The British Military Administration (BMA) was the interim administrator of British Malaya from August 1945, the end of World War II, to the establishment of the Malayan Union in April 1946. The BMA was under the direct command of the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, Lord Louis Mountbatten. The administration had the dual function of maintaining basic subsistence during the period of reoccupation, and also of imposing the state structure upon which post-war imperial power would rest. Background Prior to the Japanese occupation Malaya was divided into Federated and non-Federated states, and the Straits Settlements. In the 1930s Edward Gent of the British Colonial Office was in favour of bringing these separate elements closer together. With the Japanese occupation, the British began to consider how liberate Malaya and administer it. The planning for its administration was handled by the Civil Affairs, Malaya Planning Unit (CAMPU) and the Eastern Department of the Colonial Office under Gent. The first phase was to be a Military Administration to bring a return to stability followed by a Malay Union which would bring together all the states under a single government to secure Britain's possessions in Malaya. By early 1945 the liberation of Malaya was planned to commence on 9 September under the code name Operation Zipper. The first landings were to be at Port Swettenham or Port Dickson. Before this took place, on 15 August, the Japanese surrendered. This meant that the plans for a gradual re-establishment of administration over Malaya and the other territories were now obsolete and a vast area including Malaya, Singapore, Burma, Indonesia, British North Borneo, Thailand, Indo-China, Sarawak, and Hong Kong needed to be quickly re-occupied and brought under control. In the period between the Emperor's announcement and the arrival of Allied forces in Malaya sporadic fighting broke out between the Chinese and Malay communities, particularly in Perak. The MPAJA launched reprisals against collaborators in the Malay police force and the civilian population and began to forcibly raise funds. Many in the MPAJA rank and file advocated revolution. A few of the Japanese occupation troops also came under attack from civilians during this period as they withdrew from outlying areas and some defected to the MPAJA. Condition of Japanese occupied Malaya During the initial period of the Japanese occupation the Ethnic Chinese in Malaya were ill-treated by the Japanese because of their support for China in the Second