Lanceray Arthur NEWNHAM [1889-1943]

Submitted by annpake on Thu, 10/27/2022 - 14:39
Names
Given
Lanceray Arthur
Family
Newnham
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
Birthplace (town, state)
Simla, Bengal
Birthplace (country)
India
Died
Date
Died in (country)
Hong Kong
Cause of death
Executed by Japanese

Marriage 7 January 1918 St Mary's Church Finchley

Bride Phyllis Edith Henderson age 22 Spinster

Groom Lanceray Arthur Newnham age 28 Bachelor Officer in the Army Son of Albert Tristram Herbert Newnham Colonel in the Army

Colonel Lanceray Arthur Newnham G.C., M.C.  born 3 August 1889 Simla Bengal India Died by execution 18 December 1943 Hong Kong

Wiki Colonel Lanceray Arthur Newnham GC MC, known as Lance or Lan Newnham, was a British Army officer. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross for the gallantry he showed in resisting Japanese torture during the Second World Warorce.

1914 - 1918 War Captain Lanceray Arthur Newnham  New Zealand Expeditionary Force was awarded a Military Cross on 1 January 1917

Passenger List Hong Kong to Southampton arriving November 1945 

Phyllis E Newnham age 50 UK Address Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire

Probate Calendar 1946 Lanceray Arthur Newnham 

Probate granted to Phyllis Edith Newnham widow and Claude Tristram Newnham Squadron Leader R.A.F.

Tags

Connections: This person is ...
Spouse of
Phyllis Edith NEWNHAM (née HENDERSON) [1895-????]

Photos that show this Person

Comments

In “The Myth of Unpreparedness: The Origins of Anti-Japanese Resistance in Prewar Hong Kong”, Anne Ozorio wrote:

Early in 1940 Kendall was approached by Col LA Newnham, in his capacity in charge of Military Intelligence, and asked to set up a small unit of civilians and volunteers.

Can anyone shed some light on Newnham's actual position and role at this time?

There is some discrepancy with regard to whom asked Mike Kendall to set up Z Special Force. In a 1968 interview, he stated:

Early in 1940 I was asked by the G.O.C. Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Warfare, to organize a group of Europeans and Chinese to form a sabotage group with the purpose of harassing the Japanese in the event they occupied Hong Kong.

The G.O.C. Hong Kong at the time was Major General A. E. Grasett. Could it be that Newnham approached Kendall on behalf of Grasett, and as the request was ultimately from Grasset, that Kendall would have remembered it as such?