Post WW2 Malaya Campaign Book: Jungle Green By Arthur Campbell

For sale is a Post WW2 Malaya Campaign Book Titled: Jungle Green By Arthur Campbell

  The preface stated:   “PREFACE   THIS book concerns the campaign in Malaya against the Communist terrorists. I was privileged to serve in this campaign for a considerable period with one of Britain's famous county regiments, The Suffolk Regiment, which built up for itself during three and a half years in Malaya, a reputation for skill and daring which was second to none and which, to this has not been surpassed. For three years the Regiment was engaged in a long and arduous struggle with a notorious terror- ist leader Liew Kon Kim, nicknamed 'The Bearded Wonder' because of the luxuriant growth on his face, a most unusual feature in a Chinaman. This man commanded the 4th Independent Company of the Communist-styled 'Malayan Races' Liberation Army'.   South Selangor, a fertile area to the south of Malaya's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, was his operational area. His company hecame known to us as the 'Kajang Gang' because of its leader's close affinity with the town of Kajang, and because we en- countered him most frequently in that district. The Regiment brought this struggle to a victorious conclusion in June 1952, when Liew Kon Kim was killed in the South Selangor swamps by a young National Service subaltern, who conducted this final engagement with the utmost gallantry and, during the last triumphant moments, almost single-handed. By then the rest of the 4th Independent Company had been virtually wiped out.   The story of this passage of arms provides the theme for this book, but only the theme. Against its background I have set out to depict the kind of life which our young soldiers, most of them conscripted into the British Army for their period of National Service, are leading in Malaya today, and the hardships and dangers which they are facing with a courage and devotion far beyond the normal call of duty, in the effort to remove from that rich and beautiful country the reign of terror which has been imposed on it, from the protection of its interminable jungles, by a number of ruthless and amoral, Communist inspired, guerrilla fighters.   These young soldiers are led by a handful of experienced   officers and N.C.Os. for most of whom the Army is a career, and Lefficient organisation generally known in Malaya as to whom this is just another campaign'. They are supported b of the the incomparable tradition and British Army. The terrorists, bandits', are supported by an genation which has less t comrades abroad. tion but is no less efficient, the loca Communist party; they are sustained, also, by their To enable me to present the complete picture, Iduced into the main story many incidents which occurred in have come to my knowledge from to myself, different contexts, but which have rime to time. A number of these I have attributed be said to be typical of what is happening in two hand-to-hand contests which I describe in the the everyday lives of our young soldiers in Malaya, except the the rule, in thi These are the exception, rather than chapters. lives and existence in the jungle are realistic. their complete type of warfare. The incidents relating to the bandits private because they are accuracy cannot be guaranteed, necessarily based on second-hand information and incomplete, though   efficient, intelligence. not For reasons which will be obvious to the reader, I have used the names of real persons, either living or dead. Even so, are because my story is based on personal experiences which of my readers will, no doubt, comparatively recent, certain of identifv themselves with the characters and incidents which ibed. I can assure them that any such affinity i have purely coincidental.   I have referred to certain aspects of the situation in Malo as I knew it, e.g. the weaknesses in the organisation of the police and the unsettled conditions of the squatters, These aspects are not necessarily the same today. Since the time of which I write, the situation in Malaya, under the energetic and wise direction of General Templer, has improved out of all knowledge. But even with the impact of his high administrative and military ability, it is my personal opinion that there can be no quick solution to our problems there, for they will not end with the elimination of the militant guerillas. Meanwhile our young soldiers continue to fight in that critical campaign.   Throughout this book I have used the expression 'the men' This is a convenient collective noun. in common use in the Service, for describing the bravest. most patient and most stoical of men, the British Soldier. He is the hero of this book.   March, 1953   A.F.C.”   This is in good condition and has its original dust cover.    This will be sent via Royal Mail 1st class signed for and dispatched within two working days.