Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry

A post-War ‘Operation Bintang’ Malaya Operations M.C. group of seven awarded to Major J. I. D. Pike, Middlesex Regiment, attached 2nd Battalion, Royal Malaya Regiment, for his example of skill, daring, determination and gallantry while commanding patrols which killed two terrorists and captured others; Soldier magazine called him ‘an outstanding leader in jungle actions’ Military Cross, E.II.R., reverse of lower arm officially dated ‘1958’ and reverse centre privately engraved ‘Capt. J. I. D. Pike’; 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals; General Service Medal 1918-62, 1 clasp Malaya (Capt. J. I. D. Pike. Mx.); Malaysia, Active Service Medal, mounted court-style, nearly extremely fine (7) £5,000-£7,000 --- M.C. London Gazette 29 July 1958: ‘For successful leadership and bravery in several actions against Communist Terrorists in Malaya between 4 February and 31 March 1958.’ The original Recommendation states: ‘Since the start of Operation ‘Bintang’ Captain J. I. D. Pike has been determined to eliminate the Communist Terrorists in his company area and to this end has directed all his energy and considerable skill. On 4 February 1958 after laying a skilful ambush in an area being worked by rubber tappers, he and one soldier personally eliminated an armed uniformed terrorist with out loss to his own men. On 6 February 1958, realising that another of his ambushes had been located, he crawled forward to investigate and engaged the terrorists while calling forward his men for the follow-up. On 7 March 1958 he again laid a skilful ambush in difficult country and eliminated a second armed and uniformed terrorist. On 21 March 1958, he led a four man patrol to keep observation on several tin mines which the communist terrorists were thought to be visiting. Through his binoculars he saw two men in civilian clothes acting in a suspicious manner and advanced with three of his men to investigate. The two parties suddenly came face to face in rough mining country of swamp and tin tailings. Captain Pike challenged and the two men turned and fled. Realising that they were definitely Communist Terrorists, Captain Pike roared “Charge” and dashed forward followed by his men. After a brief exchange of shots Captain Pike overtook one of the Communist terrorists in a patch of swamp and despite the fact that all the Communist Terrorists previously eliminated had been armed with, and tried to use, a grenade Captain Pike immediately closed with him and after dragging him to higher ground opened fire on the second Communist Terrorist who was being pursued by the remaining three soldiers of his patrol. While Captain Pike held onto his captive the remainder of the patrol pursued the second man with such dash and determination that although they did not capture him, he surrendered the same evening bringing with him an automatic pistol and 27 rounds of ammunition. The captured man’s rifle and ammunition were also recovered. On the night of 31 March 1958 Captain Pike was in command of a four man night ambush. At 1:30 am in the moonlight, he saw two dim figures moving through the trees and scrub at a distance of about 100 yards. Realising that the figures would not enter his ambush position he redeployed his three men in cut-off positions and advanced alone to where he had seen the figures. After advancing some 70 yards fire was opened upon him, bullets passing through the hood of his camouflage jacket. He immediately opened fire with his Bren gun and advanced again. After moving about 30 yards fire was again opened on him with a pistol. He fired at the pistol flashes and continued his attack until he heard two bodies running away through the undergrowth. The immediate follow-up recovered a Mauser automatic pistol, ammunition and a bag of supplies at the scene of his second encounter which was marked by the strike of bullets, testimony of the deliberate and accurate fire of Captain Pike. Throughout these five actions the skill, dash, determination and disregard for his personal safety with which Captain Pike led his patrols has been an inspiration to all ranks of ‘B’ Company, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Malay Regiment as is amply demonstrated by their success in operations against the Communist Terrorists in Operation ‘Bintang’. Joseph Ian David Pike, usually known as David by his family and friends, was born on 28 February 1925 at Steyning, Sussex. He became a keen cricketer from an early age and completed his schooling at Hurstpierpoint College in 1943. He was mobilised on a ‘hostilities only’ basis and completed his training in time to see active service in Europe. On demobilisation Pike successfully applied to join the regular army on a Short Service basis and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps on 20 September 1947. He served for three years until his engagement expired in February 1950. In 1950 he married Doris Heidenreich, whose family had settled in Finchley, north London. In April 1951 he joined the Territorial Paras and rose to Acting Captain by the end of the year. Pike re-joined the Regulars as a Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion the Middlesex Regiment on 15 July 1952. He was promoted Captain effective January 1954. Pike had what his battalion commander called ‘a difference of opinion that caused your posting from my battalion’ (personal letter of 30 June 1958 from a former Commanding Officer of the 1st Middlesex refers). Pike seems to have been posted from 1 Middlesex to the token British military force stationed in the British Occupation Zone of Austria, followed by a three-year secondment in Malaya. What lay behind this would be recorded in his official “P/C files”, but it is possibly relevant that Pike had met Sir Oswald Mosley, the discredited British fascist leader, who had launched the far-right Union Movement in 1948 in an attempted political comeback. Mosley had self-exiled in the early 1950s, leaving Britain to live in Ireland and then France. Mosley’s activities and associates in the UK were still monitored by MI5 and notified to relevant Ministries, including the War Office. It may well be that Pike had reacted inappropriately to a formal warning about his links to Mosley and the Union Movement. The ‘difference of opinion’ had to be officially notified to the army hierarchy, but it does not seem to have involved a clash of personalities. Pike’s posting in Austria came to an end in early 1955 as the Austrian State Treaty was negotiated, establishing Austria as sovereign, permanently neutral and free of both Allied occupation troops and their bases. On 4 July 1955 Pike and his family embarked at Southampton for Singapore. The War Office did not consider Pike’s lapse serious enough to bar him from active service in a war zone as part of a locally-raised British army unit which had an important role in driving the ‘Malayisation’ of the indigenous armed forces and the preparations for granting independence. Pike’s posting to 2nd Battalion the Royal Malay Regiment was intended to ‘wipe the slate clean’ and allow him to resume his army career. There were challenges – the creation of effective local Malay officers took a great deal of time. In mid-1958, with independence imminent, almost all the senior positions in the battalion were still held by British officers. Major A.S. Blackman had been ‘bound over’ by the civil authorities and sent back to the U.K. after being caught with “a Chinese boy in KL… although everybody knows about it, it is never discussed” (personal letter dated 21 August 1958 refers) but Blackman was not re...