Beschreibung:

The well-documented General Service Medal awarded to Gunner M. Purcell, an ‘Original’ Founding Member of ‘A’ Squadron Malayan Scouts (Special Air Service), later 22 Special Air Service Regiment, as raised and then re-established as a regular army unit by Lieutenant-Colonel M. P. Calvert D.S.O.; Purcell participated in several airborne operations in the jungle against Communist Terrorists General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, E.II.R. (21181944 Gnr. M. Purcell, R.A.) in named card box and envelope of issue, nearly extremely fine £400-£500 Footnote Michael Purcell, a Roman Catholic, was born in 1930 in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. He enlisted at the recruiting office at Omagh, County Tyrone on 8 December 1947, to serve for the standard regular army engagement of five years, plus seven years in the reserve. The date of birth on his signed attestation papers was stated as 5 March, but his death certificate (signed by his brother) has his birth date as 14 September. Probably this was the actual date, and when enlisting, Purcell claimed to be born on an earlier date in March in order to fall within the age limits for adult service. After initial recruit training, Purcell was posted in February 1948 to 34 Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, which was equipped with 40mm Bofors guns. It was sent out to Hong Kong in August 1949 as part of the build-up of the colony’s defences as the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War became inevitable. 34 A.A. Regiment was issued with, in addition to its quick-firing Bofors, highly effective 4.2-inch heavy mortars, which were deployed in the New Territories near the border with China from January 1950. After a year of service in Hong Kong, Purcell volunteered to join the newly established Malayan Scouts on 29 August 1950. Joining ‘Mad Mike’ Calvert’s Malayan Scouts In 1950 the military situation in Malaya was already bad and steadily getting worse, as the Communist Terrorists (C.T.s) held the initiative. Many British commanders were (yet again) totally unable to grasp how to counter guerrilla tactics and, as so often, lacked imagination, initiative and flair. There was a deep suspicion of special units, based on the belief that they weakened regiments by luring away their best soldiers, and dislike of unorthodox and abrasive characters such as Wingate. However, the success of the ex-Chindit and Force 136 veterans of Ferret Force, during its brief existence, demonstrated that the most effective military operations were deep-penetration patrols into the jungle by small units of platoon, section and even sub-section strength. General Sir John Harding Commander-in-Chief Far East, decided that he needed independent advice from an expert in jungle warfare on how to combat the communist insurgents. He called in Major ‘Mad Mike’ Calvert, who had considerable experience of jungle fighting as a result of commanding Chindits in Burma in 1943 and 1944, and then went on to command the S.A.S. Brigade. Calvert, re-ranked to Major post-War, was languishing in a staff appointment in Hong Kong as G1 Air, training troops bound for Korea to use air support. He was thrilled to escape this drudgery, throwing himself heart and soul into his fresh assignment. Calvert made important recommendations which would change the course of the war, including establishing and training a deep-penetration patrol unit to locate C.T. base camps and either destroy them or lead conventional forces to the area; the task was to interdict the C.T.s’ food, local intelligence,and military opportunities by denying them support and freedom of movement. ‘This suggestion was approved and I was told to form a force. The name I chose for the new unit was the Malayan Scouts (Special Air Service Regiment) and its role was to operate in deep jungle areas not already covered by other security forces, with the object of destroying guerrilla forces, their camps and sources of supply.’ (‘Fighting Mad’, by M. Calvert refers.) However, it