SAS: Secret War in South-East Asia

Military Review, March-April, 2005 by Kevin D. Stringer

SAS: Secret War in South-East Asia, Peter Dickens, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2003, 304 pages, $19.95.

A British Special Air Service (SAS) patrol leader once said, "When you see something in the jungle it's through your rifle-sight." Peter Dickens's SAS. Secret War in South-East Asia provides the reader with a rifle-sight view of SAS operations during the 1963-1966 Borneo Campaign, fought against Indonesian incursions and a simmering communist insurgency.

The strength of this exciting and fast-paced book lies in Dickens' ability to furnish a soldier's vista of this secret jungle war through firsthand accounts. Dickens describes the hardships, stresses, and dangers reconnaissance teams and strike patrols endured in the jungle and provides a unique glimpse into the inner spirit and workings of the SAS. The book is wisely complemented with detailed maps that allow the reader to track patrol actions as they are mentioned in the text.

A less satisfactory feature of the book is the lack of a clear, concise overview of the political context in which this campaign occurred. Although Dickens mentions Indonesia's reason for promulgating the conflict, a nonexpert in Southeast Asian history might have difficulty understanding the larger political-military environment--an aspect Dickens should include in the introduction if the book is republished.

The book's strong British-English style and vocabulary might cause American readers to stumble over some sentences and paragraphs. And while several of the actors are well-known in the United Kingdom, they might leave a non-British reader wondering about their significance. A short biographical summary of each actor would be helpful.

The lessons the U.S. military can learn from this book lie in evaluating the approaches taken by the SAS in small-unit operations. The SAS placed tremendous "hearts and minds" effort into the campaign by aggressively patrolling contested regions, providing medical services to indigenous tribes, and stressing language and cultural training to integrate within border tribes. Despite the danger of ambush, the SAS willingly took risks to "show the flag" in isolated regions, using only the jungle as their "camp."

This is an enjoyable and easy book to read. I highly recommend it.

Kevin D. Stringer, Ph.D., Zurich, Switzerland