Confronting the Colonies (40 page)

32.
For discussions of structural local failures including the poor organisation of local police forces see, Hack, Karl, ‘British intelligence and counterinsurgency in the era of decolonisation: the example of Malaya',
Intelligence and National Security
, 14/2, (1999), p. 127; Sunderland, Riley,
Antiguerrilla Intelligence in Malaya, 1948–1960
, Santa Monica: RAND, 1964, pp. 3–10; Stewart, Brian,
Smashing Terrorism in the Malayan Emergency: The Vital Contribution of the Police
, Malaysia: Pelanduk, 2004; Stewart, Brian, ‘Winning in Malaya: an intelligence success story'
Intelligence and National Security
, 14/4, (1999) pp. 267–83. For discussions of cognitive local intelligence failures regarding flawed intelligence assessment, see Aldrich,
The Hidden Hand
, p. 496; Bennett, Huw, ‘“A Very Salutary Effect”: the counter-terror strategy in the early Malayan Emergency, June 1948 to December 1949',
Journal of Strategic Studies
, 32/3, 2009, pp. 423–4.

33.
John Dalley, quoted in Andrew, Christopher,
The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5
, London: Allen Lane, 2009, p. 448.

34.
Walton,
Empire of Secrets
, pp. 166–7.

35.
Minute by Williams, Rees, Colonial Office, 22 June 1948, CO537/3751; Minute by a Colonial Office official, 1 March 1948, CO537/3751; Minute by Williams, Rees, Colonial Office, 22 June 1948, CO537/3751.

36.
‘Malayan Security Service, Political Intelligence Journal no. 11 of 1948: Part One, General Summary', 15 June 1948, CO537/3752; ‘Malayan Security Service, Political Intelligence Journal no. 10 of 1948: Part One, General Summary', 31 May 1948, CO537/3752.

37.
Minutes on internal security by JB Williams, 28 May 1948, CO537/3755 in Stockwell, A.J. (ed.),
Malaya: The Communist Insurrection, 1948–1953
, London: HMSO, pp. 15–6.

38.
Aldrich,
The Hidden Hand
p. 497.

39.
‘The Diary of Guy Liddell', 20 November 1946, KV4/468; Walton,
Empire of Secrets
, p. 165.

40.
See for example, ‘Assessment of the Value of SIFE and DSO Points in the Far East, KV 4/422; Percy Sillitoe to Thomas Lloyd, 17 December 1948, CO 537/2647. The author's thanks go to Roger Arditti for this point and references; ‘The Diary of Guy Liddell', 13 April 1948, KV4/470.

41.
‘JIC Minutes', 11 June 1948, JIC(48)58th Meeting CAB159/3; Aldrich,
The Hidden Hand
, p. 497; Such was the ill-feeling towards Dalley that Sillitoe
did not even want him on SIFE. ‘Personal for Kellar from Director-General', 1 September 1948, KV4/422.

42.
Note from Kellar, A. to Sillitoe, P., 5 November 1948, KV4/423.

43.
Andrew,
Defence of the Realm
, p. 448.

44.
Telegram from Kellar, A. to Sillitoe, P., 16 August 1948, KV4/422; ‘JIC Minutes', 22 September 1948, JIC(48)103rd Meeting CAB159/4; ‘Organisation of Intelligence, Far East', 19 February 1949, JIC(49)18 CAB158/6; ‘Chairman JIC(FE)', 27 May 1949, JIC/949/49 CAB176/22; ‘The Diary of Guy Liddell', 1 April 1949, KV4/471.

45.
‘Functions of the JIC(FE)', 21 May 1948, JIC/948/48 CAB176/18.

46.
The JIC(FE) were given a new charter and told to ‘advise the BDCC(FE) on all matters of intelligence and security intelligence policy and organisation, except that intelligence matters of purely military concern are to remain with the C-in-C committee'. ‘Charter for the JIC(FE)', 15 September 1948, JIC/1809/48 CAB176/19; ‘Review of Intelligence Organisation in the Far East', 15 June 1948, JIC(48)10 CAB158/3.

47.
Davies, Philip,
Intelligence and Government in Britain and the United States, Vol. 2, Evolution of the U.K. Intelligence Community
, California: Praeger, 2013, p. 14.

48.
‘The Diary of Guy Liddell', 1 April 1949, KV4/471.

49.
‘Composition and Function of the JIC Far East: Annex B', 26 January 1948, JIC(48)10 CAB158/3.

