Southern Rhodesian military involvement in the Malayan Emergency Southern Rhodesia ( renamed Zimbabwe in 1980 ) sent two military units to fight with the Commonwealth armed forces in the Malayan Emergency of 1948 – 60 , which pitted the Commonwealth against the Malayan National Liberation Army ( MNLA ) , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party . For two years , starting in March 1951 , white Southern Rhodesian volunteers made up " C " Squadron of the Special Air Service ( SAS ) . The Rhodesian African Rifles , in which black rank - and - filers and warrant officers were led by white officers , then served in Malaya from 1956 to 1958 . Of the hundreds of Southern Rhodesians who served in Malaya , eight were killed . " C " Squadron , which was formed especially to serve in Malaya , was the first SAS unit from a British colony or dominion . Several veterans of the conflict , Peter Walls and Ron Reid - Daly among them , subsequently held key positions in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War of the 1970s . Background and outbreak of war . The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war between the Federation of Malaya — a protectorate of Britain until August 1957 , and part of the Commonwealth of Nations thereafter — and the Malayan National Liberation Army ( MNLA ) , the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party ( MCP ) . The MNLA sought to topple the Malayan government and force the British out , while the Commonwealth worked to prevent this . The conflict had its roots in the Second World War , in which groups of local ethnic Chinese fought alongside Britain ' s limited forces in the country against the occupying Imperial Japan ese ; these Malayan Chinese subscribed to communist political thinking , and called themselves the Malayan Peoples ' Anti - Japanese Army . Soon after Japan was defeated , the communist fighters renamed themselves the Malayan National Liberation Army , and began to agitate against British rule . Using the arms that Britain had given them — which they had cached , and then subsequently retrieved — they formed themselves into eight regiments , and began a campaign of Maoist - style rural subversion , their intent being to politicise the villagers and gain popular support , which they could then use to take control of Malayan cities . In March 1948 , the MCP called on the Malayan people to rise up against the British . Three months later , on 16 June , MNLA guerrillas killed three British rubber plantation managers in Perak province . The British High Commissioner in Malaya , Sir Edward Gent , declared a state of emergency two days afterwards , marking the beginning of the Malayan Emergency . In addition to British and Malayan units and personnel , the Commonwealth forces in Malaya included Australians , New Zealanders , Gurkha s , Fijians , Nyasaland ers , and Northern and Southern Rhodesians . Southern Rhodesia had been self - governing since 1923 . It ran its own affairs in most matters , including defence , but it was still constitutionally bound to Whitehall insofar as foreign affairs were concerned . The Southern Rhodesian government was therefore able to exercise a large degree of independence militarily , though diplomatically it came under the British flag . " C " Squadron , Special Air Service ( 1951 – 53 ) . The Special Air Service ( SAS ) commando unit was formed by the British Army in 1941 , during the North African Campaign of the Second World War . Including some Southern Rhodesians in its ranks , it served for the rest of the conflict , also operating in Italy and on the European Western Front . It was disbanded by the British government in October 1945 , and reinstituted in 1950 to serve in the Korean War . The situation in Korea had changed by the end of its three - month training period , however , and it was sent to Malaya instead . There it was placed under the command of a British officer , Major Mike Calvert . Early the following year , Calvert travelled to Southern Rhodesia on a recruitment visit . Roughly 1 , 000 Southern Rhodesian whites , SAS veterans among them , volunteered to go to Malaya ; from these , about 100 were chosen to form an all - Southern Rhodesian unit . This was the first SAS squadron from a British colony or dominion . Led by the 24 - year - old Temporary Captain Peter Walls , the volunteers arrived in Malaya in March 1951 . Walls was promoted to major soon after he and his men disembarked at Singapore . The SAS already had two Squadrons , " A " and " B " , so the Southern Rhodesians became " C " Squadron , known more informally as the Rhodesian SAS . Engaged largely in counter - insurgency warfare , the Southern Rhodesians became well - drilled in the relevant principles and doctrines . They noticeably bolstered the hitherto thinly spread ranks of the SAS in Malaya , and performed strongly in the eyes of their superiors , though British Major C L " Dare " Newell believed that their attitude towards " the aborigines " was colder than that of the British soldiers . Barbara Cole , who wrote a history of the Rhodesian SAS , says by contrast that the Rhodesians