War That Was Called ‘an Emergency’, The: Malaya 1951-1956

The story of Australian Lieutenant Colonel Syd Kyle-Little’s involvement in the Malayan ‘Emergency’ of 1951-1956. This was a guerrilla war fought between the Commonwealth Armed Forces and the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, in which Syd Kyle-Little commanded a force of 12,000 Malay villagers. Kyle-Little was a larger-than-life character – the type of man that Australia’s Northern Territory seems to breed better than many other parts of the country. His keen observations and diligent record-keeping make this book engaging and often disturbing reading as he articulately describes years of training and fighting in inhospitable jungle. The men who fought in this conflict, that was called an ‘Emergency’ instead of a war, were all heroes who won the battle against the communist insurgents because their hearts and minds rejected the communist way of life. Due largely to the efforts of men such as Kyle-Little and the 12,000 Malay soldiers, Malaysia the free, independent and proud nation it is today. ‘…as I look back on my life, I wonder how and why it was that I survived, for I have led no ordinary way of life.’ – Syd Kyle-Little. This account of Syd Kyle-Little’s time in Malaya, published posthumously, is a sequel to Whispering Wind, the autobiography of Kyle-Little’s life in the Northern Territory from 1946-1950. pp. 336 Illust #0317 Counterinsurgency