Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A ‘Malayan Emergency’ casualty General Service Medal awarded to Junior Technician C. J. A. Cox, 84 Squadron, Royal Air Force, who was Killed in Action on 3 May 1952 during an anti-Communist insurgent strike on positions near Chenderoh Lake, Perak: after releasing a salvo of rockets, his aircraft suffered an explosion and broke up mid air

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (911460 Jnr. Tech. C. J. A. Cox. R.A.F.) better than good very fine £260-£300

Cyril John Alexander Cox was born in Rochford, Essex, on 9 July 1921, and is recorded in 1939 as a garage assistant living with his widowed father at Vanderbilt Avenue, Rayleigh. Joining the Royal Air Force as ground crew, he served as a Junior Technician at R.A.F. Kuala Lumpur during the Malayan Emergency and was killed in action aboard a Bristol Brigand of 84 Squadron, alongside Flying Officer Basil Cochrane and his Navigator, Sergeant J. B. Armstrong. A little more detail - including his reason for being aboard - can be found in a contemporary account:

‘It was made harder by the fact that the accident was never explained. Witnesses say that the aircraft, which was carrying a crew of two and an airman who went along for the flight, after releasing its rockets over the target, they saw a flash under the starboard wing and all of the outer section fell away. The aircraft, RH755, rolled over, crashed into the jungle and immediately burst into flames... It was not possible to retrieve the wing to find the cause and the discovery of the bodies took five days.’

The Bristol Brigand ground attack/dive bomber soon began to develop a reputation for unreliability and mechanical failures in the hot and humid climate of Malaya. Aside from perishing rubber, attention soon focussed upon the 20mm cannon, more specifically the accumulation of explosive gasses in the blast tubes which were igniting through the use of high-explosive shells. Of 147 aircraft constructed, none fly today and nearly all were sold for scrap following retirement in 1958. Cox is buried in the Chiras Road Christian Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur.

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