Major Cecil Boon of the Royal Army Service Corps, an army dancing champion before WWII, was named the Chief Administrator Officer by the occupying Japanese Imperial Army with the responsibility of the overall administration of the Sham Shui Po POW Camp. He was hated by the bulk of his fellow POWs who called him "Cissy" and "Queen of all stooges". They saw him as a mouthpiece for the Japanese military. Major Boon had his own network of cronies who informed him of the camp's gossips which he then relayed to his Japanese superiors. Boon, in his defence, claimed that the POWs were better off to be punished by him and his cronies than by the Japanese. He was arrested after the war as a collaborator and was court-martialled over 22 days in London. On 21st September 1946 he was acquited and exonerated of all 11 charges of aiding the Japanese whilst being a POW.
There is a thumbnail sketch of Major Cecil Boon in Charles G. Roland's The ABCs of Survival behind Barbed Wire: Experience in the Far East, 1941-45
Comments
Military Records
Military Records
First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Nationality: British
Information: Special Appointment Class FF
Rank: Lieutenant
Service: British Army
Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps
Battalion: 3rd Echelon
Seniority Date: 27/05/1920
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First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Nationality: British
Information: Removed from the Corps and still on the Active List
Rank: Lieutenant
Duty Location: Iraq
Service: British Army
Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps
Seniority Date: 14/10/1921
Source: UK Army List 1922
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First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Incident Date: 1923
Rank: Lieutenant
Clasps Awarded: Iraq
Authority: Army Order 4 of 1923
Service: British Army
Primary Unit: Royal Army Service Corps
Source: WO100/421
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First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Nationality: British
Rank: Captain
Duty Location: Glasgow
Service: British Army
Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps
Seniority Date: 20/10/1930
Source: UK Army List 1936
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First Name: C
Surame: Boon
Nationality: British
Rank: Major
Duty Location: Glasgow
Service: British Army
Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps
Seniority Date: 01/08/1938
Source: UK Army List 1939
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First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Nationality: British
Information: Deputy Assistant Quarter-Master-General., R.A.S.C.
Rank: Major
Service: British Army
Regiment: War Office
Battalion: Commands and Staff
Seniority Date: 28/07/1941
Source: UK ARmy List 1942
First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Fate: Prisoner of War
Incident Details: Reported to the War Office Casualty Branch for the 24 hours ended 09:00am
Incident Date: 23/06/1942
Information: Casualty List No. 857. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 724 as Missing 25/12/1941
Rank: Major
Service Number: 22599
Duty Location: Hong Kong
Service: British Army
Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps
Source: WO417/003
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First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Date of Action: 25/12/1941
Fate: Missing
Incident Details: Reported to War Office Casualty Section for the 48 hours ended at 09:00
Incident Date: 19/01/1942
Informatton: Casualty List No. 724
Rank: Major
Service Number: 22599
Duty Location: Hong Kong
Service: British Army
Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps
Source: WO417/2
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First Name: Cecil
Surname: Boon
DOB: 16/11/1896
Birth Town: Brighton
Nationaility: British
Date of capture: 25/12/1941
Date of Liberation: 05/09/1945
Information: Wrote pro Japanese impressions for captors. Court Martialled 1946. Royal Army Service Corps
Rank: Major
POW Camp: Shamshuipo
Service Number: 22599
Profession: Regular Army
Duty Location: Hong Kong
Next of Kin: Parents: George & Louise Boon
Service: British Army
Source: WO392/23 and WO361/1974
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First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Rank: Major
Service: British Army
Primary Unit: Royal Army Service Corps
Seniority Date: 01/08/1938
Source: UK Army List 1942, April 1944 and UK Army List 1947
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First Name: C
Surname: Boon
Incident details: Reported to the War Office Casualty Branch for the 24 hours ending 09:00am
Incident Date: 06/02/1946
Information: Casualty List No. 1979. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 857 as reported Prisoner of War now Not Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Hong Kong.
Rank: Major
Service Number: 22599
Service: British Army
Regiment: Royal Army Service Corps
Source: WO417/010
Major Cecil Boon
@eurasian_david
Thank you very much for the link to the thumbnail sketch about Cecil Boon - most interesting. He was court-martialled in Sept 1946 for what can best be described as collaboration with the enemy and from reading other contemporary accounts of the trial, the evidence against him appears pretty damning.
He was, of course, acquitted of these charges, and I seem to recall reading elsewhere that he was later commended for his actions in captivity - being appointed MBE or OBE.
I am unable to find anything to substantiate that supposition at the moment; is anyone able to confirm whether or not it is correct?
A photo of Cecil Boon…
A photo of Cecil Boon leaving the court martial after his acquittal: https://www.imago-images.com/st/0081324652
And photos of people who testified in the case: https://www.imago-images.com/search?suchtext=cecil+boon