Britain's colonial struggles - in pictures

Members of the Burmese special police arrest three suspects in their search for Communists in a rural area of Malaya, 1949 Photograph: Bert Hardy/Getty Images

An armed British sergeant on patrol in the Malayan jungle in 1952. The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army, part of the Malayan Communist party, from 1948 to 1960 Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

British troops taking Communists prisoner in Malaya during the Emergency, 9 September 1952. The director of intelligence for Malaya issued regular reports detailing the numbers of 'eliminated terrorists'
Photograph: Jack Birns/Time & Life/Getty

Police stand over bodies of slain Communists, while wives try to identify them, during the Malayan Emergency
Photograph: Jack Birns/Time & Life/Getty

British troops of the Special Air Service, having been dropped off in the jungle in search of 'bandits' during the Malayan Emergency, 1953. British officials interpreted almost all anti-colonial activity as evidence of a planned Communist takeover Photograph: Popperfoto.com

A flag taken from the Red guerrilla troops is exhibited by three British soldiers who captured it in a fierce action during which a prominent Communist leader was killed, 1955
Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Armed soldiers stand guard in Sarawak in 1965 as a group of Chinese villagers take a communal bath. The authorities in Malaya moved more than 8,000 Chinese into the camps to protect the area from Indonesian raiders and to eliminate Communist influence
Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

A policeman stands guard in Kenya over tribesmen suspected of committing Mau Mau crimes, 1954. Newly released colonial papers show ministers in London were aware of the torture and murder of Mau Mau insurgents
Photograph: Popperfoto.com

Prisoners sitting with hands on top of their heads at an extensive prison camp for British-captured Mau Mau
Photograph: Terrence Spencer/Time & Life/Getty

Members of the Devon Regiment – helping police search homes at Karoibangi to try to find Mau Mau - round up local people for interrogation, 1964
Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

Mau Mau suspects being led away for questioning by police in a raid in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, 1952. The Mau Mau uprising against colonial rule lasted from 1952 to 1960
Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

Field Marshal Mwariama inspects his soliders at a Mau Mau hideout in Meruland, 1963. A general amnesty for Mau Mau activists was announced the same year
Photograph: Getty Images

The British army in Aden, 8 March 1967. The Aden emergency escalated in 1967 and hastened the end of British rule in the territory which had begun in 1839 Photograph: Terry Fincher/Getty Images

British troops guard Aden docks, 4 April 1967 Photograph: Jim Gray/Getty Images

Soldiers of the Northumberland Fusiliers force Arab demonstrators against a wall during nationalist terrorist attacks aiming to expel British forces from South Arabia. Aden became the capital of the People's Republic of Southern Yemen in 1967 Photograph: Terry Fincher/Getty Images

An Aden civilian crouches in terror as British soldiers threaten him during Arabian demonstrations in Crater Photograph: Express Newspapers/Getty Images

A Northumberland Fusilier roughly tackles an Arab demonstrator during a disturbance in the Crater district of Aden Photograph: Terry Fincher/Getty Images

British troops capture a demonstrator in Aden during rioting over talks on the future of the South Arabian Federation Photograph: Jim Gray/Getty Images