Forgotten Wars Read online

  Forgotten Wars

  BY THE SAME AUTHORS

  Forgotten Armies: Britain’s Asian empire and the war with Japan

  CHRISTOPHER BAYLY AND TIM HARPER

  Forgotten Wars

  The End of Britain’s Asian Empire

  ALLEN LANE

  an imprint of

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  ALLEN LANE

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

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  First published 2007

  1

  Copyright © Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper, 2007

  The moral right of the authors has been asserted

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright

  reserved above, no part of this publication may be

  reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,

  or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,

  photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior

  written permission of both the copyright owner and

  the above publisher of this book

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN: 978-0-14-190980-6

  Contents

  List of Illustrations

  Maps

  Some Key Characters

  Preface

  Prologue: An Unending War

  1. 1945: Interregnum

  The New Asia

  The last journey of Subhas Chandra Bose

  Nations without states

  Three weeks in Malaya

  The fall of Syonan

  2. 1945: The Pains of Victory

  Burma intransigent

  India: the key

  Bengal on the brink

  The reckoning

  3. 1945: A Second Colonial Conquest

  ‘Black Market Administration’

  A world upside down

  Liberal imperialism and New Democracy

  ‘Malaya for the Malays, not the Malayans’

  4. 1945: The First Wars of Peace

  The crescent regained

  Britain’s forgotten war in Vietnam

  Britain and the birth of Indonesia

  Freedom or death in Surabaya

  5. 1946: Freedom without Borders

  The passing of the Malayan Spring

  Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat

  British and Indian mutinies

  Dorman-Smith’s Waterloo

  A new world order?

  6. 1946: One Empire Unravels, Another Is Born

  The killing begins

  Britain’s terminal crisis in Burma

  The burial of the dead

  Business as usual in Malaya

  7. 1947: At Freedom’s Gate

  The last days of the Raj

  The crescent fragments: Bengal divided

  Tragedy in Rangoon

  Disaster approaches

  8. 1947: Malaya on the Brink

  The crescent fragments: orphans of empire

  Malaya’s forgotten regiments

  The strange disappearance of Mr Wright

  ‘Beware, the danger from the mountain’

  A people’s constitution

  9. 1948: A Bloody Dawn

  Boys’ Day in Burma

  The genesis of communist rebellion

  A summer of anarchy

  Karens and Britons

  India recedes, India reborn

  10. 1948: The Malayan Revolution

  A third world war?

  The frontier erupts

  Calls to arms

  Sten guns and stengahs

  The road to Batang Kali

  11. 1949: The Centre Barely Holds

  Britain, India and the coming of the Cold War

  The centre barely holds

  The battle for the ulu

  Freedom and revolution

  The generation of 1950

  Epilogue: The End of Britain’s Asian Empire

  Freedom, slowly and gently

  Freedom from fear?

  Flawed memories

  A flawed inheritance

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Index

  List of Illustrations

  1. Surrendered Japanese troops in Burma, August 1945 (Imperial War Museum)

  2. Japanese troops clearing the Singapore Padang before the surrender ceremony, 12 September 1945 (Imperial War Museum)

  3. Lt General Seishiro Itagaki signing the surrender, Singapore, 12 September 1945 (Empics)

  4. Mountbatten announces the surrender of the Japanese in Singapore, September, 1945 (Corbis)

  5. A forgotten army: surrendered Japanese in north Malaya, November 1945 (Empics)

  6. Seagrave’s return, 1945 (Getty)

  7. Leclerc and Gracey with Japanese sword of surrender, Saigon, 1945 (Corbis)

  8. Soldiers of the Parachute Regiment, Java, 1945 (Imperial War Museum)

  9. Bengal sappers and miners watch the reprisal burning of the village of Bekassi, Java, 1945 (Imperial War Museum)

  10. Imperialism’s return? Christison in Java, 1946 (Getty)

  11. Sukarno addresses an ‘ocean’ rally, Java, 1946 (Getty)

  12. Charisma and revolution: Sukarno, Java, 1946 (Getty)

  13. Nehru’s arrival at Kalling Airport, Singapore, April 1946 (Imperial War Museum)

  14. Macdonald inspects the Malay Regiment, Kuala Lumpur, 1946 (Imperial War Museum)

  15. Dorman Smith leaves Burma, June 1946 (Imperial War Museum)

  16. Muslim rioters and the corpse of a Hindu, Calcutta, August 1946 (Corbis)

  17. India’s interim government at their swearing in, Delhi 1946 (Corbis)

  18. Aung San and Attlee, London, January 1947 (Getty)

  19. Aung San and family, 1947 (Popperfoto)

  20. The Mountbattens in Delhi, eve of independence, August 1947 (Getty)

  21. Celebrating independence in Calcutta, August 1947 (Getty)

  22. Ending the Burmese days: Rance and Burma’s president, January 1948 (Corbis)

  23. Communist suspect, Malaya c. 1949 (Imperial War Museum)

  24. Bren gun and stengah: rubber planter in Malaya, 1949 (Getty)

  25. Chinese peasants being arrested by Malay policemen, April 1949 (Getty)

  26. Dyak trackers in Malaya, c. 1949 (Imperial War Museum)

  27. The sultan expects: the ruler of Selangor inspects Malay special constables on rubber estate, 1949 (Imperial War Museum)

  28. Hearts and minds: a propaganda leaflet drop, 1948 (Imperial War Musuem)

  29. Imperial Twilight: Drinks party at Malcolm MacDonald’s residence, Bukit Serene, 1949 (Getty)

  30. Fighting during the
Karen insurgency, 1949 (Getty)

  31. The quiet man: Ne Win in London for military training, 1949 (Corbis)

  32. The man with the plan: Templer with the Home Guard, Kinta, 1942 (Getty)

  33. Bandung spirits: Nasser, Nu and Nehru celebrating the Burmese Water Festival, 1955 (Corbis)

  34. Chin Peng at Baling, December 1955, with his old Force 136 ally, John Davis (Corbis)

  Some Key Characters

  Abdul Razak bin Hussein (b. 1922). Malay politician. Served in the war as a district officer; studied law in London, where he became a close associate and political ally of Tunku Abdul Rahman. Succeeded him to become second prime minister of Malaysia, 1970–76.

  Amery, Rt Hon. Leopold, MP (b. 1873). Conservative politician. Secretary of state for India and Burma, 1940–45.

  Attlee, Rt Hon. Clement Richard (b. 1883). Labour politician. Deputy prime minister, 1942–5; prime minister, July 1945–1952; defence minister to 1946.

  Auchinleck, General Claude (b. 1884). Commander North African Front, 1940–42, Commander-in-Chief, India, 1943–7; co-ordinated India base for the Burma campaign.

  Aung San, Thakin or ‘Bogyoke’ (General) (b. 1916). Leading Burmese revolutionary. Commander of Burma Independence Army, 1942; defence minister under Ba Maw, 1943–5. President of Anti-Fascist People’s Front Freedom League; member of Governor’s Executive Council 1946–7. Assassinated July 1947.

  Ba Maw (b. 1893). Lawyer, politician and prime minister of Burma, 1937–9. Emerged as main collaborator with Japanese in 1942 and became ‘Adipadi’ (first man) of independent Burma in 1943. Fled to Tokyo; imprisoned by Allies 1945; returned to Burma in 1946; interned following 1947 assassinations.

  Boestamam, Ahmad (b. 1920). Born Abdullah Sani bin Raja Kechil. Malay novelist, journalist and politician. Founder and leader of Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, 1946–8. Detained 1948–55. Founder Partai Rakyat and leader of Socialist Front in parliament after 1959. Detained again during ‘Confrontation’ with Indonesia.

  Bose, Subhas Chandra (b. 1897). Bengali politician and radical leader within Forward Bloc of Congress. Arrested by British 1940, fled to Berlin 1941. Took over leadership of Indian National Army and Free India government 1943. Retreated from Imphal with Japanese in 1944. Presumed dead in plane crash, August 1945.

  Burhanuddin al-Helmy, Dr (b. 1911). Leader of Malay Nationalist Party, 1945–7. Detained after Nadrah riots and on release became leader of Parti Islam Se-Malaya. Detained again during ‘Confrontation’ with Indonesia.

  Chiang Kai Shek (b. 1887). Chinese nationalist leader and ‘generalissimo’ of Chinese armies fighting Japan since 1936; drawn into fighting in Burma during 1942 to keep the ‘Burma Road’ open. Pressed for Allied campaign against Burma, 1943–4. Fought and lost civil war with Mao Zedong, 1946–9.

  Chin Peng (b. 1924). Party name of Ong Boon Hua. Communist liaison officer with Force 136 in Perak, Malaya. Secretary general of the Malayan Communist Party from 1947 and led rebellion against the colonial government 1948–60. Resident in China from 1960. Signed a peace accord with the Malaysian government in 1989.

  Christison, Lt General Sir Philip (b. 1893). Commanded 15 Indian Corps in Burma. Took surrender of Singapore and commanded in Indonesia. Later became ADC to King George VI.

  Creech Jones, Arthur (b. 1891). Labour Colonial Secretary, 1946–50, having earlier headed the Fabian Colonial Bureau.

  Cripps, Sir Richard Stafford (b. 1889). Labour politician. As Leader of the House of Commons in 1942, visited India to treat with Indian National Congress (the Cripps mission), and again with Labour government’s Cabinet Mission in 1946. Chancellor of the Exchequer from November 1947.

  Davis, John. A policeman in Perak before the war; senior Force 136 officer in Malaya, 1943–5. Afterwards a district officer in Malaya; escorted old comrade Chin Peng to the abortive Baling peace talks in 1955.

  Donnison, Colonel Frank S. V. (b. 1898). Civil servant. Secretary to Burmese government, 1939–41 and its representative in Delhi, 1942–3. Commissioned, joined Civil Administration Secretariat (Burma) during re-conquest, 1944–5; later wrote official history of the war and military administration in the Far East.

  Dorman-Smith, Sir Reginald (b. 1899). Governor of Burma, 1941–6, escaped from Myitkyina 1942. Exiled in Simla. Returned as civil Governor of Burma autumn 1945. Replaced by Attlee government May 1946.

  Eng Ming Chin (b. 1924). Joined the Malayan Communist Party in Perak in 1940 and played a leading role as a women’s activist in the ‘open’ organization of the party after 1945. Took to the jungle in 1948, and assigned to the Malay 10th Regiment. In 1955 married Abdullah C. D. and took the name Suraini Abdullah.

  Furnivall, J. S., ICS (b. 1878). Retired Burma civil servant and Fabian socialist, well connected with radical Burmese Thakins. Advised on reconstruction of Burma in Simla, 1943–4; returned to Burma after independence as an economic adviser.

  Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (b. 1869). Symbolic head of Indian National Congress. Apostle of non-violence. Headed the anti-British Quit India movement of 1942. Jailed by the British for much of the rest of the war, during which time he staged a hunger strike. Assassinated January 1948.

  Gent, Sir Edward (b. 1895). Colonial civil servant. As head of Eastern Section, played a major role in devising Malayan Union Plan. Governor of Malayan Union, 1946–8. Killed in an air crash on recall to London after the outbreak of the Emergency in June 1948.

  Gracey, General Douglas (b. 1894). Commanded 20th Indian Division, 14th Army at Imphal and Kohima 1944. Occupied Saigon, French Indo-China, August 1945 to February 1946. Effectively handed back southern Indo-China to French colonial government. Chief of Staff of Pakistan Army, February 1948 to January 1951.

  Gurney, Sir Henry Lovell Goldsworthy (b. 1898). Career colonial servant; formerly Chief Secretary in Gold Coast and Palestine before replacing Sir Edward Gent as High Commissioner in Malaya, 1948. Oversaw the early stages of the Emergency until his assassination by the communists on the way to the hill station of Fraser’s Hill in October 1951.

  Hirohito, Showa, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901). Implicated in aggressive Japanese policies in China and Southeast Asia. Remained on throne 1945, under American tutelage.

  Hussein bin Onn (b. 1922). Malay politician. Son of Onn bin Jaafar. Served in Indian Army during war; then led UMNO Youth until 1951 when he left with his father to form the Independence for Malaya Party. Joined UMNO in 1968 to become third prime minister of Malaysia, 1976–81.

  Ibrahim, Sultan of Johore (b. 1873). Independent-minded sultan of peninsular Malaya’s southernmost state; ruled from 1895 until 1959.

  Ishak bin Haji Mohamed (b. 1910). One of the leading Malay novelists and journalists of his generation. Leader of the Malay Nationalist Party after Dr Burhanuddin and played leading role in PUTERA-AMCJA. Detained 1948–54.

  Khatijah Sidek (b. 1918). Women’s activist and politician. Born in west Sumatra, where she led a women’s paramilitary organization during the Indonesian revolution. Took struggle to Malaya, but detained in 1948. Led UMNO’s women’s wing, but was expelled for radical views and later joined the Parti Islam Se-Malaya. Died in poverty in 1982.

  Khin Myo Chit (b. 1915). Socialist radical, Buddhist and literary figure. Women’s official in Ba Maw’s government, 1943–5. Teacher in Rangoon University after the war.

  Knight, Sir Henry (b. 1886). Joined Indian Civil Service in 1909. Acting Governor Bombay, 1945, Madras, 1946, and Burma, June–August 1946.

  Lai Teck (b. 1900?). Best-known alias of the Vietnamese-born secretary general of the Malayan Communist Party. Exposed as a British and Japanese agent in 1947; fled to Bangkok, where he was assassinated later the same year.

  Laithwaite, Sir Gilbert (b. 1894). Assistant undersecretary of state, India Office, 1943; undersecretary of state, War Cabinet, 1944–5; deputy undersecretary of state for Burma from 1945.

  Lee, H. S. (Hau Shik) (b. 1901). Industrialist and leader of the Selangor Chinese. Active in the Kuomintang (he held the rank of colonel) and
then the Malayan Chinese Association. Brokered the MCA’s first electoral alliance with UMNO in the Kuala Lumpur municipal elections of 1952. First finance minister of independent Malaya.

  Lee Kong Chian (b. 1894). Rubber tycoon and philanthropist. Son-in-law to Tan Kah Kee and leading spokesman of the Chinese of Singapore.

  Lee Kuan Yew (b. 1923). Singaporean politician. A student at the elite Raffles Institution in Singapore in 1942. Worked as a translator for the Japanese during the war, then studied in Cambridge and at the London Bar. Founded the People’s Action Party in 1954; prime minister of Singapore, 1959–90; after stepping down, continued to exercise a leading political role.

  Leyden, John L. (b. 1904). Joined the Burma Frontier Service in 1927. Well connected with Kachins and Chins; involved in covert operations 1942–3. Returned to Frontier Areas Administration 1946.

  Liew Yao (b. 1918). Leading military commander of the MPAJA. An early casualty in the Emergency when intercepted at Kajang, Selangor, June 1948.

  Lim Chin Siong (b. 1933). Charismatic Singaporean left-wing trade unionist and politician. Detained 1955–7 and again 1963–9. After release went into exile in England; later returned to Singapore but never re-entered politics.

  Listowel, 5th earl of (William Francis Hare) (b. 1906) Labour politician. Parliamentary undersecretary for India and Burma, 1944–5; secretary of state for India and Burma from April 1947 and for Burma only from August 1947. Visited Burma 1947.

  MacDonald, Malcolm John (b. 1901). Governor general, 1946–8, and commissioner general, 1948–55, in Southeast Asia. Son of Ramsay MacDonald. Served as a reforming colonial secretary, 1935, 1938–40, and dominion secretary, 1935–8, 1938–9. Later high commissioner in India, governor of Kenya and special representative in East and Central Africa.

  Mahathir Mohamad (b. 1923). Malay politician. A medical student in Singapore after the war, and author of occasional newspaper columns on Malay affairs. Later joined UMNO and became fourth prime minister of Malaysia, 1981–2003.

  Mahomed Ali Jinnah (b. 1876). President of the All-India Muslim League, 1916, 1920 and from 1934. First Governor General of Pakistan from August 1947. Died 1948.