Before the outbreak of
World War II, various units of the British Army were responsible for the maintenance and repairs of vehicles and equipment of the British Army. The
Ordnance Corps took care of weaponry and Logistics, the
Royal Engineers maintained engineering plants and machinery,
Royal Corps of Signals was responsible for repairs of signals and communications equipment and the
Royal Army Service Corps maintained other motor transport of the British Army. Before 1939, there were two Army Maintenance Workshops in
Malaya, one was located at
Belakang Mati and the other was located at
Changi. Both maintained army equipments and instruments, such as
compasses,
cameras and such other equipments. The workshops were moved to Alexandra Road,
Singapore and the activity of the workshop was enhanced to include repairs on heavier equipment. In September 1939, another workshop was established in
Pulau Pinang, assisted by Indian troopers of the Mobile Workshop
Indian Army. A bigger workshop was also established in
Kuala Lumpur. By the time of the return of
British Forces to Malaya after World War II, the British Army had already formed the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (formed in October 1942). When
India gained independence in 1947, Indian Army units were withdrawn from Malaya and returned to India. With the outbreak of the
Malayan Emergency in 1948, British Forces were stretched. Local
Malays were recruited into the British Army to beef up their strength. The Indian Army's return gave the chance for
Malayans to be recruited and trained in REME trades at the REME training Centre at Ayer Rajah, Singapore. They were then assigned as Malayan Other Ranks at the Malayan Workshop in
Ipoh,
Kluang and
Seremban. In April 1957, the
Federation Army Service Corps was formed with the pooling of resources from Medical, Supply, Transport,
Logistics and EME units in Malaya. The EME branch of the Federation Army Service Corps undertook maintenance and mechanical and electrical repairs of equipment used by the
Federation Army. The EME branch was under the command of the REME
Staff Officer I, Lt Kol TFM Moore who was on secondment to the
Federation Army. The Malayan Other Ranks were transferred to the Federation Army Service Corps. 6 workshops and 2 Light Aid Detachments was formed. On 27 May 1958, following the formation of the
Malayan Navy and
Malayan Air Force, the Services, Ordnance and EME branches of the
Federation Army Service Corps were again reorganised and had its name changed to the Armed Forces Maintenance Corps (AFMC). In 1965, the Armed Forces Maintenance Corps (AFMC) was disbanded and broken up into three separate services. The EME branch was used as the basis for the formation of the
Malaysian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corps, with Lt. Col. J.R. Dickinson as the first Director. Kor Jurutera Letrik dan Jentera (Electrical And Mechanical Engineers Corps) was officially formed on 9 April 1965. In 1968, Lt. Kol Idrus bin Abdul Rahman was made the first Malaysian director of Kor Jurutera Letrik dan Jentera (previous Directors had been British Army officers on secondment to the Malaysian Army. On 7 June 1997, the Corps was bestowed the “Royal” title and hence called Kor Jurutera Letrik Dan Jentera DiRaja (KJLJ). ==Organisation and units==