Quartered Safe Out Here
Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma is a military memoir of World War II written by the author of The Flashman Papers series of novels George MacDonald Fraser that was first published in 1993.
| Author | George MacDonald Fraser |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | memoir |
| Publisher | Harvill |
Publication date | 1993 |
It describes in graphic and memorable detail Fraser's experiences as a 19-year-old private in The Border Regiment fighting with the British 14th Army against the Imperial Japanese Army during the latter stages of the Burma Campaign in late 1944 and 1945.[1] This included his participation in the Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay and the Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations.
The military historian Sir John Keegan wrote: "There is no doubt that it is one of the great personal memoirs of the Second World War."[2] Keegan gives similar praise to Norman Lewis' Naples '44 memoir, later produced as a movie. Fraser's book has also been praised by the English author Melvyn Bragg and the American playwright David Mamet.[3]
The book's title is a quotation from Rudyard Kipling's 1890 poem "Gunga Din"[4] and is ironic since Fraser certainly was not "quartered safe out here" while serving in Burma during one of the final campaigns of the war.
References
- Stanley Reynolds, "George MacDonald Fraser: He created Harry Flashman, tormentor of Tom Brown turned comical anti-hero", The Guardian, 4 January 2008 accessed 23 November 2012
- John Keegan, The Second World War (London, Penguin Books, 2005), p. 79.
- David Mamet, "So near so noir", The Guardian 9 November 2001 accessed 23 November 2012
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46783.