50.
Templer, Gerald, ‘Report on Colonial Security', April 1955 CAB21/298 p. 12.

51.
Füredi, Frank,
Colonial Wars and the Politics of Third World Nationalism
, London: I.B. Taurus, 1994, pp. 91–2.

52.
Minute by a Colonial Office official, 11 May 1948, CO537/3751.

53.
‘Malayan Security Service, Political Intelligence Journal, Distribution List', 19 April 1948, CO537/3751; ‘Review of Intelligence in the Far East: Annex A, Draft Charter for the Joint Intelligence Committee (Far East)', JIC(48)10, 15 June 1948, CAB158/3.

54.
‘Communist Influence in Malaya', 29 April 1948, JIC810/48, CAB176/18.

55.
Walton,
Empire of Secrets
, p. 170.

56.
‘JIC Minutes', 13 August 1948, JIC(48)87th Meeting CAB159/4; ‘Effects of Communist Successes in China', 6 January 1949, JIC(48)133 CAB158/5; ‘JIC Minutes', 11 March 1949, JIC(49)27th Meeting CAB159/5.

57.
Bennett, ‘A very salutatory effect', pp. 423–4.

58.
‘Situation in Malaya', 16 March 1949, JIC/520/49 CAB176/22.

59.
Thomas,
Empires of Intelligence
, p. 297.

60.
JIC Minutes, 11 March 1949, JIC(49)27th Meeting CAB159/5.

61.
JIC Minutes, 3rd February 1950, JIC(50)13th Meeting CAB159/5.

62.
Mackay, Donald,
The Malayan Emergency, 1948–60: The Domino that Stood
, London: Brassey's, 1997, p. 86 The reappraisal in London of the Malayan situation led to the appointment of Harold Briggs as Director of Anti-Bandit Operations in April 1950, in an attempt to coordinate the civil and military response. The specific components of the Briggs Plan are beyond the remit of this study but broadly involved attempting to increase intelligence, and attempting to isolate guerrillas from food supplies and information via resettlement. Despite lacking the requisite authority to fully implement this, he did leave a valuable legacy. For details see, Barber, Noel,
The War of the Running Dogs: How Malaya Defeated the Communist Guerrillas, 1948–1960
, London: Collins, 1971, p. 97.

63.
Mackay,
The Malayan Emergency
, p. 95. The Cabinet Malaya Committee was established in March 1950 and was chaired by Minister of Defence Manny Shinwell. It was tasked with coordinating the various Whitehall departmental interests regarding Malaya. Records of the Malaya Committee can be found in CAB21/1681, 1682, 2510. See also, Hennessy, Peter,
The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders Since 1945
, London: Allen Lane, 2000, p. 109.

64.
Hyam, Ronald,
Britain's Declining Empire: The Road to Decolonisation, 1918–1968
, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 409.

65.
Butler, L.,
Britain and Empire: Adjusting to a Post-Imperial World
, London: IB Taurus, 2002, p. xiv. That is not to suggest that external factors were the sole, or most important, factor in decolonisation and academic debate over this point exists. See for example, Darwin, John,
The End of British Empire: The Historical Debate
, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991. What is important, however, is that the JIC tapped into the impact of broader pressures on imperial security.

66.
Note from Sillitoe, P. to Hayter, W., 29 December 1948, KV4/423. Sillitoe was frustrated that a recent report issued by the Foreign Office supposedly in conjunction with MI5 and SIS had ignored various MI5 input on overseas British territories.

67.
Perhaps this explains scholarly neglect of the JIC's role regarding Malaya. For example, when trying to write on Malayan intelligence, Brian Stewart, himself a former JIC Secretary, noted that he could not find any files on the JIC's discussions specifically about the Emergency. Consequently, the JIC is not mentioned in his article. Stewart, ‘Winning in Malaya' p. 267.

68.
Deery, ‘The terminology of terrorism', p. 33 and Stockwell, Anthony, ‘Chin Peng and the struggle for Malaya',
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
, 6/1, (2006), pp. 279–97.

69.
Hack, Karl, ‘The origins of the Asian Cold War: Malaya 1948',
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
, 40/3, (2009), pp. 483–4.

70.
‘Letter from Montgomery to Lyttelton', 27 December 1951, PREM11/121. This perspective has since been somewhat discounted. John Young and John Kent, for example, have argued that ‘Stalin had little or no interest in areas of the world not adjacent to the Soviet Union and had not attempted to compete with the West in such regions by providing economic or military aid'. Instead it was not until the rule of Malenkov and Khrushchev that such an idea became attractive. See, Young, John and Kent, John,
International Relations since 1945: A Global History
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 161.

71.
‘The Communist Position in South East Asia: Brief for the Foreign secretary', 21 July 1949, CO537/4246; ‘Summary of Indications Regarding Soviet Foreign Policy No. 52: Minute by R. Hibbert', 13 April 1950, FO371/84480.

