laststandonzombieisland

60 years ago this month.

Official caption: “September 1964, Sabah, the northeast Borneo territory of Malaysia. Royal Marines in action with the security forces repelling the infiltrating Indonesians from across the vast jungle border. A Royal Marines Daimler Ferret Scout car of 40 Commando patrols a jungle-fringed forward area of the Kalabankan River. The vehicle commander is Corporal B. Skinley.”

As anyone will tell you, the Royal Marines are light infantry, and typically don’t bring armor with them. Even in the Falklands, the four Scimitars and Scorpions that went along with 3 Commando were operated by a troop of the Household Cavalry. 

While the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group dates back to 1944– when it was founded to help give the Commandos some armor support for the Normandy landings in the form of a few Centaur and Sherman tanks — it had been disbanded by 1948 and only stood back up, under the 539 Assault Squadron, to operate Hägglunds Viking BvS 10s in 2005.

So where did the Ferret come from?

Note the Ferret’s name (“Sharquat”) recalls a 1918 battle between the British and the Ottomans during the Mesopotamian Campaign in the Great War, and several units present there (1/10 Gurkhas, Queen’s Royal Hussars, 114th Mahrattas, et. al ) still celebrate “Sharqat Day” in honor of the historic victory. The hull number, 38 BA 39 (62), would lead one to believe that the armored car is owned by the British Army.

For comparison, see this image of a Ferret Scout Car in use by the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards overlooking the Mantin Pass between Kuala Lumpur and Seremban during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960):

As the 10th (Princess Mary’s Own) Gurkha Rifles– a Sharqat unit– had two battalions in Malaysia at the time, along with the Ferret-equipped QRIH, this leads to the likely conclusion that the Marines in the first image were just borrowing the wheels from the Army.

A favorite on the surplus military vehicle market, the FV 701 Ferret is simple to learn to drive and support and is forgiving in operation, which is no doubt a reason that it is still in service with like a dozen different countries around the world even though it has been out of production since 1971.