Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry
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 replaced by a Malay.
Towards the end of Pike’s tour, the 2nd Battalion’s area of operations was Perak in north-western Malaya, one of the regions that had come close to being controlled by the communist insurgents. It covered approximately 1,200 square miles, had an estimated population of 125,000 people and was an important tin-mining region, where the British were gaining the upper hand in the war after several difficult years. The Malay Regiment emphasised jungle ambush techniques. Successful ambushes required all the tricks of the soldier’s trade: an eye for country, track discipline, concealment, camouflage, silence, alertness, fire discipline, marksmanship, guile, cunning, and above all self-discipline. It demanded constant training and rehearsal from commanders like Pike. In February 1958 two joint operations, Operation Ginger and Operation Bintang, were mounted in central Perak. They were the final key counterinsurgency operations of the Malaya Emergency. By the time the operations concluded, the government declared the whole of central Perak free from CTs.
The citation for Pike’s M.C. speaks for itself in describing his part in the success of Bintang. A brother officer remarked: ‘As you well know there had been “odd’” comments passed on one or two of the Battalion’s previous awards, but this time I have not heard one dissenter, we all think it a well earned reward’ (personal letter dated 21 August refers). Pike received his award from the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 4 November 1958.
Sir Oswald Mosley reached out to Pike on 5 November 1958, stating ‘I was very glad to hear that you were back’ and inviting ‘My dear Pike’ to lunch at his residence. Mosley had returned to Britain shortly after the Notting Hill race riots of August-September 1958 so that he could stand for election as M.P. for Kensington North. He campaigned stridently on an anti-immigration platform, calling for forced repatriation of Caribbean immigrants and the prohibition of mixed marriages. In the 1959 General Election, Mosley won a paltry 7.6%. share of the vote, confirming his marginalisation.
Pike’s next posting was as an instructor at the Malayan Federal Military College. In December 1961 he was promoted to Major. His career appears to have stagnated, possibly due to recurrent health issues. In the March 1967 Army List Pike is recorded as Major and Camp Commandant, Cyrenaica Area (eastern Libya). He retired, still a Major, on 1 April 1976. David Pike died, aged 52, on 17 October 1977.
Sold with an extensive and interesting personal archive, including photographs of the recipient and his family, original press-cuttings and many original official and personal letters.
www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable)
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