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Ferret Force
Ferret Force was a counter-insurgency unit formed by the British and Malayan authorities as part of their response to the communist insurgency during the Malayan Emergency. The unit only existed for six months, but was to help establish doctrine for British operations in the jungle. Origins During World War II, the Special Operations Executive (or SOE) formed teams composed of British operatives and Malayan guerillas to combat the Japanese. Initially, SOE operations in the Far East were under the control of a unit known as GS I(k). This designation was changed in 1944 to Force 136. Initially, resistance to the Japanese forces which conquered Malaya were organized by the Communist-formed Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army or MPAJA. The MPAJA, and the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) in general, drew its support from the ethnic Chinese population living in Malaya. With British support for guerrilla operations in the Far East beginning in earnest, they were eventually able to suppor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Walker (British Army Officer)
General Sir Walter Colyear Walker, (11 November 1912 – 12 August 2001) was a senior British Army officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Northern Europe from 1969 until his retirement in 1972. He commanded the 4/8th Gurkhas Rifles against the Japanese Army in Burma during the Second World War. He commanded the 1/6 Gurkha Rifles from 1950 to 1953 and he commanded the 99th Gurkha Infantry Brigade Group from 1957 to 1959 during the Malayan Emergency. Walker was Director of Operations in Borneo from 1962 to 1965 during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation. In retirement, he attracted some controversy by publicising his views on the political situation in Britain during the mid 1970s. Early life Walker was born on a tea plantation in British India to a military family, one of four sons. At the end of the First World War Walker and his family moved back to Britain and he was sent to Blundell's School in Devon. Even as a child Walker had a militaristic streak; in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action and covert reconnaissance. Much of the information about the SAS is highly classified, and the unit is not commented on by either the British government or the Ministry of Defence due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations. The corps currently consists of the 22 Special Air Service Regiment, the regular component, as well as the 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), which are reserve units, all under the operational command of United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). Its sister unit is the Royal Navy's Special Boat Service which specialises in maritime counter-terrorism. Both units are under the operational control of the Directo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Calvert
Brigadier James Michael Calvert, (6 March 1913 – 26 November 1998) was a British Army officer who was involved in special operations in Burma during the Second World War. He participated in both Chindit operations and was instrumental in popularizing the unorthodox ideas of Orde Wingate. He frequently led attacks from the front, a practice that earned him the nickname amongst the men under his command of "Mad Mike." Early life Calvert was born at Rohtak in India, son of a member of the Indian Civil Service. He was educated at Bradfield College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, from which was commissioned as a subaltern into the British Army's Royal Engineers as a professional soldier. Military career Calvert was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1933, and for a time was the Army's middleweight boxing champion. He spent a year reading for the Mechanical Engineering Tripos at St. John's College, Cambridge. In 1934 he returned to active service and was posted to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Ritchie
General Sir Neil Methuen Ritchie, (29 July 1897 – 11 December 1983) was a British Army officer who saw service during both the world wars. He is most notable during the Second World War for commanding the British Eighth Army in the North African campaign from November 1941 until being dismissed in June 1942. Despite this, his career did not end. Ritchie later commanded XII Corps throughout the campaign in Northwest Europe, from June 1944 until Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) in May 1945. Origins Born near the Essequibo River in British Guiana on 29 July 1897, he was the second son of a Scottish planter, Dugald MacDougall Ritchie (1861-1925), and his wife Anna Catherine Leggatt (1860-1946), daughter of an English farmer. His elder brother was Alan MacDougall Ritchie, later a brigadier in the British Army, and he had two sisters. Early life and First World War After growing up in Malaya, he went to England and was educated at Lancing College and the Royal Military College, S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chin Peng
Chin Peng (21 October 1924 – 16 September 2013), born Ong Boon Hua, was a Malayan communist politician, anti-fascist activist and long-time leader of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA). During World War II, he fought as an anti-fascist guerrilla fighter in the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army against the Japanese occupation of Malaya. A determined anti-colonialist, he led the party's guerrilla insurgency in the Malayan Emergency (19481960), fighting against British and Commonwealth forces in an attempt to establish an independent socialist state. After the MCP's defeat and subsequent Malayan independence, Chin waged a second campaign (19681989) from exile against the newly formed government of Malaysia in an attempt to replace its government with a socialist one. This second insurgency came to an end with the Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989. Chin Peng died at the age of 88, in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was cremated accordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles
