British Military Administration (Borneo)

British Military Administration of Borneo
*Borneo*
British Military Administration of Borneo Borneo
1945–1946
	Flag Royal coat of arms
	Japanese forces surrender to Australians in Labuan on 1945.
Status	Transitional government
Capital	Victoria
Government	Military occupation
Chief Civil Affairs Officer
• 1945–1946	Brigadier Charles Macaskie
Historical era	Post-war
• Surrender of Japan	15 August 1945
• British Military Administration set up	; 12 September 1945
• Formation of the Crown Colony	; 1 July 1946
Currency	British North Borneo dollar, Sarawak dollar
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Japanese occupation of British Borneo
Crown Colony of Sarawak
Crown Colony of North Borneo
Brunei
Today part of	Malaysia ; Brunei

Last updated November 04, 2024

The British Military Administration (BMA) was the interim administrator of British Borneo between the end of the Second World War and the establishment of the Crown colonies of Sarawak and North Borneo in 1946. Specifically, the entity lasted from 12 September 1945 to 1 July 1946.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Labuan became the headquarters of BMA. The headquarters was mostly managed by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).^[5] The area under this administration today comprises Labuan, Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei.^[6] Sarawak was administered by Australians under British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit (BBCAU).^[7]

Background

Following Singapore's surrender to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, the Colonial Office started developing a strategy for post-war constitutional and administrative reforms in Malaya and the Borneo territories. Singapore had been the centre of British authority in Southeast Asia. The British public was critical of the British pre-war colonial policy in the region, which was partly to blame for their defeat by the Japanese, while the Americans, who saw the European colonies and dependencies as obstacles to their political and economic interests in the region, believed that the European colonies should be liberated and given opportunities for self-determination. These two factors had a significant impact on British policy makers in London.^[8]

The British Secretary of State for the Colonies submitted a memo on the constitutional policies that should be followed in Malaya and the Borneo territories after they were liberated from the Japanese, and the British War Cabinet appointed a committee from among its members on 6 January 1944, to consider the memo and make recommendations for post-war constitutional and administrative changes. A directive for military planners was required because it had been decided that a transitional military government would be used to re-establish the administrative infrastructure in the territories. This would allow the military planners to follow civil policy and make it easier to introduce constitutional amendments. The Committee endorsed the broad outlines of the program outlined in the Colonial Secretary's note at its first meeting on 22 March 1944.^[8]

It was advised that, in order to accomplish these goals, the British North Borneo (Chartered) Company's 1881-founded management should be dissolved and taken over by the British Government following payment of compensation to the company. The new Administration for North Borneo was to include the British Settlement of Labuan. The Committee also suggested that new treaties be quickly negotiated between the British Government and the Rajah of Sarawak and the Sultan of Brunei. The treaty stipulates that the British Monarch would be granted complete jurisdiction over the States, allowing them to enact laws for these areas in accordance with the Foreign Jurisdiction Act. The new contract was designed to ensure that the Rajah of Sarawak would accept the presence of a resident British adviser, whose counsel must be sought out and considered in all significant areas of policy and administration. The Secretary of State did not foresee any issues being raised over the transfer of authority to the British Monarch by either the Rajah of Sarawak or the Sultan of Brunei.^[8]

History

The British Military Administration (BMA), took over the civil affairs administration when the Australian Forces were removed from British Borneo. Although the Australian BBCAU was disbanded, many of its members volunteered to continue serving until British Borneo's administration was transferred to civil government because of a severe personnel shortage. The Borneo territories were still recognized as a one entity under the BBCAU, with Labuan serving as its capital, but the divisions were reorganized into two regions: North Borneo Area and Sarawak Area, each with four divisions. The North Borneo Area included the Brunei-Labuan Division. The BMA's Chief Civil Affairs Officer, Brigadier Macaskie, was reappointed. His key responsibilities were upholding law and order among civilians, reestablishing communications, public utilities and services, and vital industries; organizing the distribution of products; and advising and representing the local Commanders in their interactions with civilians. Additionally, he was told to take the required actions to set the groundwork for future civil governance by establishing the basic administrative structure inside the freed regions as much as feasible.^[8]

The War Office informed Lord Mountbatten on 10 December 1945 that the responsibility for the civil administrations in the four territories of British Borneo should be taken over by the Colonial Office as soon as possible; to that end, a target date of 1 March 1946 was set with the Colonial Office for planning purposes. Vyner Brooke of Sarawak unexpectedly decided to relinquish Sarawak to the British Crown on his own following discussions between the Colonial Office and the Rajah. At the end of March, the Rajah intended to make a quick trip back to Sarawak to win their approval and make sure the cession was in line with their intentions. But there had been little progress in the talks with the Chartered Company to hand over control of North Borneo to the British Crown. According to a British Cabinet decision, British North Borneo could not be returned to the Chartered Company, and civil government could not be created until an agreement was achieved.^[8]

