Malaya Command

Malaya Command
	Flag of the Malaya Command
Active	1924 to 1942; 1945 to 1957
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Singapore

The Malaya Command was a formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya,^[1] which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States. It consisted mainly of small garrison forces in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Taiping, Seremban and Singapore.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the command reinforced its strength in anticipation of an attack. With the bulk of British forces being tied down in the war in Europe and the Near East, the command was mainly augmented by units from India.

On 18 November 1940, the command was placed under the command of the British Far East Command and later, on 7 January 1942, under the short-lived South West Pacific Command or ABDACOM, which was tasked to maintain control of the "Malay Barrier" (or "East Indies Barrier"), a notional line running down the Malayan Peninsula, through Singapore and the southernmost islands of the Dutch East Indies.

The command was disbanded on 15 February 1942 with the surrender of all Commonwealth forces in the conclusion of the Battle of Singapore.

With the Surrender of Japan, the command was re-formed from the 14th Army with its HQ based in Singapore on 1 November 1945. The command was divided and downgraded to two separate military districts; the Malaya District and Singapore District in August 1947 but was upgraded again into a full command in August 1950 due to the Malayan Emergency.

With the independence of Malaya on 31 August 1957, the command was disbanded and succeeded by Overseas Commonwealth Land Forces (Malaya).

Formation and Structure

In November 1940, the total strength of Malaya Command was 17 battalions. The Indian Army contingent was mainly organised as III Corps with their HQ based in Kuala Lumpur.

When Japanese forces invaded Malaya on 8 December 1941, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Malaya in charge of Malaya Command, with a force of 88,600 faced the 70,000 strong Twenty Fifth Army of the Imperial Japanese Army under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

Allied Land Forces (8 December 1941)

As of 8 December 1941

Indian III Corps

As of 7 December 1941

Commanding Officer Indian III Corps – Lt Gen Lewis Macclesfield Heath

Indian 9th Infantry Division

Maj-Gen Arthur Edward Barstow ( †, 28 January 1942 at Layang-Layang near Bota)

HQ : Kuala Lumpur

8th Indian Infantry Brigade

Brig Berthold Wells Key

HQ : Kota Bharu

2nd Battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment – Lt. Col. John Griffeth Frith
2nd Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment – Lt. Col. Arthur Edward Cumming
1st Battalion, 13th Frontier Force Rifles – Lt. Col. Clarence Gilbert
3rd Battalion, 17th Dogra Regiment – Lt. Col. George Allen Preston
21st Mountain Battery, Indian Artillery – Major John Bertram Sopper

22nd Indian Infantry Brigade

Brig G.W.A.Painter

HQ : Kuantan

5th Battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment – Lt. Col. John Henry Devereux Parkin
2nd Battalion, 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles – Lt. Col. Guy Edward Ross Stewart Hartigan MC
5th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Edward William Francis Jephson

Command Troops

88th (2nd West Lancashire) Field Regiment RA – Lt. Col. Sylvain Claude D'Aubuz
42nd Field Park Company (Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners)- Capt. Thomas Wilfried Nash

Indian 11th Infantry Division

Maj-Gen David Murray-Lyon / Brig Archibald Charles Melvill Paris / Maj-Gen Berthold Wells Key

HQ : Sungai Petani

6th Indian Infantry Brigade

Brig William Oswald Lay / Lt. Col. Henry Sloane Larkin

HQ : Jitra

2nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment – Lt. Col. George Edward Swinton
1st Battalion, 8th Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. Ronald Charles Sidney Bates ( †, 12 December 1941)
2nd Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. Henry Sloane Larkin (Died as a POW on 1 January 1944)
22nd Mountain Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. George Leonard Hughes

15th Indian Infantry Brigade (III Corps Reserve)

Brig Kenneth Alfred Garrett/Brig. William St.John Carpendale

HQ : Jitra

1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment – Lt. Col. Charles Esmond Morrison
2nd Battalion, 9th Jat Regiment – Lt. Col. Charles Knowler Tester
1st Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. Leslie Vernon "James" Fitzpatrick

28th (Gurkha) Infantry Brigade

Brig William St J. Carpendale / Lt. Col. Wallace Raymond Selby

HQ : Ipoh

2nd Battalion, 1st Gurkha Rifles – Lt. Col. John Oswald "Jack" Fulton ( †, 8 January 1942 at Slim River)
2nd Battalion, 2nd Gurkha Rifles – Lt. Col. Geoffrey Harley Douglas Woollcombe (Died Indian Ocean, 28 Feb. 1942)
2nd Battalion, 9th Gurkha Rifles – Lt. Col. Wallace Raymond Selby / Lt. Col. Maurice Bryer Allsebrook DSO MC

