The Other Forgotten War: Understanding atrocities during the Malayan Emergency

Many scholars cite the British reoccupation of Malaya after World War II as an example of a successful counterinsurgency. However, this success did not come without notable casualties; almost 5,000 civilians died during the conflict.1 Anti-British forces caused many of these deaths, but civilians also died at the hands of British troops. While authorities described these deaths as accidents, one event threw doubt on this explanation. In the village at Batang Kali, on December 12, 1948, a patrol of the Scots Guards shot twenty-five Chinese villagers. While official reports claimed that they shot the civilians while they were trying to escape, in line with informal British policy, later revelations suggest that the unit shot the villagers without provocation. Although the Batang Kali massacre was unique in the number of civilian casualties, along with authorities ’ use of mass detention and other draconian measures justified under Emergency Regulations, it hurt British efforts to win the “hearts and minds ” in Malaya. Even one event can have long lasting effects on civilians ’ willingness to cooperate in the larger political-military effort. The war in Malaya often threw British units into dangerous situations; the communists used their knowledge of the jungle terrain and terrorist tactics to secure advantage against the more numerous and well-armed British. Yet Batang Kali is the only recorded case of a British unit killing larg