British Brigadier Murdered

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23346, 1 November 1945, Page 5

British Brigadier Murdered

Action Of Extremists In Sourabaya Severe Retaliation Threatened By Telegraph—N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright (Received 11.40 p.m.) BATAVIA, October 31. gRIGADIER A. W. F. Mallaby, Commander of ths 49th Indian Infantry Brigade in the British occupying forces in Sourabaya, was murdered at 6 oclock last evening, while arranging details of the cease fire order in the company of Indonesian leaders in Sourabaya. Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Christison, Commander of the Allied Forces in the Netherlands East Indies, said that Brigadier Mallaby had been “foully murdered.”

Sir Philip Christison added that the news was brought to headquarters by two Allied officers who were with Brigadier Mallaby at the time and who escaped. Dr. Soekarno (Indonesian “President”) has been ordered to appear at Sir Philip Christison’s Headquarters at 10.30 this morning. Asked whether Dr. Soekarno would be held responsible for the murder of Brigadier Mallaby, Sir Philip replied “obviously.”

It is now known that Brigadier Mallaby was murdered while actually in conference with Indonesian extremist leaders about the procedure to ensure full compliance with the cease fire order.

Sir Philip Christison has issued fresh orders to deal with the situation. He broadcast the following statement: “These direct and unprovoked attacks upon British forces cannot under any circumstances be permitted and, unless the Indonesians who have committed these acts surrender to my forces, I intend to bring the whole weight of my sea, land and air forces and all the weapons of modern war against them until they are crushed. If in this process innocent Indonesians should be killed or wounded, the whole responsibility will rest on those Indonesians who have committed the crimes I have named. I warn all Indonesians throughout Java that they should co-operate with my forces and live in peace and harmony with them. For, if force is used against my troops, it will be met with force. lam determined to maintain law and order and I look to all good Indonesians to support me in this task.”

Indonesians in Sourabaya were able to arm themselves when a Dutch naval officer against orders accepted the surrender of the Japanese a month ago, said Sir Philip Christison at a Press conference after receiving the news of Brigadier Mallaby’s murder. The Japanese willingly gave up a large stock of arms, equipment, tanks and armoured cars, much of which fell into the hands of the Indonesians. The Dutch captain (Huijer) was then naval officer-in-charge-elect at Sourabaya under Rear-Admiral W. R. Patterson, whose written instructions were that he should not accept surrender until the British forces arrived. HuiJer's conduct was a matter for the Dutch. General Nakamura (Japanese Commander in Central Java), who was held responsible for the handing over of the arms, had been arrested and sent to Singapore. Drastic Action Necessary Lieutenant-General H. L. van Oyen, Dutch Commander-in-Chief, said he felt the situation could be handled, if sufficiently drastic action were taken. He said that the present troubles could have been avoided if it had been possible to land a force in Java soon after Japan's capitulation and there would not have been time for an independence movement to grow. The shipping situation made that impossible. Considering the enormous drawbacks which the British faced when the reoccupation task was transferred to the

South-east Asia Command, he felt they had done in the circumstances a far better and quicker job than could have been expected. He felt that the situation could still be easily controlled as long as the authorities did not believe that the whole 45,000,000 population of Java wanted independence. He thought those making the trouble numbered not more than 40,000. He exnressed the view that the Dutch would be able to take over without trouble when the task of the occupation forces was completed. It was a pciicing rather than a military proposition. He expected the first Dutch forces from Holland by the middle of November and 17 battalions by March. After the killing of Brigadier Mallaby, fighting flared up again in Sourabaya. More British and Indian casualties are reported. Fresh disturbances have broken out at Semarang, according to the Netherlands News Agency. Troops and ammunition are being flown in. Captain J. L. Willinge, Chief-of-Staff of the Dutch Navy, said that Catain Huijer went to Sourabaya on September 20. After one week lie was confined to his hotel by the Nationalists. According to the latest indirect renorts Huijer is safe. The entire Pontianak area of Southwest Borneo is under Allied control, following the failure of Indonesian attempts to seize power. Australian troops restored order after a few minor clashes. Dutch troops are now in control.