11th Division Command Troops

3rd Cavalry (IA) – Lt. Col. Julian Gerald Barnes De Wilton
100th Light Tank Squadron – Major Jack Alford ( † 12 Feb 1942)
137th (2nd West Lancashire) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Gilbert Daly Holmes ( † at Slim River)
155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Alan Murdoch ( † at Slim River)
80th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. William E.S. Napier
85th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. A.J. Lardner-Clarke
1st Independent Company – Major Sheppard Percy Fearon
23rd Field Company (Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners)- Capt. John Eglington Bate
43rd Field Park Company, Royal Engineers

Krohcol

Lt. Col. Henry Dawson Moorhead

5th Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment (3 Companies) – Lt. Col. Cyril Arthur Stokes ( † at Slim River)
3rd Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. Henry Dawson Moorehead ( † at Battle of Muar)
2/3rd Australian Motor Company - Capt. George Arthur Carrick Kiernan

Line of Communications Brigade

Brig Robert Gifford Moir

1st Battalion, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces (Perak)
2nd Battalion, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces (Selangor)
3rd Battalion, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces (Negeri Sembilan) – Lt. Col. C.F.H. Riches
4th Battalion, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces (Pahang) – Lt. Col. James Oliphant Mackellar (d.12 March 1945)
1st (Light) Field Regiment, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces
Armoured Car Squadron, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces – Major C.E. Collinge
Signals Battalion, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces

Fortress Penang

Brig Cyril Arthur Lyon

HQ : Penang

D Company, 5th Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment - Lieutenant Edward John Ellis
11th Coastal Regiment, Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery
3rd Battalion, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force (Penang and Province Wellesley Volunteer Corps)
2nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Indian Artillery

Support Units

5th Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment (assigned to Krohcol) - Lt.Col C.A. Stokes ( † at Slim River)
3rd Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment (assigned to Krohcol) – Lt. Col. Henry Moorhead ( † at Battle of Muar)
1st Battalion, Mysore Infantry (Indian States Forces) – Lt. Col. Kenneth Harvey Preston
1st Battalion, Bahawalpur Infantry (Indian States Forces) – Lt. Col. Harry Ernest Tyrell
1st Battalion, Hyderabad Regiment (Indian States Forces) – Lt. Col. Charles Albert Hendrick ( †, 10 December 1941 at Kota Bharu)
11th Indian Division Signal Regiment

Australian 8th Division

Australian 8th Division

Maj Gen Gordon Bennett

HQ : Kluang

2/4th Machine Gun Battalion – Lt. Col. M.J.Anketell † (Feb. 1942)
2/4th Anti-Tank Regiment – Lt. Col. Cranston Albury McEachern

Australian 22nd Brigade

Brig Harold Burfield Taylor

HQ : Mersing – Endau

2/18th Australian Infantry Battalion – Lt. Col. Arthur Varley (Died as POW 13 September 1944)
2/19th Australian Infantry Battalion – Lt. Col. Charles Anderson
2/20th Australian Infantry Battalion – Lt. Col. Charles Frederick Assheton † (12 Feb. 1942)

Australian 27th Brigade

Brig Duncan Maxwell

HQ : Kluang

2/26th Australian Infantry Battalion – Lt. Col. Arthur Harold Boyes † (12 Feb. 1942)/Richard Oakes
2/29th Australian Infantry Battalion – Lt. Col. John Charles Robertson † (18 Jan. 1942 during Battle of Muar)/ Lt. Col. Pond
2/30th Australian Infantry Battalion – Lt. Col. Frederick Gallagher "Jack" Galleghan

Fortress Singapore

Commanding Officer – Maj Gen Frank Keith Simmons HQ : Singapore

Fortress Singapore Division

Maj Gen F. K. Simmons

1st Malaya Brigade

Brig George Giffard Rawson Williams

2nd Battalion, Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) – Lt. Col. Mordaunt Elrington
1st Battalion, Malay Regiment – Lt. Col. James Richard Glencoe André
2nd Battalion, Malay Regiment – Lt. Col. Frederick Walter Young

2nd Malaya Brigade

Brig Francis Hugh Fraser

1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment – Lt. Col. Edward Barclay Holmes
2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders – Lt. Col. John Heslop Stitt / Richard Gilbert Lees
2nd Battalion, 17th Dogra Regiment – Lt. Col. Sidney Clermont Scott

Straits Settlements Volunteer Force Brigade

Col Francis Reginald Grimwood

1st Battalion, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force (Singapore Volunteer Corps) – Lt. Col. Thomas Henry Newey
2nd Battalion, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force (Singapore Volunteer Corps)
4th Battalion, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force (Malacca Volunteer Corps) – Lt. Col. Charles Alexander Scott
Singapore Armoured Car Company, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force

