Editing Gerald Templer (section)

{{Short description|Chief of the Imperial General Staff}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]]
| name          = Sir Gerald Templer
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|size=100|sep=,|KG|GCB|GCMG|KBE|DSO}}
| image         = Sir gerald templer.gif
| image_size    = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = General Sir Gerald Templer in Malaya, 1953
| nickname      = "Tiger of Malaya"
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1898|09|11|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Colchester]], [[Essex]], England
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1979|10|25|1898|09|11|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Chelsea, London]], England
| placeofburial = St. Michael's churchyard, [[Wilsford cum Lake|Wilsford, Salisbury]], [[Wiltshire]], England<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100699727/gerald-walter_robert-templer|title=Field-Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer...|website=www.findagrave.com}}</ref>
| allegiance    = United Kingdom
| branch        = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1916–1958
| rank          = [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]]
| servicenumber = 15307
| unit          = [[Royal Irish Fusiliers]]<br/>[[Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)]]
| commands      = [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Imperial General Staff]] (1955–1958)<br/>[[Eastern Command (United Kingdom)|Eastern Command]] (1950–1952)<br/>[[6th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|6th Armoured Division]] (1944)<br/>[[56th (London) Infantry Division]] (1943–1944)<br/>[[History of the British 1st Division during the World Wars|1st Infantry Division]] (1943)<br/>[[XI Corps (United Kingdom)|XI Corps]] (1943)<br/>[[II Corps (United Kingdom)|II Corps]] (1942–1943)<br/>[[47th (London) Infantry Division]] (1942)<br/>[[210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home)]] (1940–1941)<br/>9th Battalion, [[Royal Sussex Regiment]] (1940)
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[First World War]]
** [[Hundred Days Offensive]]
* [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|Arab revolt in Palestine]]
* [[Second World War]]
** [[North African campaign]]
** [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]]
*** [[Battle of Anzio]]
*** [[Battle of Monte Cassino]]
*** [[Gothic Line|Gothic Line offensive]]
** [[Western Allied invasion of Germany]]
* [[Malayan Emergency]]
* [[Suez Crisis]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter]]<br/>[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br/>[[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<br/>[[Companion of the Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]] (2)<br/>[[Legion of Merit|Commander of the Legion of Merit]] (United States)<br/>[[Order of Leopold II|Commander of the Order of Leopold II]] (Belgium)<br/>[[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|Croix de guerre]] (Belgium)<br/>[[Order of Orange-Nassau|Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau]] with Swords (Netherlands)<br/>[[Order of the Defender of the Realm|Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm]] (Malaya)
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
}}
[[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] '''Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer''' (11 September 1898 – 25 October 1979) was a senior [[British Army]] officer. He fought in both the [[world war]]s and took part against the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|Arab Resistance in Palestine]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Newsinger|first=John|title=British Counterinsurgency 2nd edition|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2015|isbn=978-0-230-29824-8|location=Basingstoke|pages=54|language=English}}</ref> As [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Imperial General Staff]], the professional head of the British Army between 1955 and 1958, Templer was Prime Minister [[Anthony Eden]]'s chief military adviser during the [[Suez Crisis]]. He is also credited as a founder of the United Kingdom's [[National Army Museum]].

Templer is best known for implementing strategies that heavily contributed to the defeat of the [[Malayan National Liberation Army|Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA)]] during the [[Malayan Emergency]]. Some historians have described his methods as a successful example of a "[[Winning hearts and minds|hearts and minds]]" campaign, while other scholars have dismissed this as a myth due to his over-reliance on population control and coercion.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3icqEAAAQBAJ |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |date=2022 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |isbn=978-0-593-32008-2 |pages=535–536 |language=en}}</ref> Templer also oversaw, ordered, and personally approved of many controversial policies and numerous [[War crime|atrocities]] committed by his troops. These including the use of internment camps called "[[New village|New Villages]]", the forced relocation of [[Orang Asli|ethnic minorities]],<ref name=":4" /> forced conscription,<ref name=":3" /> collective punishment against civilians,<ref name=":3" /> the hiring of specialist [[Iban people|Iban-headhunters]] to decapitate suspected communists,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> pioneering the use of [[Agent Orange]] (later used in Vietnam),<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> and the use of [[scorched earth]] policies deprive the MNLA of resources.<ref name=":6" />

Many of the strategies he enforced were later (unsuccessfully) implemented by the United States in Vietnam.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tilman|first=Robert O.|date=1 August 1966|title=The Non-Lessons of the Malayan Emergency|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/as/article-abstract/6/8/407/24029/The-Non-Lessons-of-the-Malayan-Emergency?redirectedFrom=fulltext|journal=Far Eastern Survey|volume=6| issue = 8|via=University of California Press}}</ref>