General Peter Courtney Gration AC OBE (Rtd) as Troop Officer 4th (Australian) Field Troop 11th Independent Field Squadron, Malaya 1955-1957, interviewed by Colonel David Chinn MBE (Rtd)

Gration speaks of his service background, experience and training; troop commander, senior non-commissioned officers and troop strength; lack of briefing of 4th Field Troop on the Malayan commitment; training of 4th Field Troop before departure from Australia; transit by ship to Malaya and deployment there with 11th Field Squadron (British Army); assimilation into 11th Field Squadron; first impressions of the operational environment; familiarisation with operational procedures; Australian families joining their husbands/fathers in Malaya; the communist terrorist (CT) threat to troop operations; the soldiers of his troop, their weapons and the engineer plant; construction tasks of road building as well as the type of rations provided on task; rules of engagement and communications; organising for a bulldozer to be driven across a railway bridge while on road construction operations; disposing of Japanese bombs stored since the Second World War; owning and riding a horse purchased in Malaya; medical problems, generally, and troop accommodation; higher authority's lack of planning and briefing for the Malayan deployment.