Mr Laurie Ferguson asked the Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel, upon notice, on 4 December 1997:

(1) What are the precise activities in which naval vessels must have engaged to meet the requirements of patrolling off the coast of Malaya in support of operations against terrorists with respect to eligibility for the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) `Malaya' clasp.

(2) Is she able to say how many Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy vessels met the requirement referred to in part (1) between 1948 and 1960.

(3) Did the Committee of Inquiry into Defence and Defence Related Awards recommend that the Government continue to pursue with the British Government the eligibility of RAN vessels serving with the Far Eastern Strategic Reserve for the medal; if so, what (a) action has the Government taken and (b) supporting information did it supply to the UK Ministry of Defence.

(4) Has her senior adviser written to a number of veterans claiming that authoritative advice has been received from the Royal Navy that no Australian ships rendered qualifying service for the NGSM; if so, (a) on what date was this advice received from the UK and (b) what are the full details of its contents.

(5) Do adequate records exist in Australian and UK military archives to verify the exact nature of all service rendered by ships serving with the Far Eastern Strategic Reserve; if so, what is the nature of the records.

(6) What action will she take to ensure that thousands of Australian naval Far Eastern Strategic Reserve veterans receive proper recognition for their service.

Mrs Bishop (Defence Industry, Science and Personnel) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) The NGSM with Clasp `Malaya' is awarded for 28 days service from 28 June 1948 to 31 July 1960 inclusive on ships or craft patrolling off the coast of Malaya in support of operations against bandits. Naval personnel are also eligible for this medal if they were attached, for one day or more, to land-based units in the Federation of Malaya or if they made one journey in a small craft up a river or creek in the Federation of Malaya after 16 June 1948.

(2) No; not without further inquiries to the British and New Zealand Governments.

(3) Yes; (a) shortly after election to Government, I arranged for Vice Admiral Sir Richard Peek to make representations to an Interdepartmental Committee on Defence Honours and Awards on the eligibility of those Australian service personnel who served on Royal Australian Navy vessels for the NGSM with Clasp `Malaya'. After this meeting the Committee requested that appropriate representations to the Royal Navy be made with a view to expedite the issue; (b) no supporting information was provided as all previous documentation provided in approaches to the British Government by both the Committee of Inquiry into Defence and Defence Related Awards in 1993/94, and the RAN in 1995, was considered adequate.

(4) Yes;

(a) 11 October 1996; (b) the contents of the First Sea Lord's letter are quote:

"Dear Rod Further to my letter of 2 August 1996, my staff have now had time to look into the matter raised by yours of 26 June. I very much regret that we will be unable to let you have the definitive advice you are seeking.

As you know, both our Naval Historical Branches looked into the matter in 1995 and neither could find any evidence to substantiate the view that RAN vessels completed the necessary 28 days' service to qualify for the NGSM (Malaya). That said, the Naval Historical Branch here in Whitehall were asked again to dig a little deeper to see if anything further could be unearthed. At the same time, the RN Medal Office in Gosport were asked to consider your question about RN personnel who have received the NGSM (Malaya).

I am sorry to say that even after these further efforts the picture is not a lot clearer. The details of servicemen who have been awarded the medal are not held on computer but are contained on personal files, in alphabetical order for officers and by service number for ratings. To obtain the information you have asked for would require a search of every file, and as there are around one million of them you will appreciate that such a search is impracticable. In addition, the Naval Historical Branch have advised that to establish the specific movements of HM Ships ST BRIDE'S BAY, CARDIGAN BAY and WHITESAND BAY over the period in question would involve looking at some 6500 pages of deck logs. Again, the Naval Historical Branch, with only a very small staff, are not in a position to conduct the necessary research.

I can confirm, however, that Australian Servicemen were awarded campaign medals under the Imperial Honours and Awards system and would, like everyone else who was awarded the NGSM (Malaya), have had to carry out periods of service under the conditions laid down in Command Paper 7907. This required seagoing personnel to give 28 days' service from 16 June 1948 in ships patrolling off the Malayan coast in support of operations against bandits. I am further advised that records held in the RN Medal Office (as distinct from Naval Historical Branch) indicate that no RN ships entered the qualifying area for a sufficient length of time to qualify for the NGSM (Malaya) between June 1955 and June 1960. It may, therefore, not be unreasonable to conclude that the Commander-in Chief Far East Station did not advise the RAN of the qualification of individual ships because none ever met the criteria. This could well have been because the ships involved in such operations were seldom in action for more than one or two days at a time as part of a patrol that generally lasted for no more than 15-20 ship days per year.

To provide absolute proof of this hypothesis would, however, require further lengthy research through the records mentioned above. Clearly, if the RAN were in a position to fund the required work, we would be delighted to assist and provide the necessary support.

I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful.

With Best Wishes

Yours ever

Jock"

unquote.

(5) In Australia, yes; in the UK, not known. Australian records are in the form of ships Records of Proceedings, ships logs, details of ships movements, departmental and Government decision papers, individual personnel records and other relevant archival documents.

(6) The Labor Government for 13 years did nothing to acknowledge RAN service in FESR. This Government, in recognising the service of Royal Australian Navy personnel with the Far East Strategic Review, has established the Australian Service Medal 1945-75 with Clasp `FESR' for service between 2 July 1955 and 30 October 1971. To date, some 5,600 awards of the Australian Service Medal with Clasp `FESR' have been issued to RAN personnel who served with the Far East Strategic Reserve. Also, as announced in the May 1997 Budget statement, for the purposes of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, Naval service with the FESR between June 1955 and May 1963 is now classified as operational (not warlike, but rendered in a prescribed area of operations) The effect of this classification is that veterans who incurred an injury or illness that was sustained during, or aggravated by service with the Far East Strategic Reserve, can claim compensation in the form of a disability pension, and treatment of the injury or illness. Additionally, eligibility for the Defence Service Home loans has been extended. The Government considers this package provides tangible recognition for that service.