Not Malaya, Sarawak, during the time when President Sukarno decided to take over the whole of the Kalimantan and swallow up the Eastern Malaysian provinces of Sarawak and Sabah and the Sultanate of Brunei.

I believe there was one photograph, published by - you've guessed it - The Daily Mirror. It showed a Ghurka Sergeant returning from patrol with the heads of three Indonesian insurgents tied to his webbing. In no way could his action be described as an "atrocity" the insurgents were killed in combat, they were armed with assault rifles, the Ghurka sergeant was armed with a Kukri (knife).

In Borneo, the British forces enjoyed the total support of the native population (Ibans and Dyaks) who had no wish to become part of Sukarno's "greater Indonesia". The local tribesmen who acted as guides "in country" helped set up ambush positions. The Ghurkas impressed the hell out of the Ibans and Dyaks, they could go into ambush stay there for 24-48 hours and depart, on returning to the site of the ambush even the locals had great difficulty telling that there had been anybody there.

If operating closely with Ghurkas, the advice given was to look out for any who had a white thread sewn round the brim of his jungle hat. The significance of the white thread was that it marked someone out who had a personal grudge/slight/score to settle. The only way that thread could be removed was by taking a head - normally once the the situation went hot he wasn't fussed who's head it was, so you kept clear.

On another thread Wolfgang asked me, my opinion of the standard and calibre of soldiers in the British Army - it can be argued that the Ghurkas are the best light infantry soldiers in the world. The Sultan of Brunei was so impressed with them that he now uses them as his Royal Guard.