LEONARD WALTER THOMAS WILLIAMS 

Captain LEONARD WALTER THOMAS WILLIAMS

Royal Artillery, who died aged 36 on Wednesday, 11th March 1942. Captain Leonard W.T. Williams was the son of Walter Joseph and Lydia Maria Williams and a husband of Ena J. Williams, of Greasby, Cheshire (England). He lead the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery Detachment on Christmas Island

 

 

Christmas Island (135 sq km) is a lonely mountainous island in the Indian Ocean, south of Java Island (Indonesia) and it was incorporated into the Strait Settlements in 1900. It was important due to large deposits of phosphate of lime, which was worked by a British firm whose employees formed the entire population on the island of 1,000 (circa 1935). Today it is the territory of Australia and it has approximately 2000 inhabitants, most of them being of Chinese origin.

Despite its size, was considered strategically important because its geographical position made it, a key point for observation of sea traffic between India and Australia. And with plans already prepared by the Imperial Japanese Navy for operations in the Indian Ocean, its occupation attained even greater significance.

At the beginning of March, 1942, the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery Detachment on Christmas Island consisted of 1 British Officer (Captain Leonard W.T. Williams), 4 British N.C.O's (Sergeants Cross and Giles, Gunners Tait and Thurgood) and 27 Indian soldiers. Captain Williams was in command and, in view of the military situation at that time, was also in administrative charge of the island with Mr. T.P. Cromwell, the District Officer, as adviser. There was in addition Sikh policemen and some European civilians on the island at the time.

When a passing Japanese naval force shelled the island on 7th March, 1942, it was decided that any attempt at serious resistance was purposeless and the white flag was raised. The Japanese, however, did not land on this occasion, but nevertheless, on Captain William's orders the 6-inch gun manned by the detachment was dismantled and all small arms were withdrawn and locked up in the guardroom of the fort together with other weapons collected from the Sikh policemen and civilian residents. The keys of the guardroom were entrusted to the No.1 of the Watch, a duty performed alternately by the two most senior Indian N.C.O's, Hav. Meher Ali and Nk. Ghulam Qadir.

On 9th March, 1942, Captain Williams ordered the Union Jack to be re-hoisted in place of the white flag and the 6-inch gun was reassembled at the same time; the small arms and ammunition remained locked up in the guardroom.

On the night of 10th March, 1942, Captain Leonard Williams and the four British N.C.O's held a party to which several European residents were invited. The party ended at about 23.30 hours. In the early hours of the following morning Captain Williams and the four British N.C.O's were attacked without warning as they lay asleep in their quarters. All five were killed there and then, their bodies were thrown down a passage, used for the disposal of rubbish, into the sea. Afterwards all Europeans on the island, including the district officer, who governed it, were lined up by the Indians and told they were going to be shot. But after a long discussion between the district officer and the leaders of the mutineers the executions were postponed and the Europeans were confined under armed guard in the district officer's house.

The Japanese forces occupied the island at the end of March with no resistance being offered by the remaining Indian troops. However they weren’t able to export any significant quantities of phosphate as there was no room to build a port.

Japanese soldiers with the captured British gun

After the war 7 mutineers were traced and prosecuted by the Military Court in Singapore, and in 1947 five were sentenced to death. However, when the governments of India and Pakistan made representations against the sentences, the men were given penal servitude for life.