BOOKS
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Hunting terrorists in the jungle of Malaya as a National Serviceman in the 1950s In 1952 as a 21 year old university graduate I was called up for two years National Service. After basic training I went to Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School. Commissioned into a County Infantry Regiment early in 1953, I was immediately seconded to the Malaya Regiment as my English regiment supposedly had no vacancies for subalterns. After eight weeks on the troopship Empire Halladale I disembarked at Singapore with two friends. We were the first three National Service Officers to join the Malaya Regiment, and after a month's acclimatisation at their depot at Port Dickson I was posted to the 6th Battalion which was then based in the state of Pahang in central Malaya which had more communist terrorists in its jungles and mountains than any other Malayan state. As I had received virtually no training in jungle warfare, and spoke only a few words of Malay, I applied to go on courses to remedy these deficiencies, but my applications were rejected because I had only fifteen months left to serve before demobilisation, and I was told that I should 'pick up the skills as I went along'. On my first jungle operation with my platoon of forty Malay soldiers (only two of whom spoke English) as part of the battalion's ambush party trying to catch Chin Peng the communist leader and his bodyguard of fifty terrorists, but fortunately for me he never turned up. When on the march I gave my first order in Malay to my leading scout to turn left he turned right which taught me I had the Malay words for left and right reversed in my mind. On my second operation with my company we shot a terrorist, found a huge food dump in a hut built twenty feet up a tree, and a deserted camp for forty terrorists. All these were destroyed. The food dump was particularly interesting because of the number of well known British items it contained - Quaker Oats, Gibbs toothpaste, Bovril, Marmite and Parker pens. The remainder of my fifteen months with B Company was mostly spent on twenty operations searching the jungle and mountains. I did not agree with the Army's policy of making its troops spend millions of man hours searching difficult terrain without any reliable information concerning terrorists whereabouts; in my opinion setting up three ambushes per platoon would have doubled the number of kills at half the effort, but my views were, of course, ignored. My parents had insisted that I should write home regularly to explain what I was doing, and when going through some family papers in 2003 I found the sixty eight letters I had sent them. On re-reading them fifty years after they had been written I was surprised at the amount of information about the Emergency they contained, and was considering the best way of saving this for posterity when the communist leader Chin Peng published his own memoirs. I then decided to write a book incorporating the information in my letters home and Chin Peng's view about the Emergency as unlike most books about wars this would incorporate both sides' point of view. My book, entitled HUNTING TERRORISTS IN THE JUNGLE by John Chynoweth, was published in 2005, and can be bought for £14.99 from:
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As the Union Jack finally descended on former colonies all over the world after the Second World War, communist, nationalist and religious guerrilla forces saw their chance. The British Empire was leaving - and creating a dangerous power vacuum in its place. The war to succeed the British had begun. Empire Warriors focuses on four bloody wars fought at the end of Empire - Kenya, Malaya, Aden and Palestine. It features original archive and news footage together with dramatic reconstructions of key events, while former soldiers, terrorists, politicians and intelligence specialists offer vivid, first hand accounts of the last wars of Empire. The DVD also includes extended interviews with key participants that were not broadcast on television. 2 DVD's Price £12.99 from http://www.ddhe.co.uk/p2_21889_Empire%20Warriors.htm |
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Smashing Terrorism in the Malayan
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‘DROP ZONE BORNEO’ LAUNCHED Over two dozen veterans of the Borneo Campaign, including ten aircrew and seven groundcrew of 215 Argosy Squadron, together with Air Chief Marshall, Sir Glenn Torpy, CAS, gathered at the RAF Club in London on 31st May. They were there to launch ‘Drop Zone Borneo’, a first-hand and highly entertaining account by Roger Annett of two-and-a-half years’ excitement in the Far East from 1963 to 1965. It is the story of the so-called “Confrontation” with Indonesia and the missions flown by the Argosy in support of combat troops on the ground – British SAS and infantry regiments, Gurkhas and other allies – in their struggles and successes along the 1,000-mile jungle border. The action focuses on three years of air-drops over mountainous jungle terrain, usually in appalling weather and under constant threat from Indonesian counter-measures. The book is based on the experiences of the author – a young, first-tour co-pilot on 215 Squadron, stationed in Singapore and detached to Borneo. The narrative extends to the exploits of the other tactical transport squadrons, and to the active-service and social rites of passage of young aircrew in the 1960s Far East Air Force. Research was carried out among campaign veterans and the extensive RAF archives, where previously unknown details were unearthed of the cloak-and-dagger missions that were flown, over the frontier. At the launch, the Officer Commanding 215 Squadron during Confrontation, Tony Talbot-Williams, reminded the gathering that the Borneo Campaign was described by Denis Healey, UK Secretary for Defence at the time, as “…the most successful use of armed force in the twentieth century”. The contrast with the outcome of the USA’s struggle in Vietnam could not have been greater. The author hopes that Drop Zone Borneo fills a gap in the scant literature on tactical air transports and raises the profile of the Argosy in particular. Introductions have kindly been contributed by Lord Healey and Tony Talbot-Williams. The book is published in hardback with 160 pages and 36 illustrations by Pen & Sword Books (ISBN: 1-84415-396-7) at £19.99 plus £2.50p/p. Orders can be placed on 01226 734555 or at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk. Author’s proceeds are pledged to Royal Air Force charities.
