On 14th January 1942, having regained fitness with all the route marches, training exercises and sport after the long sea trip from England, they departed Ahmadnagar and rejoined their ship at Bombay the next day. During the Malaya Emergency, the British Army witnessed the rebirth of a very specialized unit, the SAS. Thisallowed the British to take the offensive against the MNLA in jungle operations that usually called for stealth and a high degree of patience. It saw British and Commonwealth forces defeat a communist revolt in Malaya. South Africa (A14/14-16) Egypt and the Sudan (B11/1-2), An Accredited Museum | Registered Charity No. Pte AJ Coote: reminiscences of service in Malaya 1951-1953 (Y1/436) Rank. THE SUFFOLKS IN MALAYA Kindle Edition - amazon.com The division was commanded by Major-General Bernard Montgomery. 3 and 4 Sections, D Company, 1st Battalion, 1893 (Y1/35h) Pte C Hitchcock: photographs (Karlsruhe) and talk on POW experience (Y1/443), Lists of Other Ranks POWs, 1941 (W/43) Show more. [7], The regiment embarked for the West Indies in 1793[9] and took part in the capture of Martinique, Saint Lucia and Guadeloupe in 1794. Newly arrived troops had to be taught how to live and fight in the tropical forests. The Malayan Police and Special Branch were given the task of gathering information. [21], The spirit of independence and self-reliance exhibited by officers and non-commissioned officers led to the 2nd Battalion taking first place in the Quetta Division of the British Army of India, from a military effectiveness point of view, in a six-day test. In early 1942, both the 4th and 5th battalions fought briefly in the defence of Singapore against the Japanese, with the 18th Division, before British Commonwealth forces on that island surrendered on 15 February 1942 under the orders of Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival. After the end of the fighting in North Africa the regiment remained there until April 1944 when, with the rest of the brigade, it landed at Naples, Italy, destined for service in the Italian campaign, where they fought in Operation Diadem, where the Allies finally broke out of the Gustav Line. 2015 Archive - The Friends Of The Suffolk Regiment But of all the absurdities and blunders associated with the Fall of Singapore was the fact that Doug Harvey remembers that he and many others arriving at the docks were issued with a rifle minus any bolt or ammunition. south staffordshire medals for sale All ranks, 2nd Battalion, July 1864 (W/2) He was commissioned into the Territorial Force in 1915 and served in WWI in 5th Bn (TF), The Suffolk Regiment, throughout the Palestine Campaign. Malaya 1948-1960 - Emergency!! In late 1941 the 18th Division, the 4th and 5th Suffolks included, were originally to be sent to Egypt but instead were sent to Singapore to help strengthen the garrison there after Japan entered the war in December 1941. The Indian Army contingent was mainly organised as III Corps with their HQ based in Kuala Lumpur. Malaya's original military garrison consisted of six Gurkha, three British and two Malay battalions. Bernard Matthew Ward CB, 19391947: Col Walter Norris Nicholson CMG DSO, 19571959: Brig Richard Hobson Maxwell CB, This page was last edited on 27 March 2023, at 00:21. Supporting units of the 54th Infantry Brigade occupied other troopships, the whole forming a convoy soon to leave for what was to prove ultimately, a great misadventure. The Centre is part of a particularly dynamic ecosystem, within the second French . With his piece of round teak and array of tools he began to secretly carve his piece of wood into the insignia of his regiment -The 5th Suffolks. Lieut HM Brown, 4th Battalion: France 1914-1917 (Y1/42b) Postcards home, 1915-1918 (Y1/254) Colonel Godfrey's grandfather, Arthur Hayward Godfrey served as an officer in both world wars. Despite British attempts to cut off the link between the guerrillas and the Chinese community, fighting continued. The 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment had just returned from fighting in Mayala and are seen here . E Company, Reserve Battalion, 1852 (A16/3) 4th Anti-Tank Regiment (Equipped 12 2-Pdr / 24 75mm) Lt. Col. 2/10th Field Company - Major K.P.H Lawrence, 2/6th Field Park Company - Capt. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Boys' Training, Director Brigade of Gurkhas Brigadiers British Army of the Rhine Guiana Honduras a British West Indies Regiment .. . When Templer finally left his post in October 1954 most of Malaya was secure. 8th Battalion: partial roll (surnames A-F) (1914-1918) (K3/2) Pte D Chilvers: reminiscences of service in Cyprus (1958-1959) (Y1/781). POW magazines, c1900, c1901 (Y1/35(i),(j)), Lists of NCOs and men, 1916 (W/24) The 5th Suffolks now took up a position in the North East of the island where they were to suffer the first casualties caused by Japanese mortars which were operating from Southern Malaya. School Essentials British battalions normally spent three years in Malaya. Ungathered Moss by Brig. Officers careers can be traced through successive issues of the Army List (A11). The Queue (magazine of Mainz officers camp), 1918 (Y1/20) Postcards from Doberitz, 1916 (Y1/231g) Watch as the Suffolk Regiment are welcomed back to Ipswich on their return from Malaya in 1953 . Pte KV Perryman: reminiscences of National Service, (1954) (Y1/452) A leading strategist for the PUP, he died in July 2006. Recipients of the Belgian Croix de Guerre 1946 (A8/3), Other lists of names (see also PRISONERS OF WAR), Monthly returns of officers, and changes in rank and file, 1798-1810 (A16/5) Officers, WOs and NCOs, 1st Battalion, September 1890 (W/2) In this action the 2nd Battalion undertook a fierce rear-guard defence out-manned and out-gunned by superior numbers