Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Lanceray Arthur Newnham (3 August 1889 – 18 December 1943), known as Lance or Lan Newnham, was a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer. He was posthumously awarded the
George Cross
The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...
for the gallantry he showed in resisting Japanese torture during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Early life
Newnham was born on 3 August 1889 in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Tristram H. Newnham and his wife, Ekaterina. He was educated in England, at
Bedales School
Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventio ...
First World War
Newnham was first deployed to France to join the
British Expeditionary Force as a Captain with the
Middlesex Regiment
The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...
(Duke of Cambridge's Own) in August 1915.
On 5 February 1916 he was appointed as the Brigade Major, 169th (Infantry) Brigade,
56th (London) Division
The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. ...
, Territorial Force, holding the post through the severe fighting of the
Somme Offensive
The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...
of 1916 and the
Arras Offensive of 1917, until relinquishing it on 27 May 1917. He then served for five months as General Staff Officer 2nd Class at the New Zealand Divisional Headquarters. On 1 January 1917 Captain Newnham was awarded the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
for service during the First World War. He ended the war with the rank of temporary
Brigadier-General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
.
On 7 January 1918 he married Phillys Edith Henderson at St. Mary's Church, Finchely, Middlesex, England. (Marriage Register, England & Wales).
Second World War
Newnham was serving with the
British Army Aid Group
The British Army Aid Group (B.A.A.G.) was a para-military organisation for British and Allied forces in southern China during the Second World War. The B.A.A.G. was officially classified in the British Army's order of battle as an MI9 unit ...
in
British Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...
at the start of the Second World War. He was taken prisoner when the Japanese
invaded Hong Kong in December 1941 and, with Captain
Douglas Ford and Flight Lieutenant
Hector Bertram Gray worked to contact British agents and organise a mass escape. The Japanese discovered the plan and arrested the trio, torturing them in
Stanley Prison
Stanley Prison (c. January 1937, previously known as Hong Kong Prison at Stanley) is one of the six maximum security facilities in Hong Kong.
History
Built in 1937, Stanley Prison is currently the oldest institution still in service (the old ...
in an effort to gain more information. They refused to divulge any further names despite being beaten, starved and threatened with death. They were killed by
firing squad
Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
in
Sham Shui Prison Camp on 18 December 1943.
He is buried at the
Stanley Military Cemetery
Stanley Military Cemetery is a cemetery located near St. Stephen's Beach in Stanley, Hong Kong. Along with the larger Hong Kong (Happy Valley) Cemetery, it is one of two military cemeteries of the early colonial era, used for the burials ...
in Hong Kong.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Colonel Lanceray Arthur Newnham GC
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Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newnham, Lanceray Arthur
1889 births
People educated at Bedales School
1943 deaths
Military personnel of British India
Middlesex Regiment officers
British recipients of the George Cross
Recipients of the Military Cross
British Army personnel killed in World War II
British Army generals of World War I
People executed by Japan by firing squad
20th-century executions by Japan
Executed British people
British torture victims
World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
British World War II prisoners of war
Burials at Stanley Military Cemetery
British people in colonial India