It’s not every British officer who wins a Military Cross for serving along the Japanese in 1945.
Major Philip Malins MBE MC, then a captain in the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC), did just that in fighting along side the Gurkhas and Japanese infantry to resupply French troops under siege in Saigon.
After the war, he became chairman of the International Friendship and Reconciliation Trust and in November 2010, he became only the second non-Japanese national to be awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays. Japan’s ambassador to Britain attended his funeral.
Major Malins died on April 9, 2012 at age 92.
The Telegraph’s obituary of him provides the details of the engagements in which he earned the MC.
The Telegraph’s military obituaries section offers an RSS feed, it’s well worth subscribing to.