Royal Engineers Brigade

Brig Ivan Simson

30th Fortress Company, Royal Engineers
34th Fortress Company, Royal Engineers
35th Fortress Company, Royal Engineers
41st Fortress Company, Royal Engineers

Artillery Brigade

Brig Alec Warren Greenlaw Wildey

1st (Heavy) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Indian Artillery - Lt. Col. John Rowley Williamson DSO
1st Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery - Lt. Col. Archer Edwards Tawney
2nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Howard Wincent Allpres
3rd (Light) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery - Lt. Col. Denis Vivian Hill
3rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery - Lt. Col. Francis Edgar Hugonin
35th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. John Bassett
7th Coastal Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Hereward Douglas St.George Cardew
9th Coastal Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Charles Philip Heath
16th Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery

Support Units

Half Strength Jind Infantry Battalion (Indian States Forces) (½ Strength) – Lt. Col. Gurbaksh Singh
Half Strength Kapurthala Infantry Battalion (Indian States Forces) (½ Strength) - Major Aziz Ahmad
Dalforce – Lt. Col. John Dalley

Malaya Command Reserve

Commanding Officer : Brig.A.C.M. Paris / Lt. Col. I.M. Stewart HQ : Port Dickson

12th Indian Infantry Brigade – Brig.A.C.M. Paris / Lt. Col. I.M. Stewart

HQ : Port Dickson

2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders – Lt. Col. I.M.Stewart/ Lt. Col. Lindsay Robertson ( † 20 January 1942)
5th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. Cecil Deakin
4th Battalion, 19th Hyderabad Regiment – Lt. Col. Eric Lawrence Wilson-Haffenden / Lt. Col. Herbert Lawrence Hill
122nd (West Riding) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. George St.John Armitage Dyson ( † 22 November 1942)

Sarawak Force (SARFOR)

Commanding Officer : Lt-Col Charles Malet Lane HQ : Kuching

SARFOR

Lt-Col C. M. Lane

HQ : Kuching

2nd Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment – (this battalion took part in the Battle of Borneo where it surrendered).
Sarawak Coastal Marine Service
Sarawak Volunteer Corps
Sarawak Rangers
Sarawak Armed Police
35th Fortress Company, Royal Engineers
6" Guns Battery, Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery

Christmas Island

Commanding Officer : Capt Leonard Walter Thomas Williams HQ : Christmas Island

6" Gun, Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery^[2]

Reinforcements

Arrived January – February 1942

Line of Communication Troops

13th Indian Field Company S&M

44th Indian Infantry Brigade – Brigadier George Cecil Ballentine

6th Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. James Dow Sainter MC
7th Battalion, 8th Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. Willis Southern
6th Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment – Lt. Col. Louis Sobaux Ingle MC

45th Indian Infantry Brigade – Brigadier Herbert Cecil Duncan ( † at Battle of Muar)

7th Battalion, 6th Rajputana Rifles- Lt. Col. James Albert Lewis ( † at Battle of Muar)
4th Battalion, 9th Jat Regiment – Lt. Col. John Whittaker Williams ( † at Battle of Muar)
5th Battalion, 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles – Lt. Col. James H.C. Woolridge ( † at Battle of Muar)
13th Indian Auxiliary Pioneer Battalion

18th Infantry Division – Major-General Merton Beckwith-Smith

53rd Infantry Brigade – Brig. Cecil Leonard Basil Duke

5th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment – Lt. Col. Eric Charles Prattley
6th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment – Lt. Col. Ian Conway Gilford Lywood ( † at Alexandra Hospital Massacre)
2nd Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment – Lt. Col. Gordon Calthorpe Thorne (Died, Indian Ocean while attempting to escape)

54th Infantry Brigade – Brig. Edward Henry Walford Backhouse

4th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment – Lt. Col. Alfred Ernest Knights
4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment – Lt. Col. Alec Albert Johnson
5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment – Lt. Col. Lionel John Baker

55th Infantry Brigade – Brig. Tristram Hugh "Tim" Massy-Beresford

5th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment – Lt. Col. Douglas Rhys Thomas
1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters – Lt. Col. Harold Hutchinson Lilly
1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment – Lt. Col. Gerald Goodwin Carpenter

Divisional Troops

9th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (Machine Gun Battalion) – Lt. Col. Lechmere Cay Thomas
18th Reconnaissance Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps 5th Battalion Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) – Lt. Col. Henry Arnold Fitt

Royal Artillery

88th (2nd West Lancashire) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (TA) – Lt. Col. Sylvain Claude D'Aubuz
118th (8th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (TA) – Lt. Col. C.E.Mackellar
135th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Philip John Denton Toosey
148th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. S.W.Harris
85th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. Andrew John Lardner-Clarke
125th (Northumbrian) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery – Lt. Col. James Dean

