Related link: New Zealand Forces in South East Asia
Pugsley, C. From Emergency to Confrontation: The New Zealand Armed Forces in Malaya and Borneo 1949-66
ISBN 0 19 558453-8
Published by Oxford University Press, 2003
RRP: $79.95
This is the story of two forgotten wars that New Zealand fought in South-East Asia between 1949 and 1966. New Zealand’s soldiers, sailors and airmen made a significant contribution to the Commonwealth effort to defeat the communist insurgency in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency between 1949 and 1960.
The New Zealand SAS Squadron won renown as the outstanding squadron within 22 SAS Regiment, and this reputation was cemented by the patrolling of the New Zealand infantrymen of 1 and 2 NZ Regiment who followed them.
New Zealand airmen conducted bombing missions, and transport crews airdropped supplies to soldiers on patrol in the jungle below. New Zealand Navy vessels played a valuable supporting role.
In 1964, New Zealand began helping Malaysia to fight Indonesia’s military attempt to wrest control of the North Borneo territories in what was known as the Confrontation Campaign. This role, which continued until 1966, saw New Zealand soldiers mount covert cross-border raids into Indonesia, the details of which are revealed here for the first time.
Both the Malayan Emergency and the Confrontation in Borneo have been overshadowed by New Zealand’s contribution to South Vietnam, but both involved a much larger contribution of New Zealand military resources. This commitment shaped the organisation and doctrine of the New Zealand Army, Navy and Air Force for most of the last half of the twentieth century.
Dr Christopher Pugsley is a Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sand hurst, where he teaches on the evolution of warfare in the twentieth century. He served as a professional soldier in the New Zealand Army, retiring as a lieutenant-colonel in 1988 to pursue a career as a military historian. Dr Pugsley is an authority on New Zealand in World War 1, and his publications include Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story (1984) and On the Fringe of Hell (1991), both of which received critical acclaim.
He is currently researching the New Zealand experience in World Wars 1 and 2.