Head Hunters in the Malayan Emergency  
The Atrocity and Cover-Up
Author(s): Dan Poole
Published by Pen and Sword
Publication Date:  Available in all formats
ISBN: 9781399057431
Pages: 0

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ISBN: 9781399057431 Price: INR 847.99
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Head Hunters in the Malayan Emergency investigates the infamous political scandal sparked after horrific photographs of war crimes during the Malayan Emergency were leaked to the British press. These photographs depicted British forces and their allies in Malaya scalping corpses and posing with decapitated human heads. The subsequent scandal, involving British generals, police, trade unions, and even Winston Churchill, led to the further discoveries that British forces had deployed over 1,000 men from Bornean headhunting tribes to Malaya, were publicly displaying corpses to terrify Malaya's civilian population into submission, and that photographs of such atrocities had become popular souvenirs among British troops.

Using newly uncovered photographs, eyewitness accounts, and government documents, this research is the first ever attempt by any historian to create a complete history of the British-Malayan Headhunting Scandal, its political consequences, the stories of those involved, and its attempted cover-up.
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Head Hunters in the Malayan Emergency investigates the infamous political scandal sparked after horrific photographs of war crimes during the Malayan Emergency were leaked to the British press. These photographs depicted British forces and their allies in Malaya scalping corpses and posing with decapitated human heads. The subsequent scandal, involving British generals, police, trade unions, and even Winston Churchill, led to the further discoveries that British forces had deployed over 1,000 men from Bornean headhunting tribes to Malaya, were publicly displaying corpses to terrify Malaya's civilian population into submission, and that photographs of such atrocities had become popular souvenirs among British troops.

Using newly uncovered photographs, eyewitness accounts, and government documents, this research is the first ever attempt by any historian to create a complete history of the British-Malayan Headhunting Scandal, its political consequences, the stories of those involved, and its attempted cover-up.
Table of contents
  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Contents
  • Scandal Timeline 1952 April–May
  • Additional Information
  • Introduction
    • What was the British Malayan Headhunting Scandal?
    • From allies to “terrorists”: Who were the victims of headhunting?
    • The Malayan Emergency (1948–1960): Britain’s Vietnam
    • Introducing the Ibans: Britain’s headhunters from Borneo
  • Chapter 1 The Headhunting Scandal Begins
    • The first decapitation photograph is published (28 April)
    • British Government Denial
    • The Admiralty’s investigation
  • Chapter 2 Journalism on the Offensive
    • The second decapitation photograph is released (30 April)
    • The MacDonald Family
    • Legality of the headhunting
    • Soldiers and eyewitnesses
    • Gordon Knapp, one soldier’s protest against headhunting
    • Winston Churchill and government awareness
    • Churchill forbids headhunting
    • Government confirms the photographs are authentic
    • J.R Campbell intensifies his anti-war campaign
  • Chapter 3 “This Horror Must End”: The Scandal Reaches its Boiling Point
    • The war’s most graphically violent images are revealed (10 May)
    • Headhunting’s final mention in Parliament
    • The deployment of Iban soldiers continues
    • Headhunting in Malaya continues
  • Chapter 4 The Aftermath of the Headhunting Scandal
    • Trade union reaction to the headhunting scandal
    • The Dunlop Rubber Company protest
    • British media reaction to the photographs
    • Foreign Media reaction to the photographs
  • Chapter 5 Debate: Military Necessity and the Intelligence Gathering Theory
    • Hen Yan – the only known communist victim of British headhunting
    • Lim Tian Shui, the first decapitation victim?
    • Sources, content, and treatment of both heads and photographs
    • Skulls and scalp trophies
    • Soldier eye-witness testimonies cast doubt on the official story
    • The availability and reliability of cameras
    • The availability of alternative tactics
    • Intelligence Gathering Theory Conclusion
  • Chapter 6 The Historiography: Questions and Comments by Researchers
    • Soldiers’ relatives and their reactions to headhunting
    • Arguments and theories presented by modern researchers
    • Headhunting from the victim’s perspective
  • Chapter 7 The Public Display of Corpses
    • Corpse displays as tools of terror
    • Corpse displays as tools of reassurance and intelligence
    • Known victims of the public corpse displays
    • The Telok Anson Tragedy, August 1952
    • The Kulim Tragedy, September 1953
    • Conclusion on the public corpse displays
  • Conclusion
  • Additional Information
  • Acknowledgements
  • Tips for researchers
  • Notes
  • Sources for Images/Figures
  • Plates
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