There is some literature available on the Malayan Emergency and the Confrontation. For the "Emergency", try "The War of the Running Dogs" by Noel Barber. For the "Confrontation" there is "Undeclared War" by Denis Sheil-Small. This unfortunately is largely a blow-by-blow account of the doings of the units involved, with special attention paid to the Gurkhas. (Sheil-Small was a former Gurkha officer).

Machetes were issued to British troops, and were a common source of injury to the inexperienced. Gurkhas obviously kept the kukhri. One British officer I met who had served with the Queen's Gurkha Signals wore his everywhere, including while skiing. A fall could have been very, very, painful.

Incidentally, the Armalite AR15 (the commercial model of the American M16) was issued on a small scale to British troops in the Far East, long before the US Army got hold of it. As might be expected from the British Army, the first unit to get their greedy hands on the weapon was not the Special Air Service, or any of the units involved in the fighting in Borneo; it was a Guards unit in Singapore, so that they could work out the ceremonial drill movements for it.


British Army slang or jargon is derived from many sources; Malay, Arabic and pigeon-German words can be heard (although it is over twenty years since I wore a uniform). Another Malay word occasionally heard was "Bukit", meaning mountain. Senior NCOs could sometimes refer to "bucketing" for "climbing". Great imagination is shown in producing frivolous meanings for pompous initials. There are also some soldier-specific terms (such as "Divvies", for folding money, from "DV" or "Drinks Voucher").