Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, KG (1898 - 1979) was a British military commander. He is best known for his defeat of the guerrilla rebels in Malaya between 1952 and 1954. "The jungle has been neutralised", he declared in a Time Magazine cover article in 1952.
Templer fought in World War I where he developed a reputation for being somewhat hapless after accidentally being shot by friendly Belgian forces. He served as Director of Military Government in Germany during the Allied occupation after World War II.
Winston Churchill then appointed him High Commissioner in Malaya after the assassination of Henry Gurney in October 1951. The Malayan Emergency - a struggle for independence by Communist Malayan forces - had been declared in 1948. Templer's tactics against the communists were held up as a model for counter-insurgency and were often juxtaposed with later American responses in Vietnam.
In Malaya Templer instituted incentive schemes for rewarding surrendering rebels and those who encouraged them to surrender. He was helped by the often brutal attacks on Malay civilians by the Communists which helped mobilise popular opinion against them. Templer also used strict curfews and tight control of food supplies to force compliance from rebellious areas and flush out guerillas. Crops grown by the Communists in response to these measures were sprayed with herbicide. These restrictions would be lifted on so-called 'White Areas' which had been found to be free of Communist incursion, yet another incentive for the population to turn in the rebels. Templer in fact coined the phrase "winning the hearts and minds", to imply a conflict beyond the merely military.
In military terms Templer concentrated his efforts on intelligence and on training and tactics suitable for the jungle environment. Morale among his own troops remained good and Templer was a popular commander. When he left Malaya in 1954 the situation was dramatically improved though the rebels remained a force. Templer denied that the situation had stabilised declaring "I'll shoot the bastard who says that this Emergency is over". In fact the Malay government declared it over in 1960, three years after independence.
Templer later served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1955–1958) and was promoted to Field Marshal. He spent his last years working towards the foundation of the National Army Museum in London.
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Last updated: 05-15-2005 05:58:23
