Interview with Timothy Hatton

British officer cadet with Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Bangalore, India, 1944-1945; officer served with 3rd/9th Bn Gurkha Rifles, 123rd Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Burma, Malaya, Dutch East Indies, Thailand and India, 1945-1947; police officer served with Federation of Malaya Police in Kuala Selangor, Federation of Malaya, 1949; served as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Police Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya, 1949-1950; police officer served with Federation of Malaya Police in Kulin, Federation of Malaya, 1950-1951; served with Special Branch, Federation of Malaya Police in Seremban, Federation of Malaya, 1952; served with Special Branch, Federation of Malaya Police in Pahang, Federation of Malaya, 1952-1955; served as Assistant Commissioner (Communism) Malaya, Federation of Malaya Police in Kuala Lumpar, Federation of Malaya, 1957-1963; served as Deputy Director of Special Branch, Royal Malaysia Police in Malaysia, 1963-1966

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1925-1943: family; education; character of education at The Nautical College Pangbourne; degree to which Second World War effected Pangbourne area. Aspects of period as officer cadet with Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College in Bangalore, India, 1944-1945: reasons for applying to join British Indian Army; selection process; voyage from GB to India; problems with dirty dirk prior to inspection on arrival in Bombay; uniform worn; train journey; attitude towards training; sharing room with Indian cadet, then Gurkha cadet; pattern of officer training; method of learning about rifle. REEL 2 Continues: learning Gurkhali; importance of learning languages in British Indian Army; contrast in use of lavatory between British and Indian cadets; boxing; different speeds of marching; mess life. Recollections of period as officer with 9th Gurkha Rifles in India, 1945: joining regiment at Dehra Dun; location of camp; volunteering to give Gurkha recruits initial training; method used by commanding officer to see if officers got along with Gurkhas; character of Gurkha recruits; relations between Gurkhas and British officers; type of problems faced by Gurkhas; importance of constant training and keeping Gurkha recruits busy; Gurkhas' sense of humour; calibre of Gurkha officers and NCOs; fighting qualities of Gurkhas; Gurkha class system. REEL 3 Continues: nature of Gurkha celebrations; temperament of Gurkhas; importance of appearance to Gurkhas; description of Kukri; personal Kukris carried; rations; relations between officers and Gurkhas; attending jungle training course in southern India; communication in jungle; instruction on living in jungle. Aspects of period as officer with 3rd/9th Bn Gurkha Rifles, 123rd Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Burma and Singapore, Malaya, 1945: reasons for volunteering to serve in Burma to take Imperial Japanese Army troops' surrender. REEL 4 Continues: method of getting Imperial Japanese Army personnel to surrender; Imperial Japanese Army troops who deserted to live with Sakai people in Burma; move to Singapore, Malaya; attitude of civilians towards Japanese occupation; return of Japanese prisoners of war to Japan; state of former Allied prisoners of war. Recollections of operations as officer with 3rd/9th Bn Gurkha Rifles, 123rd Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies, 1945: situation in Dutch East Indies, 1945; loss of brigade commander Brigadier Aubertin Mallaby, 30/10/1945; attacking Surabaya Prison to free Dutch internees; attitude of Indonesians towards British presence; nature of fighting in Surabaya; story of Dutch civilian recovering his money from house occupied by unit's quartermaster; obtaining rations from zoo in Surabaya; opinion of newly arrived Dutch officers; Gurkhas' smuggling of pets aboard troopship; relations between battalion and 1st Bn Seaforth Highlanders; Indonesian shelling of positions in Surabaya; main cause of battalion casualties; marriages between unit personnel and local women. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period as officer with 3rd/9th Bn Gurkha Rifles, 123rd Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Thailand, 1945: move to Thailand; role of unit; teaching Gurkhas to sail; period in jungle; how Chinese Communists took to jungle after Japanese surrender; Chinese Communists' preparations for coming war in jungle; presence of Japanese with Chinese Communists; method of dealing with leeches; state of men's health; lack of malaria in company. Aspects of operations as officer with3 rd/9th Bn Gurkha Rifles, 123rd Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Palembang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, 1946: move to Sumatra; situation on arrival; theft of vehicles by civilians; arrival of Dutch forces and their behaviour. REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as officer with 3rd/9th Bn Gurkha Rifles, 123rd Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Malaya, 1946-1947: move to Port Swettenham; presence of Chinese Communists in jungle; Chinese squatters and degree of support they gave to Communists in jungle; intelligence gathering; description of Communist camps; sources of Chinese Communist weapons; type of uniforms worn by Communist forces; origins of Mien Yuen during Japanese occupation. Aspects of period as officer with 3rd/9th Bn Gurkha Rifles, 123rd Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in India, 1947: preference of Gurkhas for remaining under British control rather than Indian, 1947; journey from Malaya to India; situation in Delhi, summer 1947; reasons for posting to Meo community village, south of Delhi; threats to Meo community and their vote to move to Pakistan; relations with head man; organisation of march westwards. REEL 7 Continues: role of Hindu wedding planners in organisation of march; attempt to count refugees; question of motives for murder of refugees; presence of large number of young boys on march; distribution