became close friends with the Fijians they served alongside , and spent far more time socialising with black and mixed - race soldiers off - duty than their British counterparts did . In March 1953 , after serving their required two years in Malaya , the men of " C " Squadron returned home . They were replaced in 1955 by a squadron from New Zealand . Three members of " C " Squadron — Sergeant O H Ernst , and Corporals J B Davies and V E Visagie — were killed while in Malaya . For his services during the emergency , Walls was awarded an MBE . Rhodesian African Rifles ( 1956 – 58 ) . Arrival in Malaya . Following the departure of " C " Squadron , Southern Rhodesia was uninvolved in Malaya until early 1956 , when the Rhodesian African Rifles ( RAR ) were tasked to relieve the Northern Rhodesia Regiment ( NRR ) in Johore province . Originally formed in 1916 as the Rhodesian Native Regiment , the RAR were , by Southern Rhodesian standards , an old and well - tried unit ; they fought for Britain in East Africa during the First World War , and contributed to the Burma Campaign during the Second . The regiment ' s black soldiers and warrant officers , led by white officers , came from both Mashonaland and Matabeleland , with Mashona s in the majority . The Royal Australian Regiment was also present in Malaya , so to prevent confusion the Rhodesian African Rifles ' acronym was temporarily changed to " RhAR " . The regiment ' s advance party , made up of officers , non - commissioned officer s ( NCOs ) and warrant officers , left the Southern Rhodesian capital Salisbury by air on 13 February 1956 . Their tortuous route took them through Nairobi , Aden , Karachi , and RAF Negombo ( in Ceylon ) . After touching down in Singapore , the RhAR ' s advance party travelled to Kluang in Johore , where they spent three weeks in jungle training with the NRR . They then redeployed to Batu Pahat , where they camped with the Fiji Infantry Regiment . A spirit of camaraderie quickly developed between the Fijian and Southern Rhodesian soldiers . The RhAR officers and NCOs continued their acclimatisation with the local environment over the following weeks , assisted by the Fijians . The rest of the battalion travelled by sea aboard SS " Empire Clyde " , and reached Singapore on 26 April 1956 . Soon after , the RhAR set up headquarters at Chaah , about north - west of the port city . MNLA and RhAR tactics . By this stage of the insurgency , the MNLA had largely split into small groups of guerrillas , which existed by basing themselves in a chosen rural area , subverting local villagers and accumulating from them manpower and supplies . The lot of any security forces posted nearby was to play a constant game of hide - and - seek with the communists , whereby the army would indefinitely search for and destroy any base camps and food caches the MNLA set up . The Commonwealth leaders surmised that the MNLA could not possibly resist such a campaign forever , and would , in time , simply give up attempting to regroup . In Malaya , the RhAR comprised A , B , C and D Companies , each of which was split into three 32 - man platoons . The white lieutenant commanding each platoon carried the weapon of his choice , usually a shotgun or an FN FAL battle rifle , and acted with the assistance of a black platoon sergeant and a black warrant officer . Under the lieutenant , three black corporals led a rifle section each . These consisted of the section leader ( generally armed with a shotgun ) , a scout , a Bren gunner , a Patchett - Sterling machine - gunner , and up to seven FN FAL riflemen . When marching through thick jungle , an RhAR patrol moved in single file , with each trooper behind the man in front . The warrant officer followed close behind the lieutenant , ready to take over command if necessary , with the radio operator and medic with him . The platoon sergeant made up the rear . According to Second Lieutenant John Essex - Clark , an Australian - born officer who led an RhAR platoon in Malaya , these Southern Rhodesian units moved much faster in jungle conditions than those made up of British men . The black Southern Rhodesian soldiers were reportedly naturals when it came to tracking ; many of them came from rural backgrounds , and had acquired relevant instincts and skills while growing up . RhAR operations in Malaya . The RhAR patrolled around Johore from May to September 1956 without major incident . The rain of the Malayan monsoon season seemed endless to many of the battalion ' s men , and actual sightings of the communists were rare in the extreme . Even when the guerrillas were spotted , they almost invariably fled after a few shots . " We can but hope that the chaps will get a chance of seeing a CT [ communist terrorist ] for a change , " reported an RhAR officer in August ; " they are all as keen as mustard to come to blows with them . " So determined were the RhAR ' s officers and men to come face to face with the enemy that they ambushed around the railway line at Bekok for seven nights in a row , starting on 30 October 1956 . Patrols were led by a different officer each night , but there were no contacts . Around this time the British Royal Lincolnshire Regiment , operating in the Bahau area , about north - west of Bekok , reported to the RhAR that they had encountered the communist 32 Independent Platoon , led by Hor Lung , which was then heading south - east towards the Palong River . The RhAR therefore redeployed to intercept Hor Lung ' s men . On 9 November , a half - section of Southern Rhodesians led by Corporal Munyameni sighted 16 pack - laden guerrillas , marching east . On his own initiative , Munyameni attacked , catching the communists by surprise ; the insurgents split up and fled , running in all directions . One fighter attempted to hide behind a tree , but was killed by RhAR rifle fire . On 17 November , the RhAR was withdrawn for a period of rest and recuperation ( R & R ) . The battalion ' s Transport Platoon was ambushed by communist guerrillas as it was returning to base : a shot through the windscreen of one of the two trucks nearly hit its driver , but the convoy was able to escape the ambush without anybody being injured . On 26 November , the RhAR and the King ' s Own Scottish Borderers assisted the local police at Kelapa Sawit in an action called " Tartan Rock " : the security forces moved into the village and arrested 34 communist sympathisers , most of whom were ethnic Chinese students from the University of Malaya in Singapore . Two days later , the RhAR were back on regular duty . Starting in February 1957 , the RhAR took part in Operations " Cobble " and " Shoe " . These were " food denial " operations , whereby efforts to deny supplies to the communists were to be redoubled . Patrols around the rubber plantations and the edges of the jungle were intensified . To prevent guerrilla supplies from north of the Rompin River from reaching the food denial areas to the south , covered by Operation " Cobble " , an RhAR platoon under Lieutenant David Heppenstall was posted to the area directly south of the river midway through the month . This action lasted from 21 February to 4 April 1957 . There were few contacts , and only one communist was killed by Heppenstall ' s men , but a great deal of intelligence was secured regarding guerrilla organisation and supply routes . Over the next few months , RhAR patrols in the Chaah , Labis , Bekok and Sungai Karas areas were stepped up to last between 10 and 18 days each , but contacts with the communist forces remained rare . The constant patrols gradually began to take their toll on the insurgents , and guerrillas began to give themselves up increasingly frequently . A contributing factor here was Britain ' s granting of independence to Malaya within the Commonwealth on 31 August 1957 , which dented the motivation of many fighters . Starting in October 1957 , the RhAR were tasked to work alongside former MNLA personnel to wipe out any remaining communist forces in the region . The ex - insurgents were supposed to lead the security forces to MNLA camps and resting places , but this strategy was not successful . The RhAR soon developed a low opinion of these ex - MNLA men . As it approached the end of its two - year commitment in Malaya , the RhAR continued its patrolling in Johore province without major incident until February 1958 , when it returned to Rhodesia . Five of the regiment ' s number had been killed over the previous two years : Corporal Tavengwa , and Privates Joseph , Hunyani , Manuel and Mjikijelwa . Influence on the Rhodesian Bush War . Several veterans of Malaya proceeded to hold key positions in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War of the 1970s , most prominently Walls and another member of " C " Squadron , Ron Reid - Daly . Walls reformed the all - white Rhodesian Light Infantry ( RLI ) into a commando battalion similar to the SAS during the mid - 1960s , with Reid - Daly serving under him as regimental sergeant major . After leaving the RLI in 1967 , Walls became head of the Rhodesian Army in 1972 , and retained this role for the rest of the Bush War . Reid - Daly , meanwhile , formed and commanded the Selous Scouts pseudo - guerrilla regiment from 1973 . The Selous Scouts concept was influenced by similar operations conducted by Special Branch in Malaya . Both the Rhodesian African Rifles and the Rhodesian SAS endured following Malaya , and served in the Bush War . South African historian Jakkie Cilliers , writing about the Rhodesian Bush War , comments on the gulf between what he calls the " Malaya clique " and those lower - ranking Rhodesian soldiers in the field , the latter of whom underestimated the threat posed by the nationalist campaigns , having not previously encountered an insurgency situation . From the mid - 1970s , officers such as Walls attempted to impress upon their contemporaries the similarity between the Rhodesian situation and the one they had experienced in Malaya . Operations in Malaya had been coordinated nationally , while in Rhodesia the Army , Air Force and Police were sometimes at odds with each other . To resolve this the Rhodesians created a supreme body called Combined Operations in 1977 , influenced by similar posts in Malaya , with Walls at its head .