All four Borneo territories had returned to civil rule by July 1946. Rajah Vyner Brooke officially handed his power to the British Crown on 15 July, leading to the establishment of a new Colonial Administration in Sarawak. The British North Borneo (Chartered) Company's government was abolished after the conclusion of discussions between the Colonial Office and the Chartered Company, and on 15 July a Colonial Administration was founded in Sarawak. On the same day, Labuan was integrated into the new colony and handed over to civil governance.^[8]

Sarawak Chinese raised the Kuomintang flags in Kuching after the surrender of the Japanese, believing that the Chinese army had a major role in defeating the Japanese. Such actions caused dissatisfaction among the Iban and the Malay people in Sarawak for not raising the Sarawak flag instead. A celebration was held on 10 October 1945 to celebrate the Allied victory and the national day of the Republic of China. The next day, a quarrel broke out between the Chinese and Malays. Later about 1,000 Chinese assembled near the Brooke Dockyard near the Main Bazaar in Kuching, preparing to attack mosques and Malay villages there. However, the fight did not break out because the Australian military quickly confiscated all the weapons and started a 24-hour curfew.^[9]

Related Research Articles

East Malaysia, or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan. The small independent nation of Brunei comprises two enclaves in Sarawak. To the south and southeast is the Indonesian portion of Borneo, Kalimantan. East Malaysia lies to the east of Peninsular Malaysia, the part of the country on the Malay Peninsula. The two are separated by the South China Sea.

The history of Brunei concerns the settlements and societies located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, which has been under the influence of Indianised kingdoms and empires for much of its history. Local scholars assume that the Islamisation of Brunei started in the fifteenth century with the formation of the Bruneian Empire, a thalassocracy that covered the northern part of Borneo and Sulu. At the end of the 17th century, Brunei subsequently entered a period of decline brought on by the Brunei Civil War, piracy, and European colonial expansion. Later, there was a brief war with Spain, in which Brunei evacuated its capital for a brief period until the Spanish withdrew. The empire lost much of its territory with the arrival of the Western powers, such as the Spanish in Luzon and Visayas and the British in Labuan, Sarawak, and North Borneo. The decline of the Bruneian Empire accelerated in the nineteenth century when Brunei gave much of its territory to the White Rajahs of Sarawak, resulting in its current small landmass and separation into two parts. Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin later appealed to the British to stop further annexation in 1888. In the same year, the British signed a "Treaty of Protection" and made Brunei a British protectorate until 1984 when it gained independence and prospered due to the discovery of oil.

Labuan, officially the Federal Territory of Labuan, is an island federal territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes Labuan Island and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support hub for deepwater oil and gas activities in the region. It is also a tourist destination for people travelling through Sabah, nearby Bruneians and scuba divers. The name Labuan derives from the Malay word labuhan which means harbour.

North Borneo was a British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo,. The territory of North Borneo was originally established by concessions of the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu in 1877 and 1878 to a German-born representative of Austria-Hungary, businessman and diplomat, Gustav Overbeck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Vyner Brooke</span> Rajah of Sarawak

Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, GCMG, full name Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke was the third and last White Rajah of the Raj of Sarawak.

Ahmad Tajuddin Akhazul Khairi Waddien was the 27th Sultan of Brunei from 1924 until his death in 1950. He was succeeded by his younger brother Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III.

The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC), was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo. The territory became a protectorate of the British Empire in 1888 but the company remained involved with the territory until 1946, when administration was fully assumed by the Crown colony government.

The North Borneo Federation, also known as North Kalimantan, was a proposed political entity which would have comprised the British colonies of Sarawak, British North Borneo and the protectorate of Brunei.

The White Rajahs were a hereditary monarchy of the Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak as a sovereign state, located on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo in Maritime Southeast Asia, from 1841 to 1946. Of British origin, the first ruler, James Brooke was granted the province of Kuching – which was known as Sarawak Asal – by the Sultanate of Brunei for helping fight piracy and insurgency among the indigenous peoples in 1841 and received independent kingdom status.

British Borneo comprised the four northern parts of the island of Borneo, which are now the country of Brunei, two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan. During the British colonial rule before World War II, Sarawak was known as the Raj of Sarawak (1841–1946), Sabah was known as North Borneo (1881–1946), and Labuan was known as the Crown Colony of Labuan (1848–1946). Between World War II and their independence from Britain, Sarawak became the Crown Colony of Sarawak (1946–1963) whereas Sabah and Labuan combined to form the Crown Colony of North Borneo (1946–1963). The Kingdom of Brunei (1888/1906–1984) was a protectorate of the United Kingdom since the 1888/1906 Protectorate Agreement, and was known as British Protectorate State of Brunei.

The Battle of Borneo was a successful campaign by Japanese Imperial forces for control of Borneo island and concentrated mainly on the subjugation of the Raj of Sarawak, Brunei, North Borneo, and the western part of Kalimantan that was part of the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese main unit for this mission was the 35th Infantry Brigade led by Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi.

