Philip Crosland (30 July 1918 – 14 July 2012) was "one of the last of a group of British journalists to make a career working in the Indian national press."

Life

Philip William John Crosland was born in Guildford, Surrey, eldest of four children of John and Harriet Crosland. His paternal grandfather was the writer Thomas William Hodgson Crosland. He was educated at

Kingston Grammar School Kingston Grammar School is an independent co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

. At 17 he was working as a junior reporter for the ''Essex Express and Independent'', and in October 1938, when he was 20, joined the staff of ''

The Statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

'' in Calcutta (now

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

), and was transferred to the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

office two months later. After the outbreak of

World War II 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 opposing ...

, in November 1939, Crosland received an emergency commission as an officer in the 15th Punjab Regiment of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. In May 1941 he was posted with the 2nd Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment to Kuching in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, where the battalion was to defend the landing ground. After the Japanese invasion of Borneo commenced in mid-December, the scorched earth policy was brought into play and Crosland assisted with the destruction of the oilfields at Miri and Seria and the landing ground at Kuching. When the Japanese arrived at Kuching on 24 December 1941, the Punjabis were ordered to withdraw into Dutch West Borneo to join forces with the Dutch troops there. Crosland commanded two platoons, and they joined up with the rest of the battalion at

Sanggau Sanggau Regency (; Hakka: Sîang-ngau) is a regency in the north-central section of West Kalimantan province of Indonesia. In 2003, the regency's eastern portion was made into a new regency called Sekadau, leaving Sanggau with an area of . As ...

on 29 December. A period of fighting followed when the Dutch forces and the battalion tried to prevent the Japanese from reaching Singkawang II Aerodrome, but the attack came on 24 January 1942, and running out of both food and ammunition, the Commanding Officer ordered the battalion to withdraw to the south Borneo coast. Ten weeks of arduous trekking through deep jungle followed. The battalion finally surrendered at

Kumai Kumai is a port in Central Kalimantan province in Indonesia, on the island of Borneo. It lies on the Kumai River. It was from here that the ''M/V Senopati Nusantara'' set out on its ill-fated voyage in December 2006. Administratively, Kumai is ...

in April 1942. Along with the remnants of the 2/15th battalion, Crosland was incarcerated in several POW camps:

Tanjung Priok Tanjung Priok is a district of North Jakarta, Indonesia. It hosts the western part of the city's main harbor, the Port of Tanjung Priok (located in Tanjung Priok District and Koja District). The district of Tanjung Priok is bounded by Laksaman ...

at Batavia (now Jakarta) in Java, which they left on 22 September 1942 for Singapore. After about two weeks in Singapore they reached

Batu Lintang camp Batu Lintang camp (also known as Lintang Barracks and Kuching POW camp) at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war (POWs) ...

in Kuching on 13 October 1942, where they were to spend the rest of the war, housed in the very army barracks that had been built for the 2/15th Punjabis before the invasion. The camp was liberated in September 1945.Ooi, Keat Gin, 1998, Japanese Empire in the Tropics: Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak, Northwest Borneo, 1941–1945 Ohio University Center for International Studies, Monographs in International Studies, SE Asia Series 101 (2 vols), 610, 626–7 Crosland returned to work at ''The Statesman'' at Calcutta in June 1946. In September 1955, he was appointed News Editor for the Delhi edition of the paper. He became Resident Editor in April 1962, then was transferred back to Calcutta as Deputy Editor in August 1963, and in March 1965 he was appointed Chief Administrative Officer. He also wrote for papers such as the ''

Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the domi ...

'', the ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' (Melbourne), ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', sometimes under the pseudonym Jonathan Swayne. Crosland returned to England in 1967 to be with his family. He worked for the

Central Office of Information The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a ...

and on the editorial staff of the ''

Surrey Advertiser The ''Surrey Advertiser'' is a newspaper for Surrey, England which was established in 1864 and gradually evolved into the Surrey Advertiser Group of seven more localised titles. Guardian Media Group sold the Group to Trinity Mirror in 2010. The o ...

''. He finally retired from journalism at the age of 80. A contribution by Crosland was included in the 2010 publication ''Sahibs Who Loved India'', edited by

Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...

Personal life

Crosland married Joy Shaw in 1946, and they had a son and a daughter. His wife predeceased him in 2007.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Statesman'' (Delhi), 16 July 2012

* ttp://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article3499555.ece Obituary in ''The Times'', 7 August 2012 (paywall)
Obituary in the ''Press Gazette'', 7 August 2012

Personal reflection by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray in ''The Deccan Chronicle''

Letter in ''The Statesman'' about Crosland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosland, Philip 1918 births 2012 deaths People educated at Kingston Grammar School World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Prisoners of war at Batu Lintang camp British male journalists Punjab Regiment officers Indian Army personnel of World War II Indian prisoners of war British World War II prisoners of war British expatriates in India