The British Military Administration (BMA) was the administrator of British Malaya between the end of World War II and the establishment of the Malayan Union in 1946. Specifically, the entity lasted from September 1945 to April 1946. The Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States as well as the Straits Settlement including Singapore were placed under temporary British military rule. British Malaya was a set of states that were colonized by the British from the 18th and the 19th until the 20th century. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Malayan Union was formed on April 1, 1946 by the British. ... The Federated Malay States (FMS) was a federation of four states on the Malay Peninsula - Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan - established by the British government in 1895, and lasted until 1946, when they together with the Straits Settlements and the Unfederated Malay States formed the Malayan Union. ... The Unfederated Malay States were five Malay states, namely Johore Terengganu Kelantan Kedah Perlis Together the states were not a single entity but merely a category to describe those states which were not Federated Malay States or Straits Settlements. ... The Straits Settlements were a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia, which were given collective administration in 1826. ...

By Proclamation No. 1 (1945), the Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia established the British Military Administration which assumed full judicial, legislative, executive and administrative powers and responsibilities and conclusive jurisdiction over all persons and property throughout such areas of Malaya. The Proclamation also declared that all laws and customs existing immediately prior to the Japanese Occupation would be respected, except that such of the existing law as the Chief Civil Affairs Officer considered practicable to administer during the period of military administration. Otherwise, all proclamations and legislative enactments of whatever kind issued by or under the authority of the Japanese Military Administration ceased to have effect. Lord Louis Mountbatten became the director of the administration in September 1945. Major-General Ralph Hone was given the post of Chief Civil Affairs Officer responsible for the Peninsula. Supreme Allied Commander is the title given to the most senior commander of some multinational organisations. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (June 25, 1900 – August 27, 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ...

During the same time, Singapore became the headquarters of the British Governor General in Southeast Asia.

On April 1 1946, the BMA was dissolved and was replaced with a confederation named Malayan Union. Singapore however was separated from the confederation by the British and made a crown colony by its own right. The Malayan Union was formed on April 1, 1946 by the British. ... A United Kingdom overseas territory (formerly known as a dependent territory or earlier as a crown colony) is a territory that is under the sovereignty and formal control of the United Kingdom but is not part of the United Kingdom proper (Great Britain and Northern Ireland). ...

Administration

For the purpose of streamlining the administration, postwar Malaya was divided into 9 regions with Perlis-Kedah, Negeri Sembilan-Melaka, and the other states as regions in their own right. The regions were controlled by a Senior Civil Affairs Officer (ranked either Colonel or Lieutenant-Colonel). Earlier, the planning for civil affairs in the Malayan Peninsula was done by the Deputy Chief Civil Affairs Officer, Brigadier H. C. Willan. The Federal Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur hosted the Civil Affairs Headquarters. In October 1945 this office was merged with the office of the Chief Civil Affairs Officer. Map of Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia (or Semenanjung Malaysia in the Malay language) is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with Thailand in the north. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Given the military nature of the administration, the official power of some of the pre-war civilian governments' entities were suspended, including the rights of the Malay rulers. Civil Affairs Officers also acted in the capacity of District Officers. Colonel J. G. Adams was selected as the President of the Superior Court in 1945.

See also

• Japanese occupation of Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak