Captain Cecil Warwick Strong, 5th Mahratta Light Infantry & 'V' Force

Original information from his family

Captain Cecil Warwick Strong (henceforth CWS), killed, November 1945 in Sarawak, served with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and ‘V’ Force. He served in Burma and Borneo. His Commanding Officer / co-worker was Major Anthony Franklin. The family have a ‘V’ Force badge[1].

There is a published book – with information that I expect originated from the family – that CWS’s father served in the Indian Army for thirty-five years, was awarded the MC and OBE, retiring as a full colonel in 1946. The book refers to ‘CWS was killed in WW2 whilst serving with the Chindits in Sarawak.’

There is a separate thread on 'V' Force: V-Force or 'V' Force in Burma / India

[1] See short background and a photo on US medal collector’s site: V Force Cap Badge 1939-1945

The main source is the information on the CWGC database:

STRONG, Captain, CECIL WARWICK, EC/2739. 5th Mahratta Light Infantry. 28th October 1945. Age 23. Son of Colonel C. A. Strong, O.B.E., M.C., and Ethel Guinivere Strong, of Umtali, Southern Rhodesia. From: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/f...ls/2072407/cecil-warwick-strong/#&gid=2&pid=1

The CWGC commemorates his death on the Singapore Memorial as there is no known grave and that he died on the 28th October 1945. Four other officers from his regiment are commemorated: Major John Goodwin Lancelot Hart, d. 30/10/1945, 4/6th MLI; Thomas Wilmot Dean Middlemiss, d. 28/10/1945; Laurence Horder d. 28/10/1945 and Aslam Abdul Qadir, d. 29/10/1945, 5/6th MLI. None of the five has appeared here before and I have not researched them.

There are x113 members of the regiment commemorated on the Singapore Memorial; from the 4th, 5th, 6th and 17th battalions.

CWS was born in 1916. Shown on a listing of those who died 1939-1948 as a British national serving in India Services. From: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68F5-F5ZQ

There is a single entry in The London Gazette 19/9/1941, amongst a long list of those given an Emergency Commission in the Indian Army, as of 10/6/1941 (with no Service Number). From: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35279/page/5449/data.pdf

Comment: It is possible his Indian Army personnel file is in The British Library (TBL) however their website and index is not currently available after a cyber-attack in late 2023. It may take a year to restore.

The 5th Mahratta Light Infantry Regiment CWS was posted to

The Second World War saw the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry (abbreviated to MLI) in the forefront in almost every theatre of operations from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the deserts of North Africa and the mountains and rivers of Italy. Seven MLI battalions saw action during the war, three in Burma and two post-war in Java (then Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia). They were the 4/5th, 6/5th and 17/5th; 4/5th and 6/5th.

From: Maratha Light Infantry - Wikipedia and https://wiki.fibis.org/w/5th_Mahratta_Light_Infantry

The regimental history provides some context. On 22/9/1945 49th Brigade was warned to prepare to move to Java, in Operation Persil, an operation with two primary roles: accept the surrender of Japanese military forces and the Repatriation of Allied Prisoners of War and (mainly Dutch and other Allied civilian) Internees – known as RAPWI.

On 25/10/1945 the brigade laned 5/6 MLI and another Indian battalion at Surabaya, led by Brigadier Mallaby, and on 28/10/1945 5/1 MLI arrived. ‘A’ Platoon from ‘A’ Company of the 5/6th MLI, led by CWS was posted to guard a radio station in the city. On 28/10/1945 Captain Middlemiss, 5/4 MLI Adjutant, went to extricate a four truck baggage convoy held up at an Indonesian roadblock, he was killed and his body was found in a canal. On 28/10/1945 the main camp of the 5/4th MLI in a school, overlooked by higher buildings was heavily fired upon. The platoon at the radio station was later forced to surrender having run out of ammunition, the Jemadar (NCO) in charge was killed, some injured were taken to hospital and the others were killed – no bodies were found. The 5/4th were withdrawn from Surabaya 21-28/11/1945, engaging in RAPWI duties and left Java on 26/11/1945, returning by sea to Madras, India on 13/12/1946.


[1] ‘Valour Enshrined: A History of the Maratha Light Infantry 1768-1947’ by Abhyankar, Lt. Col M.G. Published by Bombay: Orient Longman, in 1971.


The CWGC shows multiple MLI soldiers deaths commemorated 28th-30th October 1945 (approx. seventy from 4/5th and 6/5th). Other deaths then are shown as being posted to the 49th Indian Infantry Brigade and the 23rd Indian Division.

The two MLI battalions were part of the 49th Brigade (C.O. Brigadier S. Mallaby later identified), which was part of the 23rd Indian Division (Major General Ouvry Roberts[1]). and In September 1945 the division took part in ""Operation Zipper"" which was the unopposed return to Malaya, in the same month it moved on to Java where it's main task was the evacuation of Internees and restoration of Law and Order during the civil disturbance that took place at that time. From: 23rd Indian Infantry Division - Burma Star Memorial Fund and 23rd Indian Infantry Division - Wikipedia

Post 3 has a summary of 49th Brigade’s activities. See; 5/6 Rajputana Rifles It was not in combat after Kohima and remained in Java till 1946.

There is a ten minute IWM film clip of an operation to rescue Dutch internees from Ambarawa to Semarang; no date shown, production was on 30/11/1945) and the 4/5th MLI may be shown. See: EVACUATION OF DUTCH INTERNEES FROM CAMP AT AMBARAWA [Allocated Title]

From an obituary of Lt. Col. Doyle, C.O. 4/5th MLI: Although, in the event, Malaya was reoccupied without Japanese opposition, there was much else to be done in the region. Doyle's division moved to Java to disarm the Japanese troops and to give assistance to the Dutch women and children who had spent the war years in internment camps.

Here Allied troops came into conflict with the Indonesians - armed by the Japanese during the occupation - who suspected British intentions. In the clashes which resulted, many men lost their lives - a sad ending for those who had survived the long years of war.

From: Lieutenant-Colonel Paddy Doyle (behind a pay wall).

A Canadian officer’s book about his WW2 service with the MLI refers to the Mahratta Light Infantry Regimental Centre in Belgaum, south of Poona and the C.O. was a Colonel Cecil Alfred Strong, who was widely respected.

Comment: Colonel Cecil Strong, who served in the British Army for 32 years, fought in both world wars, and awarded the MC and OBE.[2] Confirmed as CWS’s father.

Later he writes: One of our Mahratta battalions (5/4th) had landed in Surabaya to help intern the remaining Japanese in Java. They didn't even have their guns loaded, and they came under withering fire which cut down seven officers and many of the men. To everyone's surprise the Indonesians didn't want the Dutch coming back to take over their richest colony. So the Indonesians took the arms the Japanese laid down when they surrendered, and used them very effectively. I volunteered to go out and take the place of the Adjutant of the Fourth Battalion of the Mahratta Light Infantry who had been killed.

The officer and 4/5th left Java via Batavia (now Jakata) on 26/11/1946.

From: Autobio 2000: A Personal View of the Twentieth Century by Robert Bow. An online publication: brow - autobio 2000, chapter 4 and a short mention by him: Honours, degree

There is an online article (behind a pay wall) concerning the death of a Brigadier Mallaby, C.O. 49th Brigade on 30/10/1945, at Surabaya (East Java) and the online summary refers to remarks by the 4/5th MLI. Negotiations between the British and Indonesian nationalists had broken down, leading to fighting 28-29/10/1945. From a 1975 article in ‘Indonesia’ via: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3350997

An officer with the Brigadier was killed and unlike the Brigadier his body was never recovered. See: 5/12th Frontier Force casualty

There is a thread on the wider aspects of this action and the last post as good reflective comment by Louis Heren, a journalist who was there:

The story of what happened in Java at the end of the war is complex and tragic. For the Indonesians, it is the proud foundation of their independence story, learned by every schoolchild. For the Dutch, it remains a painful memory of a crushing loss. In Britain, it is completely forgotten. Yet there are reasons to recall our intervention, especially as our overstretched armed forces are once again facing stringent cuts.

The commitment to Indonesia was dumped on the British by the US, and was most unwelcome at the end of six years of desperate war. SEAC was short of men and transport, and everyone was keen to get home. The army conducted itself with courage and determination, despite a greater-than-usual reluctance to risk life and limb. It started learning the lessons of guerrilla warfare and peacekeeping that stood it in good stead during the retreat from empire, right through to Northern Ireland.

A shortened line was held in Java, barely, by an inadequate number of men. Politicians who commit British forces to action need to ensure they are properly resourced. And, when it becomes evident that the task is beyond them, they must find the courage to withdraw them with due speed.

There are a few links with the thread: British Indian Army in Dutch East Indies

Via Google books a good part of the book ‘The Indian Army and the End of the Raj’ by Professor Daniel Marston, who often writes on the Indian Army, has a section on the fighting in Central Java. See: The Indian Army and the End of the Raj

Post-independence the regiment was renamed Maratha in the Indian Army, it remains active.


[1] A supporter of ‘V’ Force earlier in the war. Might this have induced CWS to serve with the MLI?

[2] From: Thanks for your military service in Iraq, but you can't have a passport

Conclusion

There is no readily available evidence that CWS served with ‘V’ Force or that he served with SOE. Official discretion and secrecy can explain that. His friend Major Franklin was a staff officer responsible for SOE liaison with the 14th Army and was a fellow MLI officer. Once the Japanese were defeated in Burma, a short time before VJ-Day, there was less need for CWS to remain with ‘V’ Force.

CWS returned to the MLI and deployed with the 4/5th to Java, and was killed alongside others in the bitter, bloody fighting at Surabaya – which continued after CWS’s death and Brigadier Mallaby’s death, which led a division being deployed and it took a month to overcome Indonesian resistance.

It is sadly ironic that under the Python policy[1] there was rule for British soldiers to return home after four years abroad – he was close to that.


[1] See: Leave - Python and Lilop

I know several members have posted on these issues, such a dryan69 and Sol.

So, if anyone has encountered Captain Strong or his father Colonel Strong please add a post. Other information is welcome.

 

Duplicate post deleted.

 

Thanks to dryan69 the doubts around CWS's death have been removed.


I have edited the opening post to reflect this information, adding the local context @ Surabaya and replacing the conclusion.

Below are screenshots from ‘Valour Enshrined: A History of the Maratha Light Infantry 1768-1947’ by Abhyankar, Lt. Col M.G. Published by Bombay: Orient Longman, in 1971.

The local context @ Surabaya, East Java is given in the others pgs and has been summarised and the screenshots below explain CWS’s death in Java.

From Pg. 482.



From Pg. 487