HE fought the communists in the First Malayan Emergency, and patrolled the roads and jungles of Raub, Pahang with the likes of Sir Henry Gurney and Gen Sir Gerald Templer – both of whom also served as British high commissioners in Malaya.
While in service, he was shot at and ambushed.
He went on to oversee the Home Guard, a volunteer force responsible for keeping the communists from infiltrating Chinese new villages and resettlements.
These are but some of Maj (Rtd) Tan Hock Hin’s exploits during his illustrious military career.
He was conscripted into the Ferret Force – a counter-insurgency unit – in 1951, just shy of his 18th birthday.
“Our role was to serve as interrogators and interpreters,” Tan, now 86, told theSun when met recently at a Remembrance Day celebration organised by the Malaysian Armed Forces Chinese Veterans Association.
Tan was first posted to Raub where he served with the Fourth Queen’s Own Hussars, a British armoured unit whose operational areas stretched from Jerantut to Tranum, Bentong and from the winding Gap Road to Kuala Kubu Baru.
“I began patrolling in this area with Sir Henry Gurney, and three days later (on Oct 6, 1951), he was ambushed and killed near Fraser’s Hill.
“I was also ambushed once, a week before his assassination, but thank God I’m still around.”
Gurney was succeeded by Templer, with whom Tan also served in Raub.
Tan’s bravery did not go unacknowledged.
“I have been awarded medals for service under King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II,” the octogenarian said.
Tan later accepted the post of inspector in the Perak Home Guard where he served from 1952 to 1959.
“The Home Guard was formed to help bridge the rural and town areas, protect the people in the villages and block infiltration by the communists into the new villages.”
He recalled that it was not an easy time but it was an experience to remember.
“People should know that all Malaysians contributed to the defence of this country.
“There were about 250,000 non-Malay volunteers in the Home Guard and their contributions should be remembered,” he said.
As violence eased after 1959, the Home Guard was disbanded but the same spirit of volunteerism led to the formation of the Territorial Army to make available a pool of reserve manpower to augment the regular forces during times of emergency.
Tan went on to serve in the Defence Ministry and was part of a team that oversaw the formation of the women’s unit in the Territorial Army.
This was the beginning of female participation in the military.
“When Datuk Norhuda Ahmad was promoted to be the first woman brigadier-general in the armed forces in 2011, I was invited and she remembered some of us,” Tan said.
After retiring in 1983, Tan found a new calling – the spiritual kind.
“I have been a volunteer with the church for 20 over years now,” he said.
