WAR veteran Manu Korovulavula has launched his books Vala mai Maleya and Malayan Campaign which talks about the lives of 1600 Fijian troops who left Fiji to fight in the jungles of South East Asia during the Malayan Campaign.
Mr Korovulavula said the book was the second of a three-part autobiography that had been published and it recorded his enlistment with the 1st Battalion Fiji Infantry Regiment.
He said the book also recorded details about his active service during the four and a half years fighting alongside the British Empire troops in the war that came to be known as the Malayan emergency.
“The book records the story of over 800 brave young men who answered to the call of chiefs and his Majesty King George V between the years 1952 to 1956,” Mr Korovulavula said.
“Twenty five did not return to their beloved families and proud nation, they had paid the ultimate price in a war that was fought under uncompromising weather conditions in the dense jungle of the Malayan peninsula.”
Prime Minister Rear Admiral Voreqe Bainimarama launched the books yesterday saying the story was seen through the eyes of a young soldier who was there.
“These books ensure that the story of Fiji’s role in the Malayan Campaign will live on, to be read and re-read by Fijians today and generations of Fijians to come.”
