A Face Like a Chicken's Backside: An Unconventional Soldier in South East Asia, 1948–71

In almost forty years in Asia without a home posting, British officer John Cross spent ten of them ‘under the jungle canopy’. He amassed a wealth of experience fighting against Communist Revolutionary Warfare, and training others to do so. As a result he was called upon to work in many formidable situations, and twice found himself on an army short-list of one for difficult tasks.Cross focuses on five stages in his extraordinary army career. He spent eight years as a company commander with the Gurkhas in Malaya fighting jungle operations against the communists. After that he took part in the attempt to end twenty years of guerrilla domination over the aborigines in north Malaya, and secured the territory between Thailand and the aboriginal population that had been occupied and used by the guerrillas.As commander of the Sarawak and Sabah Border Scouts in Borneo, Cross was constantly on the move. At one point in this hectic period in his service he narrowly escaped having his head cut off by an angry tribesman. He then commanded the Gurkha Independent Parachute Company, which had to operate like paras, SAS men and conventional soldiers, during the latter part of the Indonesian Confrontation with Malaya.Finally, Cross was the last commander of the British Army’s Jungle Warfare School, which trained officers and men from five continents – including American trackers who, as a result, had the price on their heads doubled in Vietnam.After the closure of the Jungle Warfare School, John Cross was asked to work in both the Royal Thai Army and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Instead he became defense Attaché in Laos.This fascinating book provides vivid insight into the realities of jungle warfare by one of its most experienced practitioners. Read more