Researching in Colyton Cemetery, Devon, I came across a gravestone commemoration for Major M H Hodson, Killed in Action 30-10-45, aged 27. CWGC has him as Captain Michael Harry Hodson (Record shows him first as Major - crossed out - then as Captain - so presumably he was an Acting Major) from the 5/12th Frontier Force Regiment, and commemorated on the Singapore Memorial. In what action would he have been killed so long after the war ended - and why was there no body to bury?
Although he was an officer of 5/12 FFR, that battalion did not serve in the Far East. He was actually the BM of 49 Indian Brigade and was killed at Soerabaja in Java. He was killed/murdered by the Indonesians on the same day as his Brigadier, AWS Mallaby. There is a very good book which covers these events; 'The British Occupation of Indonesia 1945-1946' by Richard McMillan. It is not a pretty story, I'm afraid.
There are several threads here that feature the name Mallaby; this one appears to be the main one: British Indian Army in Dutch East Indies McMillan's book is based on his thesis and that is available for free! Use the link next.
Mallaby is on CWGC as being buried at Jakarta. What happened to Hodson's body that there appears to have been no burial, and he is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial?
He was murdered and his body was not recovered. This was not unusual in the Far East; the Singapore and Rangoon Memorials between them record more than 50,000 names of those that have no known grave.
Strangely, he is not commemorated on the memorials in Colyton. CWGC gives his parents as being from there - and he is commemorated on his father's (Col. HVR Hodson, d. 1967) grave in the Cemetery - so it's a bit of a puzzle as to why he is not listed in the village. He appears on the online Roll of Honour for the Imperial Service College, but I cannot find whether they also had a physical memorial anywhere.
He is included in the officers' roll of honour in Condon's regimental history, but couldn't see anything under the 5/12 or MG/12 entries (the latter were out there as well).
Neither 5/12 FFR nor 12 FFR MG Bn were in Java. 5/12 never served in the Far East and the MG Bn were in Sumatra. As I mentioned above Hodson was the Brigade Major of 49 Indian Infantry Brigade, which consisted of two Mahratta Light Infantry battalions and one of Rajputana Rifles.
I realise 5/12 were elsewhere but looked on the basis that he might have got a mention as one of their own. It was a similar logic for the MG Bn - a possible mention within the regimental family.
