As the Second World War engulfed Malaya in 1941, the entire colonial society fled the country, or were either captured or mercilessly killed by foreign invaders. This is the story of one man who is known as one of the precious few British civilians who fought and miraculously survived as Japanese troops crept through Malaya, conquering the peninsula in record time. His name is Maurice Cotterill and this is his story of survival. His liberties robbed, Cotterill starved and endured the appalling living conditions while trapped in the Japanese-occupied jungles of Malaya. But this is not just Cotterill’s chronicle of struggle; it is also an account of Malaya’s past during a period of chaos and deprivation. Based on a wartime diary kept by Cotterill, this book is a moving and engaging memoir that seamlessly depicts the horror of jungle warfare in the most poignant of ways, and a snapshot of Malaya in a time of change—a great complement to the author’s memoir in the same era, Eleven Months in Malaya.

Text: Robert W. Holder
ISBN: 978-981-4217-20-0