of food; use of ox carts; character of march; abortive attempt of Lady Edwina Mountbatten to inspect latrines; method of dealing with march through Sikh dominated area; length and nature of column; attitude of Meo people to leaving home area for Pakistan; arrival of troops from Pakistan. REEL 8 Continues: problems with trains running alongside of column; ambushing of trains; attitude of Gurkhas to situation; fate of Meo people on arrival in Pakistan; attitude of his Gurkhas to not being able to serve with British Army; death of Meo headman; return to GB, 1947. Aspects of period as civilian in London, GB, 1947-1948: background to attempt to join Colonial Administrative Service; story of obtaining job as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Sir Edward Gent, High Commissioner in Malaya; move to Malaya and reasons for joining Federation of Malaya Police. REEL 9 Continues: further details of obtaining job as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Sir Edward Gent, High Commissioner in Malaya; death of Sir Edward Gent in mid-air collision and loss of employment, 4/7/1948. Recollections of period as police officer with Federation of Malaya Police in Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya, 1948-1949: lack of experience; learning Malay language; character of police and armed forces at start of Malayan Emergency; situation in Kuala Lumpur district; recruitment of squad to operate in the jungle; uniform worn by recruits; jungle training undertaken; gathering information on Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army; attitudes and actions of Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army in Kuala Lumpur; attitude of government officers to start of Malayan Emergency; acquiring arms and ammunition from army; degree to which police armed. REEL 10 Continues: ex-Gurkha officers use of Gurkhali language as security measure when using telephone; nature of Malayan Emergency and incidents that prompted it's declaration; Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents taking to jungle, 1948; organisation of jungle squad; number of Indian Communist insurgents; question of penetrating Communist organisation; support from Communist insurgents from Chinese Communists; story of capture of insurgent in old Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army headquarters in Kuala Lumpur; interrogation of suspect; acquiring photographs of insurgents; building up intelligence; clearing of insurgents from urban Kuala Lumpur; role of British Army in sweep operations; relations with 2nd Bn Scots Guards. REEL 11 Continues: Recollections of period as police officer with Federation of Malaya Police in Kuala Selangor, Federation of Malaya, 1949: transfer to Kuala Selangor; amusing story of monkey's antics; character of Communist activity in area; arrival of ex-Palestine Police Force policemen; night-time defences on rubber plantations; visit of planters to Kuala Lumpar; initial posting of police recruits in Federation of Malaya; opinion of ex-Palestine Police Force policemen; travelling around state; quiet nature of Kuala Selangor; rubber estates; need to search policemen after operations; fortified villages; description of Chinese squatter rubber plantations; attitude of squatters towards Communist forces; his recruitment of Chinese special constables. REEL 12 Continues: story acquiring seat from crashed helicopter; attending Chinese language course. Aspects of period as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Police Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya, 1949-1950: size of his headquarters; role and duties including giving talks; supervising Very Important Person (VIP) tours around Federation of Malaya; attempts to procure military equipment; how he managed to get six cars armoured plated for free from American tin mine manager; ambush on armoured car he was travelling in; degree of organisation of civil/military groups; attitude of commissioner to socialising; importance of meetings; situation in Kuala Lumpur during period as Aide-de-Camp (ADC); attitude towards role as Aide-de-Camp (ADC). REEL 13 Continues: Recollections of period as police officer with Federation of Malaya Police in Kulin, Federation of Malaya, 1950-1951: move to area; construction of forts; insurgent retreat to Thailand from Kulin; tactics employed; behaviour of insurgents towards Chinese rubber tappers; method of obtaining information from Chinese rubber tappers; closed nature of Chinese society; origins of Malay policemen; role in selection of sites for forts; insurgent attacks on police stations; incidents when he was in police stations when they were attack by insurgents; method of getting to know his area of responsibility; taking cover in bath on rubber estates; cases when he was ambushed in vehicles; car journeys and drill if ambushed. REEL 14 Continues: reasons for death of planters and advice given to them; character of Briggs Plan; naming of fortified villages after seven dwarfs; searching villages; lack of insurgent infiltration into fortified villages; use of informers; improvements for villagers living in fortified villages; special constables; dealing with recruits; presence of bandits in Kulin; follow up actions after ambush; information received from Chinese informants leading to setting up of ambushes; building up intelligence picture of Communist Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; lack of Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents surrendering at that stage of Malayan Emergency; interrogation of surrendered Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents. REEL 15 Continues: reasons for Malayan National Liberation Army insurgent surrenders; interrogation of surrendered Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; story of taking surrender of high ranking Malayan National Liberation Army insurgent who had killed his commanding officer; identification of dead Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents taken from jungle; relations with British Army personnel; secret society activities