MORE FIGHTING IN MALAYA

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25552, 21 July 1948, Page 5

MORE FIGHTING IN MALAYA

TERRORIST RAIDS AND AMBUSHES MINE MANAGER’S N.Z. WIFE IN DANGER (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9 p.m.) SINGAPORE, July 20. The Selayang police station, eight miles north of Kuala Lumpur on the main Ipoh road, was attacked by 30 insurgents last night, but the attack was repulsed. Mrs W. Taylor, of the Hutt valley, New Zealand, whose husband is manager of a nearby tin mine, found herself in no-man’s-land during the 15-minute battle and was told to lie on the floor with a mattress over her head. She was not hit, though bullets whistled round the house from front and rear. Her house was between the police station and the attackers. The gang held up two special constables and took from them a Sten gun and a rifle. One British major and six Malay soldiers were killed, and four other Malay soldiers were wounded, when reinforcements on the way to Guamusang were ambushed on the road just beyond the Pahang-Kelantan border. Heavy firing took place for six hours. Further reinforcements are being sent to the scene. Four Malay police constables were killed and one Chinese detective was wounded in an ambush about 10 miles south-east of Kajang, where operations have continued for the last three days since the killing of a terrorist leader and 10 others and the death of a Gurkha lance-corporal. The same terrorists are believed to be responsible for the latest ambush. A party of detectives in the area were also fired on, but there were no casualties. One of the Malay policemen killed was the officer in charge of the Mantin Police Station, with 25 years’ service.

Gurkha sweeps continued in the Kajang area yesterday and one terrorist was killed. Troops found and burned a large quantity of military uniforms. A Spitfire yesterday reconnoitred Guamusang, in Kelantan, where an in* spector and 14 policemen were captured on July 17 when they ran out of ammunition »after holding off 300 terrorists for 90 minutes. Unconfirmed reports say that Bertam, 35 miles north of Guamusang, is also in terrorist hands. In Ipoh yesterday three Chinese who failed to report to the police the possession of firearms and ammunition by others were sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment. This was the first case of the kind under the new emergency regulations.