Captain Mateen Ahmed Ansari
GC (15 December 1916 – 29 October 1943) of the 5th Battalion,
7th Rajput Regiment
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...
, in the
Indian Army during World War II
The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.Sumner, p.25 By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, ...
, and member of 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 t ...
.
He was 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 ...
posthumous
Posthumous may refer to:
* Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death
* Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death
* Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987
* ...
ly. The decoration, the highest
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(and
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
) award for bravery out of combat, was announced in a supplement to the
London Gazette
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
of 16 April 1946
as being awarded for the 'most conspicuous gallantry.'
He was taken prisoner when
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
occupied
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
in December 1941 after the
Battle of Hong Kong
The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...
. After the Japanese discovered that he was related to the ruler of one of the
Princely States
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...
they demanded that he renounce his allegiance to the British and foment discontent in the ranks of Indian prisoners in the prison camps.
[ This page gives both 20 October and 29 October as the date of his death. Th]
overall pages
for Stanley Military Cemetery suggest that 29 October is correct He refused and was thrown into the notorious
Stanley Jail in May 1942 where he was starved and brutalised. And also held in
Ma Tau Chung Camp Ma Tau Chung Camp () was an internment camp in Ma Tau Chung, Hong Kong during the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong during World War II.Antiquities Advisory BoardList of Internment Camps in Hong Kong during the Japanese Occupation (1941 – 1945)/ref ...
, where he expended efforts to counter Japanese recruiting work for the collaborationist
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...
. When he remained firm in his allegiance to the British on his return to the prison camps he was again incarcerated in Stanley Jail where he was starved and tortured for five months. He was then returned to the original camp, where he continued in his allegiance to the British, and even helped to organise escape attempts by other prisoners.
He was sentenced to death, with over thirty other British, Chinese and Indian prisoners and beheaded on 29 October 1943.
He is buried in
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.
See also
*
List of George Cross recipients
The George Cross (GC) is the second highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. It is awarded for gallantry not "in the presence of the enemy" to both members of the British armed forces and to British civilians. Posthumous awards have a ...
References
External links
CWGC: Mateen Ansari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Mateen Ahmed
British Indian Army officers
Indian recipients of the George Cross
Executed Indian people
World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
1916 births
1943 deaths
Indian prisoners of war
Indian people executed abroad
20th-century executions by Japan
People executed by Japan by decapitation
Indian Army personnel killed in World War II
Indian torture victims
Burials at Stanley Military Cemetery
Military personnel of British India