of the 1st Division Amphibious Task Group based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. 2 RAR was initially formed as the A ...

(2 RAR), arrived in 1955. The battalion was later replaced by

3 RAR The 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade. 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen operational servi ...

, which in turn was replaced by

1 RAR 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) is a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 1 RAR was first formed as the 65th Australian Infantry Battalion of the 34th Brigade (Australia) on Balikpapan in 1945 and since ...

. In 1955, the RAAF extended

Butterworth air base RMAF Butterworth ( ms, TUDM Butterworth) is an active Military airbase, Air Force Station of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) situated from Butterworth, Penang, Butterworth in Penang, Malaysia. It is currently home to the ''Headquarters In ...

, from which

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

bombers of No. 2 Squadron (replacing No. 1 Squadron) and

CAC Sabre The CAC Sabre, sometimes known as the Avon Sabre or CA-27, is an Australian variant of the North American Aviation F-86F Sabre fighter aircraft. The F-86F was redesigned and built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC). Equipping five ...

s of No. 78 Wing carried out ground attack missions against the guerillas. The Royal Australian Navy destroyers ''Warramunga'' and ''Arunta'' joined the force in June 1955. Between 1956 and 1960, the aircraft carriers ''Melbourne'' and ''Sydney'' and destroyers ''Anzac'', ''Quadrant'', ''Queenborough'', ''Quiberon'', ''Quickmatch'', ''Tobruk'', ''Vampire'', ''Vendetta'' and ''Voyager'' were attached to the Commonwealth Strategic Reserve forces for three to nine months at a time. Several of the destroyers fired on Communist positions in Johor State. In 1973 an Australian Army infantry

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

, known as Rifle Company Butterworth, was deployed to RAAF Base Butterworth to provide a protective and quick-reaction force for the base during a resurgence of the Communist insurgency in Malaysia. While the base was handed to the Royal Malaysian Air Force in 1988 and the insurgency officially ended in 1989, Rifle Company Butterworth was maintained as a means of providing Australian soldiers with training in jungle warfare and cross-training with the Malaysian Army.Horner 2008, p. 340.

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