Book Review of
The Malayan Emergency
The Crucial Years: 1949-51
Rare Photos From Wartime Archives
Author: Mark Forsdike
Pen & Sword Books
Images of War Series
ISBN: 9781399082242
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $34.95
Images of War Series
ISBN: 9781399082242
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $34.95
HISTORY:
From 1948 through the 1950’s British and Commonwealth forces fought a ruthless communist insurgency on the Malay peninsula. Thanks to sound generalship and the dedication and resilience of the officers and men, the security forces eventually broke the terrorists’ resolve.
1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment was just one of many British units involved in the successful campaign, known as the Malayan Emergency. Their tour between 1949-and 1953 coincided with the most crucial years when the future of the country and, arguably, the South East Asia region lay in the balance.
As the book describes in words and superb contemporary images, many from private albums, how the Battalion, the majority of whom were National Servicemen, operated under the most demanding jungle and climate conditions, earning itself an enviable reputation. The Battalion’s experiences are well recorded here and typify those of many thousands of servicemen whose efforts secured a unique victory.
Mark Forsdike has strong links with the Suffolk Regiment. His grandfather served with the 4th Battalion in WWII, spending three and a half years as a Japanese prisoner of war. Mark is proud to be an honorary member of the Old Comrades Association, Standard Bearer of the Ipswich Branch, a volunteer at the Regimental Museum and administer of the Friends of the Suffolk Regiment.
He is the author of Fighting Through to Hitler’s Germany – Personal Accounts of the Men of 1 Suffolk, 1944-1945. An engineer by profession, he lives in Ipswich with his wife and two children.
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books is located in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 260 pages (8 pages are blank) in 7 ¼”x 9 ½” page format and is 1” thick.
The front and back covers show 8 black and white photos of troops involved in this conflict.
The book contains 284 black and white photos, 4 maps, 12 newspaper headlines, armor, trucks, weapons, officers and men, civilians, a bridge, huts and houses, a cartoon, Malayan Breweries beer bottle labels, a church altar, a radio operator, unit signs, troops with a captured Communist flag and cemeteries.
There is whopping 56 pages of nothing else but text.
This is a neat book about the Malayan Emergency. It will be more of interest to military historians than to modelers however.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
From 1948 through the 1950’s British and Commonwealth forces fought a ruthless communist insurgency on the Malay peninsula. Thanks to sound generalship and the dedication and resilience of the officers and men, the security forces eventually broke the terrorists’ resolve.
1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment was just one of many British units involved in the successful campaign, known as the Malayan Emergency. Their tour between 1949-and 1953 coincided with the most crucial years when the future of the country and, arguably, the South East Asia region lay in the balance.
As the book describes in words and superb contemporary images, many from private albums, how the Battalion, the majority of whom were National Servicemen, operated under the most demanding jungle and climate conditions, earning itself an enviable reputation. The Battalion’s experiences are well recorded here and typify those of many thousands of servicemen whose efforts secured a unique victory.
Mark Forsdike has strong links with the Suffolk Regiment. His grandfather served with the 4th Battalion in WWII, spending three and a half years as a Japanese prisoner of war. Mark is proud to be an honorary member of the Old Comrades Association, Standard Bearer of the Ipswich Branch, a volunteer at the Regimental Museum and administer of the Friends of the Suffolk Regiment.
He is the author of Fighting Through to Hitler’s Germany – Personal Accounts of the Men of 1 Suffolk, 1944-1945. An engineer by profession, he lives in Ipswich with his wife and two children.
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books is located in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 260 pages (8 pages are blank) in 7 ¼”x 9 ½” page format and is 1” thick.
The front and back covers show 8 black and white photos of troops involved in this conflict.
The book contains 284 black and white photos, 4 maps, 12 newspaper headlines, armor, trucks, weapons, officers and men, civilians, a bridge, huts and houses, a cartoon, Malayan Breweries beer bottle labels, a church altar, a radio operator, unit signs, troops with a captured Communist flag and cemeteries.
There is whopping 56 pages of nothing else but text.
This is a neat book about the Malayan Emergency. It will be more of interest to military historians than to modelers however.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Or by mailing in a post card inserted into the book, addressed to Casemate, to get more Pen & Sword book info.
Recommended.