page_title: Rejimen Askar Wataniah
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Rejimen Askar Wataniah / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Soldiers of Rejimen Askar Wataniah in a shooting course, armed with the HK33A2, circa 1990s.
context_page_description: The Rejimen Askar Wataniah is the military reserve force of the Malaysian Army. An equivalent formation in the British Army would be the Territorial Army.
  The Regiment infantry units formerly consisted of 2 series of reservist; the mobilised 300 series and the volunteer 500 series. The 300 series, which consisted of 5 infantry battalions, with mobilised reservists for full-time duty, have since 2008 been converted into a new regular border regiment, the Rejimen Sempadan. The 500 series are reserve volunteers units, based in major towns and cities throughout the whole country. In all there are about sixteen 500 series infantry battalions, in addition to other support and service support reserve units.
context_section_description: Pioneer Units in Malaya
  In 1861, the Penang Pioneers were formed as a volunteer army unit of the Straits Settlement. Similar units were created in Singapore and in the other Malay States.
  In 1902, the Malay States formed the Malay States Volunteer Rifles (MSVR). The Unfederated Malay States also formed their own volunteer units. With further expansion, the formations were then known as the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force (FMSVF), Unfederated Malay States Volunteer Force (UFMSVF) and the Straits Settlement Volunteer Force (SSVF).
  Second World War
  With the outbreak of the Second World War, the volunteer units were mobilised and fought alongside the regular British, Indian and Australian troops in the defence of Malaya and Fortress Singapore.
  Japanese Occupation of Malaya
  During the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, the Chinese dominated Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army conducted guerrilla warfare against the Japanese occupiers. As only the regular Malay Regiment led by British officers had acquitted itself well until the surrender in Singapore (February 1942), the British felt it was possible to involve Malays in the resistance against the Japanese but only with extensive training and by working in close co-operation with the stay behind British forces. The British desperately needed Malay resistance fighters to operate in Malay dominated areas. During the Japanese Occupation, a number of local Malays formed resistance groups and carried out guerrilla warfare against the Japanese. Resistance units in Pahang were called WATANIAH, derived from the Arabic word WATAN (state). The Wataniah was led by Yeop Mahidin Bin Mohamed Shafiff (known as the Father of Wataniah). Force 136 of the Special Operations Executive was amongst the British formations that co-ordinated the Malayan resistance (including the Wataniah movement) against the Japanese.
  Malayan Emergency
  After the war, the volunteer units were reformed. With the start of the Malayan Emergency, the Home Guard was raised and tasked with local static defence, thus releasing regular British, Commonwealth and Malayan units for combat operations against the Communist Terrorists. In 1958, with the security situation under control and the threat from the Communist Terrorists diminished, the Home Guard was disbanded.
  However, many of the members of the Home Guard wished to continue their voluntary service, and the Federation Government agreed to the formation of the Territorial Army with the passing of the Territorial Army Ordinance 1958. The Askar Wataniah was formed on 1 June 1958.
  Al-Mau'nah Arms Heist, 2000
  The Al-Mau'nah Sauk Arms Heist happened on 2 July 2000 at an outpost and a camp manned by members of Bn 3524 of Rejimen Askar Wataniah was involved in an arms heist by the Al-Mau'nah Militant Group. In the small hours of the morning, 21 members of the militant group visited the outpost and camp of Bn 304 Rejimen Askar Wataniah under the guise of a surprise inspection and relieved the soldiers' weapons or carted away weapons from the armoury. They took away a huge cache of firearms and ammunition, including 97 M16 assault rifles, four GPMGs, five grenade launchers, 9,095 rounds of 5.56mm and 60 rounds of 40mm ammunition. The group was later cornered in the village of Sauk, Perak and involved in a stand-off the Malaysian Army and Royal Malaysian Police forces. Police threw a containment cordon of Bukit Jenalik. The group then took several hostages and holed up for four days in Bukit Jenalik, Sauk before finally surrendering to security forces. However, they brutally tortured and murdered two of the hostages -— a soldier and a police personnel.
  The Al-Mau'nah group later surrendered, and the leaders brought to trial for "waging war upon the King". Mohamed Amin Mohamed Razali and his group were brought to trial for charges of "waging war against the King", and became the first people convicted of such charges in Malaysia. Mohamed Amin Mohamed Razali and his two lieutenants, Zahit Muslim and Jamaluddin Darus, were sentenced to death. Sixteen others were given life sentence
caption: Soldiers of Rejimen Askar Wataniah in a shooting course with Heckler & Koch HK33A2, circa 1990s.
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