MALAYAN EMERGENCY.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Third Report on the Royal Air Force Operations in Malaya, Period January to August 1951. First edition, classified "secret", copy number 1 of an unstated but small printing. The front cover is marked "C in C" in red pencil, likely designating Air Marshal Sir Francis Joseph Fogarty, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Far East Air Force, 1949-52. We have traced only one other copy (National Archives, AIR 23/8699).Following the declaration of the Malayan Emergency, the RAF, under the day-to-day command of Air Vice-Marshal Robert Stewart Blucke, launched Operation Firedog, providing support to ground forces via strategic bombing and airstrikes, photographic reconnaissance, supply drops, and medical evacuation. This report opens with a survey of Malayan National Liberation Army strength, organization, and tactics, followed by information on the progress of the Briggs counterinsurgency resettlement plan. Sections list the strike and transport aircraft available for Firedog, the results of recent trials on the effectiveness of bombs and rockets in jungle terrain, and the conduct of major ground/air operations. Concluding recommendations include providing authorization for attacks without any delay to clear civilians ("The population should be warned in general, and must learn, that to be in the same areas as terrorists is to risk air attack" - p. 16) and prioritizing the improvement of ground-to-air radio communication in jungle areas.Graphical appendices visualize the tonnage of bomb

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