The 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, (abbreviated to 10 GR), was originally a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was formed in 1890, taking its lineage from a police unit and over the course of its existence it had a number of changes in designation and composition. It took part in a number of campaigns on the Indian frontiers during the 19th and early 20th centuries, before fighting in the First World War, the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the Second World War. Following India's independence in 1947, the regiment was one of four Gurkha regiments to be transferred to the British Army. In the 1960s it was active in the Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation. It was amalgamated with the other three British Gurkha regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles in 1994. History Early history At the end of the Third Burmese War in 1887, it was decided to withdraw the regular army battalions and replace them with a freshly recruited military police for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)
The 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army on India's independence in 1947. The 4th Battalion joined the Indian Army as the 5th Battalion, 8th Gorkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), where it exists to this day. As part of the British Army, the regiment served in Malaya, Hong Kong and Brunei until 1994 when it was amalgamated with the other three British Army Gurkha infantry regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles. It is the only Gurkha regiment which did not have a khukuri on its cap badge. History Formation and early service The regiment was first raised in 1815 as The Sirmoor Battalion. This was the first Gurkha unit in the service of the East India Company to see action, during the 3rd Mahratta War in 1817. The regiment, by now named the 8th (Sirmoor) Local Battalion, gained its first battle honour at Bhurtpore in 1825. During the First Sikh War, the regiment foug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot. It saw service in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1968 it was amalgamated with the other regiments in the North Irish Brigade, the Royal Ulster Rifles, and the Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) into the Royal Irish Rangers. History 1881 – 1914 On 1 July 1881 the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot were redesignated as the 1st and 2nd Battalions, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, respectively. In 1903 the Regiment was granted a grey hackle for their fusilier raccoon-skin hats to commemorate the original grey uniforms of the Inniskilling Regiment. The regimental district comprised the City of Londonderry and the counties of Donegal, Londonde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service in World War I and World War II, along with many smaller conflicts. In 1961 the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons), which merged, in 1994, with the Gordon Highlanders to form the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons). This later joined the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to create the present Royal Regiment of Scotland. History Formation The regiment was created in 1881 through the amalgamation of the 72nd (Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the 78th (Highlanders) (Ross-shire Buffs) Regiment of Foot – which became the 1st and 2nd battalions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devonshire Regiment
The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 the regiment was amalgamated with the Dorset Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment which, in 2007, was amalgamated with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, the Royal Green Jackets and The Light Infantry to form a new large regiment, The Rifles. History Formation In June 1667 Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, was granted a commission to raise a regiment of foot, The Marquess of Worcester's Regiment of Foot. The regiment remained in existence for only a few months and was disbanded in the same year. It was re-raised in January 1673 and again disbanded in 1674. In 1682, Henry Somerset was created Duke of Beaufort, and in 1685 he was again commissioned to raise a regiment, The Duke of Beaufort's Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iban People
The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are a branch of the Dayak peoples on the island of Borneo in South East Asia. Dayak is a title given by the westerners to the local people of Borneo island. It is believed that the term "Iban" was originally an exonym used by the Kayans, who – when they initially came into contact with them – referred to the Sea Dayaks in the upper Rajang river region as the "Hivan". Ibans were renowned for practicing headhunting and territorial migration, and had a fearsome reputation as a strong and successfully warring tribe. Since the arrival for Europeans and the subsequent colonisation of the area, headhunting gradually faded out of practice, although many other tribal customs and practices as well as the Iban language continue to thrive. The Iban population is concentrated in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia, Brunei, and the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. They traditionally live in longhouses called ''rumah panjai'' or ''betang'' (trunk) in West Ka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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