.jpg)
 |
'Royal Service' Malaya G.S.M. Awarded to PTE G.Harwell, Coldstream Guards. M 145. - M 145 Malaya - now 'Malaysia' - was a British colony until February 1942, when it surrendered to the invading Japanese. Three years of cruel occupation followed. Britain armed and supported a Communist resistance movement known as the Malay Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), in the hope of diverting Japanese attention from Burma. The predominantly Chinese MPAJA strove for a Communist state in Malaya, turning on the British as soon as the war was over. Britain quickly re-established control and disbanded the MPAJA, but its members remained in the jungle with their weapons and equipment. Over the ensuing two years, Malayan Communists attacked rubber plantations and terrorised the Malayan population. A State of Emergency was declared in June 1948, and Britain sent a task force which included three Guards' battalions. Mitchell's battalion arrived at Singapore in early October and spent three weeks training in the jungle, before moving upcountry to Tapah. The Coldstream (The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonial occasions. The Regiment has consistently provided formations on deployments around the world and has fought in the majority of the major conflicts in which the British Army has been engaged) were to spend the next two years there, encamped mostly in bamboo and atap huts. Medal and Ribbon in very good order. M 145. £195.00
|
 |