Britain needed boots on the ground, and the Malayan military effort would prove an empire-wide one. Soldiers, pilots, sailors, and auxiliaries from around the world descended on the Federation in the form of ten RAF squadrons, seven British and eight Gurkha battalions, two Royal Armoured Corps regiments, one Royal Marine Commando brigade, a small flotilla from the navy, and three colonial battalions that drew forces from Southern Rhodesia and colonies in East Africa and the South Pacific.
