Great Was The Fall: A Story Of The Malayan Tragedy (SIGNED)
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: N/A
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Signed with inscription
Condition remarks: Condition: Good, well-handled wartime copy showing consistent age-toning throughout but structurally sound. Jacket: No dust jacket present; issued in pictorial illustrated boards. Page Condition: Text block tanned/browned throughout, consistent with the wartime paper stock likely due to poor-quality wartime paper. Markings: autograph presentation inscription from the author, reading"To [name], with sincere good wishes from the Author, [signature] A.J. Elson-Smith, X RAAF", dated Dec/46; a small institutional label affixed to the fep. Binding: Original publisher's illustrated boards, black with maroon cloth spine; binding: no loose leaves noted, spine ends showing light wear consistent with age. Note: protective cellophane film to FEP, now aged/yellowed.
When the Empire's defences crumbled and the jungle swallowed entire battalions, one R.A.A.F. officer bore witness to one of the most catastrophic defeats in Allied military history — the fall of Malaya. Great Was the Fall: A Story of the Malayan Tragedy is a gripping first-hand account that chronicles the chaos, desperation, and human cost of the Japanese advance through the Malayan Peninsula during World War II, as seen through the eyes of an Australian airman thrust into a theatre of war for which neither he nor his comrades were prepared. Written with the raw authority of direct experience, this rare and remarkable document sits at the intersection of personal memoir and historical testimony, casting a sober light on the catastrophic Allied collapse of 1941–42. Published by Patersons Printing Press Ltd. in Perth, Western Australia, it reflects the perspective of the RAAF — a voice often overshadowed in conventional histories of the Malayan campaign — and presents an unflinching portrait of courage, confusion, and survival against impossible odds. For historians and general readers alike, it raises a haunting question: when the great empires fell, what remained of the men who served them?
Author: An R.A.A.F. Officer (A.J. Elson-Smith)
Format: Hardback
Published: 1942, Patersons Printing Press Ltd.
Genre: WW2
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: N/A
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Signed with inscription
Condition remarks: Condition: Good, well-handled wartime copy showing consistent age-toning throughout but structurally sound. Jacket: No dust jacket present; issued in pictorial illustrated boards. Page Condition: Text block tanned/browned throughout, consistent with the wartime paper stock likely due to poor-quality wartime paper. Markings: autograph presentation inscription from the author, reading"To [name], with sincere good wishes from the Author, [signature] A.J. Elson-Smith, X RAAF", dated Dec/46; a small institutional label affixed to the fep. Binding: Original publisher's illustrated boards, black with maroon cloth spine; binding: no loose leaves noted, spine ends showing light wear consistent with age. Note: protective cellophane film to FEP, now aged/yellowed.
When the Empire's defences crumbled and the jungle swallowed entire battalions, one R.A.A.F. officer bore witness to one of the most catastrophic defeats in Allied military history — the fall of Malaya. Great Was the Fall: A Story of the Malayan Tragedy is a gripping first-hand account that chronicles the chaos, desperation, and human cost of the Japanese advance through the Malayan Peninsula during World War II, as seen through the eyes of an Australian airman thrust into a theatre of war for which neither he nor his comrades were prepared. Written with the raw authority of direct experience, this rare and remarkable document sits at the intersection of personal memoir and historical testimony, casting a sober light on the catastrophic Allied collapse of 1941–42. Published by Patersons Printing Press Ltd. in Perth, Western Australia, it reflects the perspective of the RAAF — a voice often overshadowed in conventional histories of the Malayan campaign — and presents an unflinching portrait of courage, confusion, and survival against impossible odds. For historians and general readers alike, it raises a haunting question: when the great empires fell, what remained of the men who served them?