These New Zealand Special Air Service (SAS) troopers in Malaya, in 1957, are shown with a poster of wanted ‘communist terrorists’. Trooper G. Nash (left) points to the picture of a communist who has just been shot by a patrol led by Lance-Corporal R. P. Withers (right). The Malayan Emergency was a conflict that took place between 1948 and 1960. Communist insurgents fought against the British and other Commonwealth forces, including Malayan government troops after Malaya gained independence in 1957. Commonwealth forces referred to the insurgents as ‘communist terrorists’. New Zealand’s SAS was formed in 1955, specifically to serve in Malaya. The SAS carried out anti-guerrilla operations from 1956 to 1958, when they were replaced by soldiers of the New Zealand Regiment. The Malayan Emergency was declared over in 1960.