[Middlesex Regiment] Anthony George Hewitt
Description:
Born:
13 September 1914, Dharwad, southern India
Death:
30 June, 2004, Australia
Pre-war:
Hewitt was the son of an Army chaplain, and his early years were spent in Ahmadnagar, north-east of Poona. When he was ten years old he was sent to England to attend preparatory school before going to Epsom College. In his first term there, Hewitt was awarded his house colours for cricket by a school prefect named Stewart, who would become the film star Stewart Granger. Hewitt entered Sandhurst in 1933 and was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment. In 1935 he was posted to the 1st Battalion who were then in Egypt. The following year they moved to Singapore and from there to Hong Kong.
Wartime:
Hewitt, by then a captain and adjutant of the battalion, was in the Battalion Orderly Room at Murray Barracks when Japan attacked. The battalion HQ then moved to Leighton Hill (which Hewitt himself had earlier selected as battle HQ). He was to stay there under worse and worse conditions as the Japanese – landing to its east – tried to move west but found the hill’s defenders blocking their path. When Monkey Stewart finally broke out to reform the HQ at Dodwell’s Garage, Hewitt stayed on the hill until he had confirmation they had succeeded. He then joined Stewart, but later the HQ fell further back to the Naval Dockyards, then finally – on the afternoon of Christmas Day – back again to the Orderly Room in Murray Barracks. After surrender, Hewitt became a POW in Shamshuipo. During the night of 1/2 February 1942, he, with Pilot Officer Eddy Crossley, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and Douglas Scriven, Indian Medical Service, rushed a sampan illegally trading food with POWs and forced the boatman to take them to the mainland. Once they landed they marched north, being attacked by groups of bandits three time. Most of their possessions were lost or stolen, and Hewitt suffered head and hand injuries.
Eventually they were intercepted by communist soldiers whose commander gave them an escort of guerrillas, and after four days further march they made contact with the Chinese National Army and arrived at Waichow. At Kukong Hewitt contacted the British Military Mission and was sent to the Methodist Hospital. Later continuing to India he joined the Lancashire Fusiliers in Cawnpore where he was promoted to Major. He commanded a detachment in the foothills of the Himalayas, before moving to Belgaum, southern India, as an instructor at the Officers’ Training School. On return to the UK he received an MC from the King at Buckingham Palace and rejoined the Middlesex Regiment (2nd battalion), with whom he took part in the Normandy landings, the liberation of Brussels, and the battle of the Reichswald, ending the war on the Baltic coast.
Post-war:
After attending Staff College, Camberley, Hewitt joined the 1st Battalion, Sierra Leone Regiment, part of the Royal West African Frontier Force. In 1948 he married Elizabeth Weedon (nee Hayley-Bell, the sister of Sir John Mills’s wife Mary. She had previously been married to Hewitt’s fellow Middlesex officer, Captain Martin Weedon). Hewitt subsequently commanded the Gambia Regiment and was appointed MBE following his second tour in West Africa. He served in Germany, Austria, Norway and Ghana before moving to Canberra in 1962 as military adviser to the British High Commissioner. After two years as deputy commander of Singapore District, he retired in 1967. Hewitt lived in Sydney for a number of years, working as secretary of the University Club, before settling at Buderim, Queensland.
Awards:
MC, MBE
Further Reading:
Bridge with Three Men, Tony Hewitt, Corridors of Time, Tony Hewitt, Children of Empire, Tony Hewitt. These are all autobiographical.
Born:
13 September 1914, Dharwad, southern India
Death:
30 June, 2004, Australia
Pre-war:
Hewitt was the son of an Army chaplain, and his early years were spent in Ahmadnagar, north-east of Poona. When he was ten years old he was sent to England to attend preparatory school before going to Epsom College. In his first term there, Hewitt was awarded his house colours for cricket by a school prefect named Stewart, who would become the film star Stewart Granger. Hewitt entered Sandhurst in 1933 and was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment. In 1935 he was posted to the 1st Battalion who were then in Egypt. The following year they moved to Singapore and from there to Hong Kong.
Wartime:
Hewitt, by then a captain and adjutant of the battalion, was in the Battalion Orderly Room at Murray Barracks when Japan attacked. The battalion HQ then moved to Leighton Hill (which Hewitt himself had earlier selected as battle HQ). He was to stay there under worse and worse conditions as the Japanese – landing to its east – tried to move west but found the hill’s defenders blocking their path. When Monkey Stewart finally broke out to reform the HQ at Dodwell’s Garage, Hewitt stayed on the hill until he had confirmation they had succeeded. He then joined Stewart, but later the HQ fell further back to the Naval Dockyards, then finally – on the afternoon of Christmas Day – back again to the Orderly Room in Murray Barracks. After surrender, Hewitt became a POW in Shamshuipo. During the night of 1/2 February 1942, he, with Pilot Officer Eddy Crossley, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and Douglas Scriven, Indian Medical Service, rushed a sampan illegally trading food with POWs and forced the boatman to take them to the mainland. Once they landed they marched north, being attacked by groups of bandits three time. Most of their possessions were lost or stolen, and Hewitt suffered head and hand injuries.
Eventually they were intercepted by communist soldiers whose commander gave them an escort of guerrillas, and after four days further march they made contact with the Chinese National Army and arrived at Waichow. At Kukong Hewitt contacted the British Military Mission and was sent to the Methodist Hospital. Later continuing to India he joined the Lancashire Fusiliers in Cawnpore where he was promoted to Major. He commanded a detachment in the foothills of the Himalayas, before moving to Belgaum, southern India, as an instructor at the Officers’ Training School. On return to the UK he received an MC from the King at Buckingham Palace and rejoined the Middlesex Regiment (2nd battalion), with whom he took part in the Normandy landings, the liberation of Brussels, and the battle of the Reichswald, ending the war on the Baltic coast.
Post-war:
After attending Staff College, Camberley, Hewitt joined the 1st Battalion, Sierra Leone Regiment, part of the Royal West African Frontier Force. In 1948 he married Elizabeth Weedon (nee Hayley-Bell, the sister of Sir John Mills’s wife Mary. She had previously been married to Hewitt’s fellow Middlesex officer, Captain Martin Weedon). Hewitt subsequently commanded the Gambia Regiment and was appointed MBE following his second tour in West Africa. He served in Germany, Austria, Norway and Ghana before moving to Canberra in 1962 as military adviser to the British High Commissioner. After two years as deputy commander of Singapore District, he retired in 1967. Hewitt lived in Sydney for a number of years, working as secretary of the University Club, before settling at Buderim, Queensland.
Awards:
MC, MBE
Further Reading:
Bridge with Three Men, Tony Hewitt, Corridors of Time, Tony Hewitt, Children of Empire, Tony Hewitt. These are all autobiographical.
Sources: Photo: Tony Banham
