It is 1957 and you are stuck in Singapore fighting on behalf of the British government. You are ready to leave. You want to get home. How do you get there? Maybe you should buy yourself a used MB and drive there; It’s only 13,000 miles …..
Sure, with the exception of a school wall map, you have no maps of any kind (though you do have a compass and protractor), let alone mileage markers or directions. And, it’s likely that gas stations will be few and far between. Finally, you will likely encounter various factions of people not so friendly to you and your buddy. Now, that sounds like an adventure!
And, it was a true adventure for Roy Follows and Noel Dudgeon, starting as two Colonial Police officers as part of a force battling Chinese Communists near the end of the Malayan Emergency. Ready to head home, the pair would buy a MB in February of 1958 and begin a long journey home full of obstacles, broken parts, encounters with unfriendlies and more.
You can read an article about the trip in JPFreak Magazine or purchase Roy Follow’s book about the adventure from Amazon.co.uk (I haven’t found any U.S. resellers of the book). The reviews for the book look good; I haven’t personally read it yet, but hope to obtain a copy and read it at some point.
You know, this theme would make a great historical rebuild ….
Here’s the Book’s cover:
Here’s a map of their Journey from Singapore to Iran, according to page 33 of JPFreak’s Spring 2008 Issue:
And some Misc Images:
January 5th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Now that must have been a trip. The years I was born, talk about on your own. That must have been the trail ride of a lifetime !! It would be GREAT to do something like that now days.