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 ...

. He was awarded the George Cross

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), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' ...

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) award for bravery out of combat, was announced in a supplement to the London Gazette of 16 April 1946 as being awarded for the 'most conspicuous gallantry.' He was taken prisoner when Japan 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 Delta i ...

in December 1941 after the Battle of Hong Kong. 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. 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.

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

See also

References

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