First In, Last Out: An Unconventional British Officer in Indo-China

This is an account of two episodes in the unconventional career of John Cross, a retired Lt Col of the Brigade of Ghurkas. After the end of World War II he was one of the "first in" in the counter-insurgency operations against the Vietminh, commanding a battalion of the very Japanese troops he had been sent to disarm. This story provides the backdrop to his return to Indo-China as British Defence Attache to Laos between 1972 and 1976, where he became doyen of the Corps of Attaches, itself a source of intrigue and national rivalry. His mastery of the main languages of the region gave him access to high Laotian political circles. Cross uses his personal photographs to shed light on the conflict in Laos - a little-known sideshow to the war in Vietnam. His observations - often acerbic and highly uncomplimentary - provide insights into a diplomatic community and a narrative on the course of events in Vientiane, as communist supremacy was asserted over the whole region.