GEORGE TOWN, Dec. 21 -- On October 5, 1951, former British High Commissioner of Malaya Sir Henry Gurney was travelling with his wife and secretary, D.J Staples, to Fraser Hill in a silver Rolls Royce when his motorcade was ambushed by terrorists who shot at the car.

Gurney, fearing for the lives of his wife and secretary, who were both cowering on the floor of the car, stepped out of the vehicle to draw attention to himself and was shot dead as he was walking to the roadside.

The Rolls Royce, a 1951 model that was imported from England, was riddled with a total of 35 bullet holes.

The bullet holes were patched up, the vehicle was repaired and then went on to be used as a state car by the late Raja Tun Uda, the First Governor of Penang ...