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The British Army, the Gurkhas and Cold War strategy in the Far East, 1947-1954 / Raffi Gregorian.
LIBRA UA649 .G683 2002
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Gregorian, Raffi, 1964-
- Series:
- Studies in military and strategic history (Palgrave (Firm))
- Studies in military and strategic history
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Great Britain. Army--History--20th century.
- Great Britain.
- Great Britain. Army.
- History.
- Great Britain--Military policy.
- Military policy.
- Gurkha soldiers.
- Cold War.
- East Asia--Strategic aspects.
- East Asia.
- Physical Description:
- xviii, 335 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave, 2002.
- Summary:
- This book argues that postwar Britain's "imperial over-extension" has been exaggerated. Britain developed and adjusted its defense strategy based upon the perceived Communist threat and available resources. It was especially successful at adapting to meet the strategic and resource challenges from the Far East from 1947-54. There British and Gurkha forces were deployed only in contingencies that threatened vital British interests, while the US and Commonwealth allies were persuaded to accept key wartime missions, thus preserving Britain's ability to fight in Western Europe.
- Contents:
- Approach 9
- 2 'Future Defence Policy': the Far East as Strategic Backwater, 1945-48 11
- Global strategy 18
- From SEAC to FARELF: military strategy in the Far East, 1945-48 24
- 3 National Service, the Gurkhas and the Reorganization of the British Army, 1946-48 32
- Development of the postwar British Army 33
- Filling the manpower gap: the origins of the British Army Gurkhas 36
- GHQ FARELF, local forces, and the 'Gurkha Project' 42
- Development of the Gurkha division 44
- Teething pains: the Gurkhas arrive in Malaya 46
- The Brigade of Gurkhas 48
- 4 FARELF and the Malayan Emergency, 1948-50 51
- The Communist threat 52
- FARELF and the British response 54
- 'Ferret Force' 58
- Despatch of the 'fire brigade' 59
- Training 61
- The Gurkha Division 62
- Local defense forces 63
- A new C-in-C shakes things up 65
- A fillip to the MCP: Communist victory in China 67
- Renewed call for reinforcements 68
- 5 'To the Last Round': the Defense of Hong Kong, 1948-50 77
- The 1946 Hong Kong defense policy 78
- Rethinking Hong Kong defense policy 80
- A Communist threat on the horizon 82
- Colonial Office jitters 83
- The garrison's role and the reinforcement dilemma 84
- Assessing the strategic implications 87
- HMS Amethyst and a brigade group for Hong Kong 90
- Contemplating war with China 91
- Scoping the effects of suppositional reinforcements 93
- The decision to defend 95
- Thinking in the long term 98
- Military preparations in Hong Kong 99
- Thinking about Hong Kong in a global war 101
- Hong Kong and British recognition of the People's Republic 102
- Robbing Peter to pay Paul 105
- 6 Adapting to Reality: the Far East and Cold War Strategy, 1950-54 109
- The strategic impact of a Communist China: the view from Whitehall 110
- The view from Singapore 113
- Singapore's call for coordinated containment 114
- The Colombo conference 116
- ANZAM 117
- Updating Far East strategy and policy 118
- The Far East and the 'global strategy and defence policy' of 1950 119
- 'In light of the present situation': updating DO(50)45 122
- The strategic reappraisal of 1952 125
- The 'Radical Review' 128
- 7 Between the American Scylla and Chinese Charybdis: Hong Kong, 1950-54 135
- Hong Kong, FARELF and the Korean commitment 136
- Land forces for Korea 138
- Reassessing the threat 142
- Strategic deception and a new policy for Hong Kong 143
- The United States, Hong Kong, and the war in Korea 147
- Mixed signals 148
- Getting Hong Kong on the allied agenda 151
- 'Indefensible' 152
- The US and Hong Kong: from deception to commitment? 155
- Five Power planning for Hong Kong 159
- Reduction of the garrison 161
- 8 Manpower, the Strategic Reserve and the Malayan Emergency, 1950-54 165
- Malaya at the start of the Korean War 166
- Malaya, colonial troops, and the new strategic reserve 167
- A Federation Army 169
- India, Nepal and the British Army Gurkhas 172
- The Communist campaign against the British Gurkhas 175
- The end of the Gurkhas? 176
- 9 Siam and the Commonwealth Defense of Malaya 180
- Siam in relation to the defense of Malaya 181
- The 'Songkhla position' 182
- Planning begins under changing strategic assumptions 185
- Plan Irony 187
- Revised force requirements 188
- A change in Allied strategy and new thinking about reinforcements 189
- The role of deception 190
- Plan Ringlet 191
- Ministerial briefing 192
- Reassessing the initiating triggers 193
- The improving situation in Siam 194
- Plan Warrior 196
- A Commonwealth role in the defense of Malaya 198
- 10 Limited Liability and the Defense of Southeast Asia, 1950-54 203
- The importance of French Indochina to British Southeast Asia 204
- American aid for Indochina 205
- Thinking about collective security 206
- Tripartite talks 209
- The effects of a possible French withdrawal in 1952 212
- Five Power Staff Agency (FPSA) 214
- Dien Bien Phu and the American call for 'united action' 215
- The US request for British intervention 218
- The Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty 221
- Strategic sufficiency 230.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 308-322) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0333801482
- OCLC:
- 47296389
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