of enemy. Collinge, Signals Battalion, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces - Lt. Col. Stanley P. Moreton, 11th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery Lt. Col. M.L. Casualties and other lists, all ranks, 5th Battalion, 1915-1918 (H2/1) View this object A jungle patrol in Malaya, 1957 National Liberation War The MNLA and its supporters called the campaign the Anti-British National Liberation War. DOCX British Servicemen who didn't return from the Far East - Malaya Battalion. Soldiers of the 12th Foot involved at the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat, 1854 (B13/1) After allocation of deck and bunk hammock spaces, they set sail the next day together with two other similar troopships, the 'Mount Vernon' and the 'West Point', both former American luxury liners of similar tonnage to the 'Wakefield' and carrying the 53rd Infantry Brigade. But they had come to fight and fight they did. Pte FC Lambert, 4th Battalion: France 1918 (Y1/583) Border Regiment (T.A.) Free shipping for many products! All ranks, 1st Battalion, 21 November 1907 (W/19), Men who had served in the Great War and re-enlisted are included in the first three volumes of Army Book 358 (A16/52/1-3) George Forty (1998), "British Army Handbook 19391945", Stoud: Sutton Publishing, pp. Major FA Godfrey was a young Second Lieutenant when he was awarded the Military Cross in Malaya in 1951. Honours and awards, 8th Battalion, 1915-1918 (K1/1) However, spouts of water could clearly be seen as the bombs missed the ships behind the Wakefield and fell into the sea. At that moment of disembarking they were under heavy attack from Japanese aircraft, and with the realisation that the R.A.F. The convoy was escorted by American warships, including an aircraft carrier 'The Saratoga'. To find out more about how we collect, store and use your personal information, read our Privacy Policy. The roads having been completed, the next step was to build a walkway from the foot of the hill on the other side of the reservoir up to the site of the proposed shrine at the summit. After leaving Halifax they sailed south along the Eastern coast of America arriving at Port of Spain, Trinidad on 17th November for the purpose of refuelling and stock replenishment which was carried out in the harbour without docking and no shore leave. Pte GJ Steele, 5th Battalion: Japanese POW 1941-1943 (Y1/729) More than 500 soldiers and 1,300 police had been killed during the conflict. Casualties at Rensburg, South Africa, 1st Battalion, January 1900 (W/13) Thought the presentation & interpretation made the subject accessible". RM2J43J70 - Malay R.A.F. [1] It consisted mainly of small garrison forces in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Taiping, Seremban and Singapore . It is a pleasure for me to write the introduction in this, the 2021-2022 edition of the Old Ipswichian Journal. Napier, 1st Independent Company Major Sheppard Percy Fearon, 43rd Field Park Company, (King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners), 2/3rd Australian Motor Company - Capt. Singapore and Malaya 1946-1950 By Adam Williams Story supplied by Peter Mersh (M1768) My father joined the Royal Air Force (at the third attempt) aged 34 in February 1941 and was commissioned into the RAF Regiment in May 1942. Norfolk Aged 64 6th Royal Norfolk Regiment Taken POW Singapore Liberated Thailand Husband of Ruby Alcock Address given as: 385 Fosse Road South Leicester But probably from Sheringham Alfred. [17] Under the reforms the regiment became the Suffolk Regiment on 1 July 1881. The guerrillas were frequently arrested or killed as they approached them in search of food. [15], The 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment was a war-formed unit raised in June 1940, shortly after Dunkirk, and, on 10 October, was assigned to the 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) alongside other hostilities-only battalions. The guerrillas had the benefit of local knowledge, while the British Army was hampered by a lack of good intelligence. Maj KH Leese: reminiscences of Razmak (1939-1940) (Y1/529) Sky reverb. Late that evening the convoy, including an escort of British destroyers, sailed from Liverpool and headed out into the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean. [16], The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Gibraltar Barracks in Bury St Edmunds from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. (Ponggol Point Beach was later to be the burial ground for hundreds of Chinese Singapore residents, rounded up by the Japs after Singapore fell, murdered and buried on this beach. The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers disembark at Singapore at the start of the Malayan insurgency, 1948. Maj CA Boycott, 1st Battalion: account of pre-D Day training and Normandy landing (Y1/389) Asia Curfews and movement restrictions were also imposed. By the end of the war the 1st Battalion had lost 215 men killed in action. Capt J Burton, 7th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regt: Gallipoli, Suez 1916 (Y1/48b) As a result, bed frames were fashioned from timber; sacking or other material which could be found being utilised as mattresses or blankets. Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, the Suffolk Regiment (possibly C Company) cross a stream in the middle of a jungle swamp whilst on a patrol during the Malayan Emergency. Although many Chinese lived in the cities, others - known as 'squatters' - lived at the fringes of the jungle and could aid the guerrillas. How different things would have been had they and other similar units received the logistic support which they expected and which they should surely have received.
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