The Raj of Sarawak, Kingdom of Sarawak or State of Sarawak, was a kingdom founded in 1841 in northwestern Borneo and was in a treaty of protection with the United Kingdom from 1888. It was formed from a series of land concessions acquired by the Englishman James Brooke from the Sultan of Brunei. Sarawak was recognised as a sovereign state by the United States in 1850, and by the United Kingdom in 1864. The territory of the kingdom is now the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

The British Military Administration (BMA) was the interim administrator of British Malaya from August 1945, the end of World War II, to the establishment of the Malayan Union in April 1946. The BMA was under the direct command of the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, Lord Louis Mountbatten. The administration had the dual function of maintaining basic subsistence during the period of reoccupation, and also of imposing the state structure upon which post-war imperial power would rest.

The History of Sarawak can be traced as far as 40,000 years ago to the paleolithic period where the earliest evidence of human settlement is found in the Niah caves. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the archeological site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century. In 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, first arrived in Sarawak. Sarawak was later governed by the Brooke family between 1841 and 1946. During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. On 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British. Following this, it became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia, and this led to the three-year Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. From 1960 to 1990, Sarawak experienced a communist insurgency.

The history of Sabah can be traced back to about 23–30,000 years ago when evidence suggests the earliest human settlement in the region existed. The history is interwoven with the history of Brunei and the history of Malaysia, which Sabah was previously part of and is currently part of respectively. The earliest recorded history of Sabah being part of any organised civilisation began in the early 15th century during the thriving era of the Sultanate of Brunei. Prior to this, early inhabitants of the land lived in predominantly tribal societies, although such tribal societies had continued to exist until the 1900s. The eastern part of Sabah was ceded to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 for the former helping a victory over Brunei enemies, but many sources stated it had not been ceded at all. By the late 19th century, both territories previously owned by Sultan of Brunei and Sultan of Sulu was granted to British syndicate and later emerged as British North Borneo under the management of the North Borneo Chartered Company. Sabah became a protectorate of the United Kingdom in 1888 and subsequently became a Crown colony from 1946 until 1963, during which time it was known as Crown Colony of North Borneo. On 16 September 1963, Sabah merged with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia.

The Crown Colony of Labuan was a Crown colony off the northwestern shore of the island of Borneo established in 1848 after the acquisition of the island of Labuan from the Sultanate of Brunei in 1846. Apart from the main island, Labuan consists of six smaller islands; Burung, Daat, Kuraman, Papan, Rusukan Kecil, and Rusukan Besar.

The Crown Colony of Sarawak was a British Crown colony on the island of Borneo, established in 1946, shortly after the dissolution of the British Military Administration. It was succeeded as the state of Sarawak through the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

Before the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, the island of Borneo was divided into five territories. Four of the territories were in the north and under British control – Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan, an island, and British North Borneo; while the remainder, and bulk, of the island, was under the jurisdiction of the Dutch East Indies.

Sarawak Day, officially known as Sarawak Independence Day is a holiday celebrated on 22 July annually by Sarawak, celebrating the establishment of de facto self-government on 22 July 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard MacBryan</span> British private secretary to the Rajah of Sarawak

Gerard Truman Magill MacBryan was a Scotsman who initially served as Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke's Private Secretary and curator at the Sarawak Museum, was notable for his involvement in the annexation of Raj of Sarawak by the British Crown and later meddled in Brunei's affairs, gaining the trust of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin through connections made in Kuching. In her book Queen of the Headhunters, Sylvia Brett, the last Ranee of Sarawak, introduces MacBryan as "a young man who was destined to play a sinister part in the history of the Sarawak Raj."

References

1 2 3 "Sarawak as a British Crown Colony (1946 – 1963)". Sarawak State Government. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
1 2 3 Walter Yust (1947). Ten eventful years: a record of events of the years preceding, including and following World War II, 1937 through 1946. Encyclopaedia Britannica. p. 382.
1 2 3 "History (British Military Administration in Borneo)". Chief Minister's Department. The Sabah State Archives. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
1 2 3 Tamara Thiessen (2008). Borneo. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 211–. ISBN 978-1-84162-252-1.
1 2 Ooi Keat Gin (7 June 2010). The A to Z of Malaysia. Scarecrow Press. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-1-4616-7199-2.
↑ Stephen R. Evans (1990). Sabah (North Borneo): Under the Rising Sun Government. Tropical Press.
↑ Ho, Hui Ling (2001). "Penyerahan Sarawak Kepada Kerajaan British, 1946-1951 (Cession of Sarawak to the British (1946 to 1951)" (PDF). Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia (Malaysian Historical Society). 9 (4): 43–73. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-17. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
1 2 3 4 5 6 AWANG MOHAMAD YUSOP, DAMIT (1995). "PLANS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE: 1944 - 1948" (PDF). Brunei Darussalam 1944 - 1962: Constitutional and Political Development in a Malay-Muslim Sultanate. Department of History, The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London: 27–44.
↑ Hasbie Sulaiman, Haji Mohd (10 October 1989). Perjuangan Anti Cession Sarawak - Peranan Utama Pesatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Sarawak (The Sarawak anti-cession struggle - main role by the Sarawak Malays National Association) (First ed.). Kuching, Sarawak: Samasa Press Sdn Bhd. pp. 45–46. ISBN 9839964003 . Retrieved 3 August 2023.

British Military Administration (Borneo)

Contents

Background

History

See also

Related Research Articles

References

Further reading