Malayan military memoir “The Jungle is Neutral” and its resonance with my own experience in the Malayan jungle as a conscript.
You're in the archive
Archive for "News"
Find more articles about "News" here.
Sign up for Bram's free newsletter and receive Chapter 3 about "Operation Badack," the battalion's first operation.
Archive for "News"
Malayan National Service memoir: What is ‘Misadventures with Coco-Oscar’ about?
Malayan National Service memoir: How did a teenager end up in the midst of the Malayan emergency? About ‘Misadventures with Coco-Oscar.’
About the book
A memoir of dysfunction and irreverence
Based on his 1959 ‘Demob Diary’ and the 62 letters he wrote home over 16 months, Misadventures with Coco-Oscar portrays life in a dysfunctional infantry battalion on active service seen through the irreverent eyes of a reluctant conscript.
The battalion’s commanding officer, ‘Coco-Oscar’, was a decorated veteran of World War II when his youthful bravery outshone his inherent ineptitude. The ‘Malayan Emergency’ was his first command of a battalion on active service. All too often Coco-Oscar found himself having to account for a succession of cock-ups and cover-ups.
This is the wry and comedic account of how a bolshie conscript survived two years of mindless military discipline under the capricious command of Coco-Oscar.
