Templer, Gerald
(1898–1979), High Commissioner of Malaya. Gerald Templer was born in the year 1898 and was trained at the Royal Military College in England. He replaced Henry Gurney (who was assassinated during an ambush) as the High Commissioner of Malaya in 1951. He took on this post at the time Malaya was at the height of the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960), a full-scale war between the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the Malayan government. It was an armed revolution by the Communists, who wanted to set up a Communist state. However, the British succeeded in crushing the rebellion. Templer held both the civil and military offices, but as he himself was a soldier, he concentrated more on the military front, leaving the civil office to the deputy high commissioner, Donald MacGilivray.
During his tenure, Templer expanded the Malay Regiment by bringing in troops from Britain, Fiji, East Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, making it a Commonwealth effort to bring the Emergency to an end.
He showed great enthusiasm in his work. He was usually associated with tough military policies. He also introduced the so-called white areas, which were also known as the New Villages. These were areas that were tested and found clear of Communist insurgencies. Templer traveled throughout Malaya investigating the black areas—areas under Communist control or in which people supported the insurgents and punished those found guilty of working with the Communists.
Templer left Malaya in 1954, after considerably improving the military situation there. His policies and actions undoubtedly reduced the activities of the Communists in Malaya.
Further Reading
Cloake, John. (1985) Templer: Tiger of Malaya: The Life of Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer. London: Harrap.
Ryan, N. J. (1974) The Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press.
This is the complete article, containing 288 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