and recruitment of their members; background to death of High Commissioner Sir Henry Gurney, 6/10/1951; awareness of insurgent move into Kulin. Aspects of period learning Chinese in Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya, 1951-1952: background to decision to learning Hokkien Chinese language; learning Chinese language; aiding teacher to write books on Hokkien Chinese and Gurkhali languages; method of learning conversational Chinese language. REEL 16 Continues: character of Hokkien Chinese language; nature of conversations with Hokkien Chinese civilians; amusing story of using Chinese language whilst volunteering as guide in Salisbury Cathedral, 2012; Hokkien Chinese language slang; importance of security forces learning Chinese language; variations in origins of Chinese people in Federation of Malaya; composition of Chinese population in Federation of Malaya; use of leave to learn practical Chinese language in 'death house' in Singapore. REEL 17 Continues: Aspects of period as police officer with Special Branch, Federation of Malaya Police in Seremban, Federation of Malaya, 1952: request to carry out interrogation work on captured/surrendered insurgents; first interrogation carried out on high ranking insurgent; meeting with Sir Gerald Templar; interrogation techniques; importance of financial incentives to Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; nature of intelligence gained from high ranking Malayan National Liberation Army insurgent; Communist organisation in Federation of Malaya; degree to which Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents would offer up intelligence; change in attitude of military on arrival of Sir Gerald Templar; effect of Sir Gerald Templar's methods; composition of committees. REEL 18 Continues: use of aerial bombardment; story of taking surrender of three Communist Chinese Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents on train and subsequent field interrogation; escape of female Malayan National Liberation Army insurgent and her recapture; story of sight of former female Malayan National Liberation Army insurgent on leaving Malaysia in 1966; motivation of Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents to surrender. Recollections of period as police officer with Special Branch, Federation of Malaya Police in Pahang, Federation of Malaya, 1952-1956: posting to Pahang; classification of insurgent activity in different areas; removal of Chinese squatters into fortified villages; methods of imposing control in area of responsibility; use of detention; recruitment of detectives; character of Malay Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; use of Sultan of Pahang to talk to local civilians against Communist influence. REEL 19 Continues: further details of Malay Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; nationalist influence amongst Malay population; memories of British advisors to Malay states; size of Special Branch in state; use of photographs of insurgents; psychological warfare used against insurgents; use of family relationships to entice Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents out of jungle; Communist indoctrination in Malayan National Liberation Army jungle camps; process of handling insurgents who had surrendered in jungle including use of former British Communist journalist Douglas Hyde; release of detainees at end of Malayan Emergency; reversal of most insurgents' political views on surrender. REEL 20 Continues: process of dealing with surrendered insurgents; penalties for carrying weapons; question of potential duplicity of Surrendered Enemy Personnel (SEP); targeting sources of financial and food supplies; insurgent method of carrying messages and food; searches; use of bicycles to smuggle food; importance of keeping some Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents' supply routes open; clothing worn; amusing story of how his car was ambushed by elephants; how area received 'white' classification; state of Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents who had been in the jungle since before the Malayan Emergency, including former Imperial Japanese Army soldiers. REEL 21 Continues: use of American experimental thermal imaging device and subsequent discovery of nature of heat sources; role of women in Communist organisation; degree of commitment of male and female Communist insurgents; removal of captured Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents to People's Republic of China; character of area at time on his leaving. Recollections of period as Assistant Commissioner (Communism) Malaya, Federation of Malaya Police in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, 1957-1963: appointment to role; staff; committee work; composition of committee; penetration of Communist insurgent organisation; location of Communist insurgent high command; techniques used by Douglas Hyde. REEL 22 Continues: nature of external Communist threat to Malaya; character of Chinese Communists living in the jungle; government talks with Chin Peng; opinion of Chin Peng; People's Republic of China's view of Communist Party of Malaya; Chin Peng's family; messages sent by Chin Peng to his family; ruthlessness of Chin Peng towards party members; his interrogation of high ranking Communist; effects of Communist Party of Malaya not being recognised as a political party during moves towards Independence; nature of Indian support for Communist Party of Malaya; degree of Malayan support for Communist Party of Malaya; character of Osman China. REEL 23 Continues: how Malayan Communists lost interest in cause. Aspects of period as Deputy Director of Special Branch, Royal Malaysia Police in Malaysia, 1963-1966: initial appointments prior to taking position; mass surrenders of Communists; background to taking role; degree of Communist threat; Indonesian threat to Malaysia; problems of British security services organising operation in Indonesia; further details of Indonesian threat to Malaysia; leaving Malaysia, 1966; attitude towards service in Federation of Malaya and Malaysia.