Single Campaign Medals

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

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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 was stressed by General Neil Ritchie, Commanding Far East Land Forces, that Calvert’s force would be disbanded at the close of the emergency in Malaya; would exist only under Far East Command; and would have no linkage whatsoever to the S.A.S. Territorial Army organisation in Britain. Calvert worked like a maniac to establish the unit that he had envisioned, but he had been handed a somewhat poisoned chalice. He was only able to recruit personnel from the Far East Land Forces and his choice of officers was limited. Frequently, commanding officers would send him their ‘misfit’ junior officers and N.C.O.s. Moreover, he was not provided with a suitable administrative infrastructure. He found a hundred volunteers and ‘A’ Squadron, Malayan Scouts was formed. How Purcell came to be among them is unclear. His ‘A’ Squadron name list does not include any others from his regiment or from the Hong Kong garrison. There is no evidence in his service papers that his regiment wanted to be rid of him. Perhaps he learned of Calvert’s achievements and reputation while he was still in Hong Kong. Although John Woodhouse’s name is not on Purcell’s list, he is proof that Purcell was not the only Hong Kong-based soldier to volunteer to join Calvert: ‘One of my better acquisitions was Captain J W who was serving as G3 Intelligence to 40th Infantry Division in Hong Kong.’ (ibid)

‘A’ Squadron Malayan Scouts’ training included throwing grenades and diving for cover in the deep monsoon drains running through their camp area, one of several lessons with live ammunition that disregarded the normal safety rules for field firing ranges. Shortage of time and available facilities meant that all training had to take place on football pitches and other clear spaces around the camp. This and Calvert’s hard drinking (a result of the pressure and stress he was under) were criticised at the time by the more prosaic officers; they would continue to be a lingering criticism of S.A.S. standards for the next ten years. In 1981, the highly respected Lieutenant-Colonel John Woodhouse felt compelled to write a letter to the S.A.S. Regimental Association on 9 December 1981: ‘Calvert was under pressure to get results and get them quickly. Calvert’s comparison was that a building site can be a rough and mucky place until construction is finished.’

There is no doubt that special forces can only be effective if they combine special men with a huge amount of special training. Calvert could and did train ‘A’ Squadron, but he lacked enough trainers and above all enough time to do a thorough job. This in turn caused unfair bias and denigration, such as ‘the Great Malayan Scouts Beard Scandal’. Even in 2004, veteran officers would complain that ‘Men were allowed to grow beards in the jungle, which was a sensible idea in that they hid their white faces, but when the men came out they were allowed to keep them on, contrary to all the traditions of the Army. The sight of smelly, scruffy, bearded soldiers was one which caused almost apoplexy in the St...