| Ian MacAlister Stewart | |
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Lt.Col. Ian MacAlister Stewart (centre), commander of the Argylls advances through a mangrove swamp in Bukit Timah with Major Angus MacDonald (left) and Sgt-Major Munnoch. (right)
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| Allegiance | Great Britain |
| Rank | Brigadier-General |
| Unit | Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders |
| Commands | 2nd Bn, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Indian 12th Infantry Brigade British 144th Infantry Brigade |
Ian MacAlister Stewart, 13th Laird of Achnacone was a British Army officer. Stewart's military career was dominated by his service with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a regiment that he was so wedded to that when he was given command of the 2nd Battalion in the 1930s some of his brother officers did not even realise that he was married with a daughter. He even refused a position at the staff college at Camberley to remain with his battalion thereby losing the only way to senior command. At the out break of the Second World War Stewart was very happily still in command of the 2nd Battalion. Stewart was one of the few British officers to realise the need for training in Jungle warfare that would be necessary in order to defeat the Japanese in a war in Malaya. Due to this obsession with jungle training Stewart earned himself a reputation as a crank amongst the more traditional minded officers of Malay Command[1]. In early 1941 after his battalion had been transferred from India to Malaya, Stewart began rigorously training his men and developing new tactics to fight in all of the extreme and hostile natural terrain of Malaya. When the 2nd Argylls were thrown into the battle in early December 1941 they were to prove one of the few effective units the Japanese would face in their rapid advance down the peninsular, inflicting heavy casualties in every engagement. Sadly their effectiveness meant that they were continuously used as the buffer and suffered massive casualties as a result[2]. Stewart was temporarily given command of the Indian 12th Infantry Brigade after Brig.Paris took over the Indian 11th Infantry Division in late December 1941. He was in command of this brigade during the disastrous Battle of Slim River which was where the Argylls suffered their worst casualties[3].
Stewart soon returned to his beloved Argylls in Singapore after they had been decimated in the fighting on the mainland. The Argylls were reformed with Royal Marines, survivors from the H.M.S. Prince of Wales and the H.M.S. Repulse, becoming known as the Plymouth Argylls.[4] He was evacuated unwillingly from Singapore before it's surrender due to the need for experienced officers and men who had proven ability to fight the Japanese Army successfully, an ability rare in the British Army at this time. What was left of the Plymouth Argyll Battalion were surrendered with three captains in command and marched into captivity behind their piper. According to some witnesses hundreds of other British Empire soldiers stood to attention as they marched past. Only 52 Argylls managed to escape before Singapore surrendered and make it to Ceylon. Many others were killed or captured when the ships they were escaping on were sunk by Japanese surface and air attack, like Major Angus MacDonald (pictured with Stewart and Sgt.Maj.Munnoch) who died on The Rooseboom. By the end of the war he had been promoted to Brigadier and was in command of the 144th Infantry Brigade. Stewart wrote the book 'The Thin Red Line, 2nd Argylls in Malaya' (Thomas Nelson, 1947) which was reprinted by the Argyll and Sutherland Regimental Museum.
External links
- Ian MacAlister Stewart at Orders of Battle.com?
- Appin Stewarts
- Plymouth Argylls
- The Armed Forces web site
References
- ^ pp 270-279 Colin Smith
- ^ Colin Smith
- ^ Ian MacAlister Stewart at Orders of Battle.com?
- ^ pp445,484,506,519 Colin Smith
Books
- Colin Smith (2006). Singapore Burning. England: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-101036-6.
