Their story is told for the first time and is conclusive proof that some British soldiers did fight the enemy and, in fact, held them back for long enough to enable many to escape from Singapore to fight another day. The accusation that British soldiers in Malaya did not fight is put in its proper context for the first time. 

This book is quite entertaining, interesting, well-written, and useful. It is also uneven in quality. Jonathan Moffatt and Audrey Holmes McCormick have essentially produced an oral history of the 2nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders—an army unit from Scotland that could trace its history back some two hundred years—and its role in the ill-fated defence of 

Malaya and Singapore. With this book, Moffatt and Holmes McCormick argue that, despite the ultimate defeat, British soldiers fought well in tactical engagements. The person most responsible for the performance for the Argylls according to the authors was Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Stewart, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, and 13th Laird of Achnacone. 

Coming from a family with a long and noble tradition of military service to the crowns of Scotland and the United Kingdom, Stewart demanded harsh and realistic training in jungle warfare. Moffatt and Holmes McCormick contend that the soldiers in the unit were
‘unanimous’ in the praise of their commander. One of them told the authors, ‘The men would follow him to hell and back’ (p. 39). 

The book includes a nice beginning chapter on the men, examining their motivation for joining the army. For many, a life soldiering was a welcome alternative to living in poverty in Scotland. In this chapter and in others, the authors argue in effective fashion that pride in the 2nd Argylls was one of the reasons the men fought so well in Southeast Asia. The sources of this pride were varied. 

The formation drew family members to it, with enlistees serving in the same regiment and battalion in which their fathers and uncles had fought in the First World War, or which brothers and cousins had joined before them. Kilts, a tradition in the British Army that went back two centuries, also added to esprit de corps. 

When the fighting starts, the story is riveting, but concentrates on small unit engagements. This narrow focus is a reflection of what the individual interviewees were doing in Malaya and Singapore in 1941 and 1942. Xmas 25th Dec 1941. Battalion was resting at Bidor...responded to Jap landings at Teluk Anson a company fought the Japs in TA town using Lanchester Armoured Cars MGs killing Japs before retreating and holding positions on Road to prevent Japs  outflanking Kampar where battle was raging....Battalionn had gathered a lot of food from NAAFI n Cold storage at Ipoh so xmas was good.

Buy the book here......