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JUNGLE BASHERS
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BRITISH INFANTRY BATTALION IN THE MALAYAN EMERGENCY 1951-1954 Robert Bonner.
‘For those wishing to explore the Malayan Emergency from the viewpoint
of the infantryman at the sharp end, this work is an essential tool. It
is highly recommended for the casual reader, veteran, student and any
professional historian researching the Malayan Emergency.’ (Journal of
the Army Historical Society) This
is the detailed and accurate illustrated history of 1st Bn The
Manchester Regiment fighting in the jungle and rubber estates of Malaya
against a Communist enemy. The Malayan Emergency was a classic campaign
in counter-insurgency operation but one that has received little
publicity when compared to Korea, Kenya and other conflicts of the
second half of the twentieth century. This
is an excellent account of what is best described as the Manchester
Regimental family at war. Many of the soldiers were carrying out their
compulsory National Service and this book describes the hardships and
dangers, which they faced with courage and devotion to duty. Not only
did they face the possibility of confronting a determined enemy within
forty-eight hours of arriving in theatre, they also confronted the
ailments, diseases and strange animal life, which were inevitable in the
Far East. It is also a fully descriptive account of highly successful
Police/Military co-operation. It is a significant recognition and
tribute to the penetration by the Police Special Branch of Communist
affairs in Malaya at that time, to say nothing of the operational
intelligence, which they gathered and passed to the army.
After a detailed Foreword by the author and an excellent Preface by
Crispin Worthington, himself a National Service officer with the
battalion; the book contains detailed descriptions of endless days of
patrolling and ambushing relieved by sudden and usually brief clashes
with the enemy. Chapter One, an introduction to the jungle, sets the
scene for what must have been a very trying experience for all young
soldiers, as yet unacquainted with close-quarter battle in an
unforgiving climate.
The
invaluable notes, which accompany each chapter, provide additional
information on those who served within the battalion at this time, plus
previous and later attachments. 111 previously unpublished photographs
and illustrations illustrate the soldier’s life in and out of the
jungle. Accompanied by four interesting Appendices and a
well-constructed and useful index.
Hardback A4, 152 pages £25.00 UK, p&p £3.50 ISBN 1-873907-125 http://www.tameside.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/publications/momforsale.htm
Museum of The Manchester Regiment
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BABA NONNIE GOES TO WAR:
The Allied Special Forces Association
Office 11, Cattle Market
Hereford - UK
Tel. 01432-357666
www.alliedspecialforces.org
postroom@alliedspecialforces.org
This book is available from our office address
above.
Price £5.00p. collected.
Price £5.80p. including post & packing in the UK.
Price £6.80p. including post & packing in the European Community.
Price £7.50p. including post & packing to America, Canada, Australia &
New Zealand.
Please make all cheques payable to The Allied Special Forces Memorial Fund in
Sterling Pounds only.
IF YOU ARE A BRANCH OF THE ASSOCIATION PLEASE CONTACT ME
AND I WILL SEND YOU INFORMATION ON DISCOUNT FOR BULK PURCHASE TO.
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A Tale of Argylls and Marines
Moon over Malaya is the true story of two of the most famous regiments in Britain, the 2nd Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and their compatriots, the Royal Marines, who fought side by side against the Japanese invaders.
The two regiments made their last stand in February 1942 in Singapore. The experiences are told for the first time using their own words., and with such honesty that a vivid picture of a proud battalion emerges.
There is a inevitable humour, but it is a humour against adversity and the certain knowledge that the men were just a small part of a greater tragedy.
I
have had a number of calls asking why Chin Peng's book, "My Side of
History" has been taken off this page. We felt that as it was very controversial,
and we did not want to upset the Malaysian Government it would be removed.
This is an article that appeared in the newspaper which explains why.
For those that are still interested you can still order the book on the
following website. www.mediamasters.com.sg
The Malayan Police Force in the Emergency 1948
By R Thambipillay
Order form below, just click on the form and it will open up in another window for you to print off
Malayan Tales of the Yorkshire Light Infantry
Author John Scurr Publisher The Book Guild Ltd ISBN 1-85821-475-0
In thirty seven momentous months between 1948 and 1951.the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry fought the Communist Forces in North Malaya. The C.T.s gave no quarter. The land itself was similarly alien and neutral-but indeed this was a great Battalion and Regiment. John Scurr has gathered together 96 stories of incidents and emotions and summing up the feelings of many who served at that time including my own: was that we were mighty glad to have survived and return home from this unforgettable conflict and not forgetting the many that did not return The Tales are from real soldiers (Regular & National Servicemen) and all who served at that time will have experienced similar incidents both in and out of the jungle
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Ulu Tiram:
Cameo of Life in Malaya at the Time of "The Emergency" A book based on personal experience |
Copyright © 2003 The N.M.B.V.A. All rights Reserved
