Kulim Town :- Kulim During the Emergency - 1950-1953

Topo Map of Kulim 1950's

This account was written by the Worcester Regiment about the counter terrorist activity in Kulim during post war Malaya by the British Colonial government . Take note that in the early 50's Kulim already had two rows of shophouses . I believe they are Jalan Raya and Jalan Tenku Asa'ad.

Read article here :-

KULIM AND SERDANG

“C” Company found Kulim to be a very pleasant place. It is larger than most Malayan towns and has two main streets instead of the customary one. Before the Emergency it had been the social centre for Europeans for many miles around, and had a club, tennis courts and a golf course. The Company base was on the Southern edge of the town on slightly rising ground. To the West was a road leading South from the town, and their South and East was bounded by a rubber estate and the golf course.

After a few days settling in and putting the camp in order, training was started in earnest Jungle training had, of course, been commenced in Singapore, but the Company had yet to gain practical experience of patrolling and living in the jungle. After several day patrols in the area the Company soon graduated to more ambitious operations of several days living in the jungle. During their time at Kulim the Company covered the likely terrorist areas very thoroughly, but unfortunately without seeing the enemy. The rubber and jungle between Terap and Junjong was patrolled extensively, as was the Gunong Bongsu Forest Reserve. One patrol went past Mahang, up the River Krian and into the mountainous jungle of Perak, while another patrol, after a lightning march to Kampong Bagan Kerbau, missed catching a number of terrorists by a few minutes.

Whilst the Company was at Kulim the terrorists staged two major incidents; in the first they killed a planter and a Special Constable, and in the second they ambushed a number of police. News of the first incident came one morning whilst the Company was on muster parade. The police headquarters in Kulim reported that they had received a telephone call from the police station at Terap saying that they were under heavy fire from a large number of terrorists. Very quickly the Company boarded its transport and drove off down the road to Terap, a notorious centre of Communism. The Company debussed on the outskirts and advanced cautiously into the village. Everything was ominously quiet, the people were all inside their wooden shops and huts, They moved on through the village and on the South side they found an ugly sight. In the middle of the road was a partially armoured jeep, its bonnet and canvas hood full of shot holes, and in the ditch lay a European and two Malay constables in a pool of blood. Apparently the planter (an Englishman named Dickens) had been driving up from the South in his jeep, escorted by two special constables. Just outside Terap they had come under heavy fire from an ambush position on the right-hand side of the road; they managed to drive on but a burst of automatic fire shattered their carburettor and the jeep stopped opposite a second ambush position a little further up on the left-hand side of the road. Dickens and the constables returned the fire from their partly armoured jeep, but the roof was unprotected and the terrorists were able to fire down on them from a high bank. After about forty minutes his ammunition had run out and Dickens decided to surrender in order to try and save the lives of the constables; all three had already been wounded. The terrorists stood Dickens and the two constables in a line, sprayed them with a machine gun and left them for dead. Only a few minutes later” C “Company arrived. The police station was only a few hundred yards away, and when the firing started the police thought they were being attacked and ‘phoned through to Kulim. The wounded were evacuated to Penang, where Dickens and one of the Malays died after regaining consciousness for a short time. The other Malay recovered. The area was searched thoroughly, the ambush positions were found and in one of them there were blood marks where one of the Malays had thrown a hand grenade. There was no trace or clue of where the terrorists might have gone, and after a day spent searching the area the Company returned to Kulim.

The second incident took place on the Junjong road, where a police vehicle was ambushed one night and eight police were killed. The terrorist casualties were unknown. Reports of the ambush did not reach the Company until the following morning and heavy rain had obliterated any tracks the terrorists might have left. Once again the search proved fruitless.

On August 26th, “C” Company moved from Kulim to Serdang, some eighteen miles to the South. Their place at Kulim was taken by “D” Company (Major W. L. Newcombe), who had just completed their training at Sungei Patani. “C” Company found Serdang very different to Kulim. It was a small hostile village, and the camp was dirty and neglected.

As a result of the incidents in the area South of Kulim it was presumed that there was a concentration of terrorists there. It was therefore decided to mount a Battalion operation. It was called Operation Rose and employed “C” Company, “D” Company and a Troop of 45 Commando, Royal Marines. “D” Company was given the area just South of Kulim, “C” Company went into the Relau Forest Reserve, and the Commandos were given the South of the area, The operation lasted twelve days and the area was systematically searched for signs of terrorists; unfortunately no contacts were made and the only results were a few arrests of terrorist food suppliers. It is interesting to note that mules were used on this operation for the first time in Malaya. They were not a success, and were not easy to move through the thick jungle. Immediately after Operation Rose a further operation was carried out in the same area with the object of plotting the squatter areas in the district, after which all the Chinese males were brought into Kulim for screening, and a number of arrests were made. The only contact with terrorists, which the Battalion had whilst in Kedah, was made by a section of 10 Platoon, “D” Company, who chanced on about six terrorists in the Bongsu Forest Reserve. Fire was exchanged, the terrorists fled and there were no casualties on either side.