72.
‘The situation in Malaya': Cabinet memorandum by Mr Creech Jones, 1 July 1948, CP(48)171, CAB129/28 in Stockwell,
Malaya
, p. 37

73.
‘Communism in Malaya: [Draft] Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies', Undated but likely August 1948, CO537/4247; ‘Memorandum of the Situation in Malaya', 20 October 1948, CO717/178/3; ‘Colonial Police Forces: Circular Despatch by A. Creech Jones', 5 August 1948, CO537/4306.

74.
‘Fourth Fortnightly Review of Communism in the Colonies, Fortnight Ended 17 July 1948', CO537/2638.

75.
Füredi,
Colonial Wars
, p. 89, 101.

76.
‘Minute by R. Hibbert', 5 April 1950, FO371/84480.

77.
‘Revision of Communism in the Colonies, Fortnight Ended 8 October 1948, 9th report', CO537/2638.

78.
‘Communist Influence in Malaya', 29 April 1948, JIC810/48, CAB176/18.

79.
Quoted in Walton,
Empire of Secrets
, p. 177.

80.
Carruthers, Susan,
Winning Hearts and Minds: British governments, the media, and colonial counter-insurgency, 1944–1960
, London: Leicester University Press, 1995, p. 80; ‘Minute by R. Hibbert', 20 October 1949, FO371/76021.

81.
Note from Sillitoe, P. to Head of SIFE, 11 October 1948, KV3/136.

82.
‘R.5. Memorandum on Requirements for Communists', 27 October 1948, KV3/136; ‘International Communist Movement', 2 February 1949, KV3/136.

83.
‘Soviet Interests, Intentions and Capabilities', 23 July 1948, JIC(48)9 CAB158/3.

84.
This assumption regarding the supposed monolithic nature of world communism was generally maintained during the early years of the Malayan violence, although caveats and provisos were inserted from 1949 perhaps
as a response to the Soviet-Yugoslav schism of June 1948. Cradock,
Know Your Enemy
, pp. 83–6.

85.
‘Soviet Interests, Intentions and Capabilities', 23 July 1948, JIC(48)9 CAB158/3.

86.
Efimova, Larisa, ‘Did the Soviet Union instruct Southeast Asian Communists to revolt? New Russian evidence on the Calcutta Youth Conference of February 1948',
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
, 40/3, (2009), pp. 449–69; Walton,
Empire of Secrets
, pp. 177–8.

87.
Butler,
Britain and Empire
pp. 86–7.

88.
‘The present day situation and duties of the Malaya Communist Party': Note by Mr Strachey for the Cabinet Malaya Committee commenting on a captured MCP document, 12 May 1950, MALC(50)12, PREM8/1406/2, in Stockwell,
Malaya
, p. 216.

89.
‘Communist Influence in the Far East', 17 December 1948, JIC(48)113 CAB158/5.

90.
‘Communist Influence in the Far East', 17 December 1948, JIC(48)113 CAB158/5.

91.
JIC memorandum, April 1949, quoted in Cradock,
Know your enemy
, p. 84. See also pp. 83–6.

92.
‘Summary of Indications Regarding Soviet Foreign Policy No. 52: Minute by R. Hibbert', 13 April 1950, FO371/84480.

93.
‘Minute by R. Hibbert', 20 October 1949, FO371/76021; The Foreign Office emphasised the threat of the MCP and its backing by China. By contrast, the Colonial Office placed a greater emphasis on CCP ‘fellow travellers' in Malaya as a potential vehicle for communist expansion directed by China, as opposed to the MCP which was ‘discredited', See letter from J. Paskin (CO) to M. Denning (FO), 17 October 1949, FO371/76021.

94.
‘Marxism (III)—Organisation of the Malayan Communist Party', 31 October 1950, KV3/284.

95.
‘Communist Influence in the Far East', 29 April 1949, JIC(49)33 CAB158/6.

96.
Letter from M. Denning (FO) to J. Paskin (CO), 28 October 1949, FO371/76021.

97.
‘Communist Influence in the Far East', 29 April 1949, JIC(49)33 CAB158/6.

98.
Letter from J. Paskin (CO) to M. Denning (FO), 17 October 1949, FO371/76021.

99.
‘The Chinese Communist Threat in the Far East and South-East Asia on the 15th February 1950', 15 February 1950, JIC(50)1/4 CAB158/9; ‘Communist Influence in South and South-East Asia and the Far East', 8 March 1950, JIC(50)5 CAB158/9; ‘JIC Minutes', 15 March 1951, JIC(51)28th
Meeting CAB159/9; ‘JIC Minutes', 17 May 1951, JIC(51)51st Meeting CAB159/9.

100.
‘Effects of Communist Successes in China', 6 January 1949, JIC(48)133 CAB158/5; ‘The Chinese Communist Threat in the Far East and South-East Asia on 7th December 1950', 8 December 1950, JIC(50)1/18 CAB158/9.