Sir Gerald Templer - Life, Honours

British soldier. He trained at Sandhurst Military Academy, was commissioned in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and served with them in World War 1. In World War 2 he became commander of the 6th Armoured Division. He was deputy (1948–50) then Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1955–8). As high commissioner and commander-in-chief in Malaya (1952–4), he frustrated the Communist guerrillas' offensive.

Field Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer, KG (1898 - 1979) was a British military commander.

Life

Born in Colchester, Templer was commissioned into his father's regiment, the Royal Irish Fusiliers in 1916 and fought in World War I and in 1919 briefly in Russia. In 1943 he requested a field command, was reduced to a major-general, and posted to command the 1st Infantry Division in North Africa before commanding the 56th Infantry Division during the Italian campaign.

High Commissioner Of Malaya

Winston Churchill then appointed him High Commissioner in Malaya in January 1952 after the assassination of Henry Gurney in October 1951.

Working closely with Robert Thompson, the Permanent Secretary of Defence for Malaya, Templer's tactics against the communists were held up as a model for counter-insurgency and were often compared to later American responses in Vietnam, particularly as Thompson headed the BRIAM (British Advisory Mission) to South Vietnam in the early 1960s, where the American military chose to ignore much of his advice.

Templer famously remarked that, "The answer [to the uprising] lies not in pouring more troops into the jungle, but in the hearts and minds of the people."

Templer instituted incentive schemes for rewarding surrendering rebels and those who encouraged them to surrender. Templer 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. 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. Templer denied that the situation had stabilised, declaring "I'll shoot the bastard who says that this Emergency is over".

Chief of the Imperial General Staff

Templer later served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1955 - 1958) and was promoted to Field Marshal.

Honours

The University of Birmingham Centre for First World War Studies established the Templer Medal in 1982 to commemorate the life and achievements of Gerald Templer and to mark his Presidency of the Society for Army Historical Research between 1965 and 1979. Malaysian Government confered him the award that brings the Title "Tun" The Main Hall at Maktab Tentera DiRaja (Royal Military College) in Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur is named Dewan Tun Templer (Tun Templer Hall.