Royal Army Medical Corps

186th Field Ambulance
196th Field Ambulance
197th Field Ambulance^[3]

Royal Engineers

287th Field Company
288th Field Company
560th Field Company
251st Field Park Company

Allied Air Force units in Malaya December 1941

There were 161 front line aircraft, including three Royal Netherlands Air Force Catalina flying boats, based in Malaya and on Singapore Island on 8 December 1941. These units came under the control of Far East Air Force (Royal Air Force) under the command of Air Vice Marshal C.W.H.Pulford until February 1942 when Air Vice Marshal P.C.Maltby^[4] took command.

Based on Singapore Island

Brewster Buffalo Mark Is from No. 453 Squadron RAAF being inspected by RAF personnel at Sembawang Airfield, Singapore on 12 October 1941.

RAF Seletar;
No. 36 Squadron RAF – 6x Vickers Vildebeest
No. 100 Squadron RAF – 12x Vickers Vildebeest
No. 205 Squadron RAF – 3x PBY Catalina
RAF Tengah;
No. 34 Squadron RAF – 16x Bristol Blenheim IV
RAF Sembawang;
No. 453 Squadron RAAF^[5] – 16x Brewster Buffalo
RAF Kallang;
No. 243 Squadron RAF – 14x Brewster Buffalo
No. 488 Squadron RNZAF – 16x Brewster Buffalo

Based in Northern Malaya

Sungei Patani;
No. 21 Squadron RAAF^[6] – 12x Brewster Buffalo
No. 27 Squadron RAF^[7] – 12x Bristol Blenheim I
RAF Kota Bharu;
No. 1 Squadron RAAF^[8] – 12x Lockheed Hudson
Detachment from No. 243 Squadron RAF – 2x Brewster Buffalo
Gong Kedak;
Detachment from No. 36 Squadron RAF^[7] – 6x Vickers Videbeest
RAF Kuantan;
No. 8 Squadron RAAF^[9] – 12x Lockheed Hudson
No. 60 Squadron RAF – 8x Bristol Blenheim
Alor Star;
No. 62 Squadron RAF^[7] – 11x Bristol Blenheim

Commanders-in-Chief

Commanders-in-Chief have included:^[10]^[11]^[12]
GOC Troops in the Straits Settlements

until early 1900: Major-General John Baillie Ballantyne Dickson^[13]
1903–1905 Major-General Arthur Dorward
1905–1907 Major-General Inigo Jones
1907–1910 Major-General Thomas Perrott
1910–1914 Major-General Theodore Stephenson
1914–1915 Major-General Raymond Reade
1915–1921 Major-General Sir Dudley Ridout
1921–1924 Major-General Sir Neill Malcolm

GOC Malaya Command

1924–1927 Major-General Sir Theodore Fraser
1927–1929 Major-General Sir Casimir van Straubenzee
1929–1931 Major-General Harry Pritchard
1931–1934 Major-General Sir Louis Oldfield
1934–1935 Major-General Ernest Lewin
1935–1939 Major-General Sir William Dobbie
1939–1941 Lieutenant-General Sir Lionel Bond
1941–1942 Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival^[14]

Note from 1943 to 1945 Malaya was under Japanese control

Nov–Dec 1945 Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey
1945–1946 Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Messervy
1946–1947 Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Galloway

GOC Malaya District

1947–1948 Major-General Ashton Wade
1948–1950 Major-General Sir Charles Boucher

GOC Malaya

1950–1952 Major-General Roy Urquhart
1952–1954 Major-General Sir Hugh Stockwell
1954–1956 Lieutenant-General Sir Geoffrey Bourne
1956–1957 Lieutenant-General Sir Roger Bower

Notes

↑ George Ernest Morrison 'The correspondence of G.E. Morrison'
↑ L, Klemen (1999–2000). "The Mystery of Christmas Island – March 1942". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942.
↑ http://www.cambridgeshirehistory.com/Military/cambsactions.html
↑ L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Air Vice-Marshal Sir Paul (Copeland) Maltby". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
↑ 453 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial
↑ 21 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial
1 2 3 Niehorster, Leo (2000). "Order of Battle-Royal Air Force-Far East Command-Norgroup". World War II Armed Forces.
↑ 1 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial
↑ 8 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial
↑ Whitaker's Almanacks 1924 – 1957
↑ Malaya Command at Regiments.org
↑ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36889). London. 3 October 1902. p. 8.
↑ L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011.

References

Australians at War, Australian War Memorial
L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011.
Niehorster, Leo (1997–2011). "World War II Armed Forces".