Planning for war in Southeast Asia: The Far East Strategic Reserve, 1955–66

Abstract

During the early Cold War, Australia expected to fight any global war alongside the British. Somewhat ironically, while it was increasingly independent from Britain in foreign policy and security planning, unlike during previous wars, Australia planned to fight any future war with its units integrated into Commonwealth formations. The cooperation of Australian forces with the British and other Commonwealth countries in the Korean, Malayan and Borneo conflicts reflected the close strategic and operational integration that built on the experiences of the two world wars, and the strategic desire of both Britain and Australia to engage the other in the efficient pursuit of their own security. The integration of forces at the formation level also reflected the smaller scale of people and resources involved. From 1955, these efforts were centred on the Far East Strategic Reserve (FESR), a force that contained British, New Zealand and Australian troops, aircraft and ships and was based in Malaya and Singapore.2 The FESR was Australia’s first permanent peacetime overseas deployment, and ultimately stretched to decades. The FESR was both a symbol, in that it represented the Commonwealth’s commitment to defending the region, and a tangible contribution to Commonwealth Cold War aims, in its availability to fight wars in Malaya and Borneo and to ensure that the Commonwealth was ‘at the table’ with the United States and with the newly formed Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). For thousands of Australian service personnel, it was a central and unique part of their service in the 10 years prior to Vietnam, shaping their experiences, and also the focus of the services of which they formed a part.