WARRIORS: Part of the Reconnaissance troops involved in infantry duty during Ops Jala Raja launched in February 1970 to hunt down the communists in Nonok (now known as Asajaya) area.
MOST people do not know the contributions of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) in safeguarding the sovereignty and peace of the country.
This is because in the past, very little publicity had been given to it, and while the nation celebrated its 48th anniversary of independence on Friday (Sept 16), thesundaypost took the opportunity to highlight the history, contributions, achievements and setbacks of the Corps.
The Royal Armoured Corps, as it is known today, is both a support and combat unit within the Malaysian Armed Forces and it came into being as early as July 1952 with the formation of the Templer’s Super Twelve.
At the height of the first Emergency, General Sir Gerald Templer, the Malay Federation High Commissioner, with the consent of the Malay Rulers, formed the nucleus of the officers’ corps, comprising 12 young Malayans he hand-picked.
The 12 officers, dubbed as Twelve Supermen, were among over 100 youths of various races all over the peninsula who truned up for selection.
On September 1, 1952, the First Federation Regiment Battalion and the Federation Armored Regiment were established.
During this initial stage, the Armoured Regiment had only one squadron known as Alpha Squadron Federation Armoured Car, based in Rasah Camp, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
In line with the Armed Forces’ expansion on September 18 of the same year, the squadron was transformed into a regiment. Also, following the reinforcement of the army to face the insurgency, the First Battalion of the Federation Regiment was established and based in Taiping, Perak.
Both organisations were directly involved in operations against the communist terrorists since their establishments till the end of the first Emergency in 1960.
New setup
On January 1, 1960, the two regiments merged and the new establishment was later referred to as the Federation Reconnaissance Corps.
The units under this organisation were the First Federation Reconnaissance Regiment (Federation Regiment Battalion) and Second Federation Reconnaissance Regiment (Federation Armoured Vehicle Regiment).
Despite its young age, the Reconnaissance Corps was given the mandate and trust to join the UN peace-keeping mission in Congo (Zaire) with the involvement of the Charlie Squadron of the Second Reconnaissance Regiment on October 4, 1960. They were placed under the Malayan Special Forces (MSF).
In April the following year, the entire Second Reconnaissance Regiment was sent to Congo under MSF to carry out the peace-keeping mission until February 1962 when its duty was taken over by the First Reconnaissance Regiment. They were there on rotation.
The Congo tour of duty for the Reconnaissance Corps officially ended on April 10, 1963, with the return of the Second Reconnaissance Regiment.
The success of the Reconnaissance Corps in the Congo mission had proven its mettle and it was conferred the Royal Ensign during a colourful ceremony at Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, on March 23, 1963.
Name change
After the formation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963, the name was again changed to Malaysian Reconnaissance Corps and based on records, in early 1963, several personnel, especially from Alfa Squadron of the Second Malaysian Reconnaissance Regiment, were sent to serve under the Singapore Armoured Corps Squadron where most of the personnel were British and Singaporean volunteers.
Because of that, the squadron, based at the Kallang Lama Airport in Singapore, was officially named by the Malaysian government as the 1st Independent Reconnaissance Squadron.
After the withdrawal of Singapore from Malaysia in August 1965, the volunteers were given the option to remain at the squadron or change to other squadrons under Singapore. Many chose the second option.
The Malaysian Army continued with the expansion of the Reconnaissance Squadron and by 1966, it became an all-local outfit.
On November 24 the following year, the squadron moved to its new base at Jalan Wilkinson, Ipoh, Perak, and operated independently for seven years since its formation — until it was dissolved on May 1, 1970.
On this day, the Third Malaysian Reconnaissance Regiment was also set up through the combination of the squadron and the Delta Squadron of the First and Second Regiments. The new regiment was based at RAMILIES-ROE Camp in Ipoh, Perak.
Royal honour
In recognition and honour of its contribution and sacrifices, the King, on May 20, 1972, bestowed the royal honour on the Corps at a colourful ceremony at the Sungai Besi Camp.
Due the changing roles and responsibilities of the Corps over the years, its name was changed to Royal Calvary Corps, and the declaration to a new entity was held at Sunggala Camp in Port Dickson in September 1979, graced by Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, the then Defence Minister.
Since then, the Corps has kept expanding through the formation of units such as the 4th Calvary Regiment, 11th Calvary Regiment (Tank) and Calvary School, effective November 18, 1980.
Within the next 10 years, the Calvary had undergone tremendous changes, including the acquisition of various types of armoured vehicles, such as Radpanzer Condor, Sibmas, Scorpions to replace the Commando V-100 and V-150.
In view of the upgrading, the name was changed to Royal Armoured Corps on December 8, 1986, and again the declaration was held at Sunggala Camp, Port Dickson. This name remains till today.
The Royal Armoured Corps, a combat unit in the Land Force was ranked third in the Land Force organisation in terms of seniority.
Apart from giving support to the infantry units during war time, the Royal Armoured Corps can also fight in a battlefield independently.
On the international stage, the Armoured Corps was given the honour, among others, to serve under the UN and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzergovina.
Other missions where the Corps was directly or indirectly involved were MALBAT, MALCON, UNPROFOR, IFOR and SFOR.
An Armoured Corps veteran Captain (Rtd) Johar Yusoff told thesundaypost the Corps was involved in several anti-communist terrorist operations in Sarawak between 1970 to 1990.
Among the operations directly involving the Corps in hunting down the guerillas were Operasi Jala Raja, Operasi Ngayau, Operasi Sri Aman, Operasi Tudung, Operasi Ukur, Operasi Jala Aman, Operasi Serampang and finally Operasi Idaman.
During the insurgency, the security forces had scored many victories but many of their comrades had also fallen while protecting the country against external and internal threats.