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Story: Asia and New Zealand

New Zealand Army families in Malaya, 1961

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Terendak, in the Malayan state of Melaka (Malacca), was a self-contained township of around 10,000 inhabitants – the base for the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group, which consisted of New Zealand, British, Australian and Gurkha units. The RNZAF flew 1,700 New Zealand troops and their families to Terendak in 1961, and New Zealanders stayed there until 1969. This extract from the 1961 newsreel film Malayan airlift shows New Zealand families moving to Terendak.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Pictorial Parade 121. National Film Unit, 1961

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

David Capie, Asia and New Zealand – War, empire and the new Commonwealth, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/36233/new-zealand-army-families-in-malaya-1961 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by David Capie, published 29 May 2012.