212 Soldiers for the Queen

<p>In 1961 the British army struggled with volunteer recruitment after the abolition of<br />National Service. Recruiting teams were sent to three remaining colonies and found an<br />excellent source of volunteers in Fiji. Two hundred men and twelve women from across<br />Fiji’s racial divide enlisted and subsequently served with distinction throughout 'the fringes<br />of empire' bolstering NATO in Northern Ireland and the Falklands conflict.</p><p>About a third of the men served for 22 years or more marrying British and other nationals<br />and many chose not to return to Fiji. Some of those who returned played significant roles in<br />the 1987 election with a few supporting subsequent military interventions.</p><p><br />The author interviewed the surviving ‘212’ wherever they settled. Brigadier Ian Thorpe the<br />last New Zealander to command the Royal Fiji Military Forces first served with Fijians<br />in the Malayan Emergency and later established an officer training school for the RFMF<br />provided the foreword.</p>