Herbert Cecil Duncan

Brigadier Herbert Cecil Duncan (19 August 1895 – 20 January 1942) was a British Indian Army officer who commanded the 45th Indian Infantry Brigade during the Battle of Malaya prior to the Fall of Singapore.

Herbert Cecil Duncan
Brigadier Herbert Cecil Duncan
Born(1895-08-19)19 August 1895
Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died20 January 1942(1942-01-20) (aged 46)
Singapore
Buried
Kranji War Cemetery
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Indian Army
Years of service1914–1942
RankBrigadier
UnitThe Seaforth Highlanders
13th Frontier Force Rifles
Commands held45th Indian Infantry Brigade (1941–42)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Third Anglo-Afghan War
Waziristan campaign of 1936–1939
Second World War
AwardsMentioned in Despatches (2)

Military career

Commissioned a temporary second lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders in 1914, Duncan received a permanent commission in the British Indian Army as a lieutenant in 1918. His service in the First World War earned him a Mention in Despatches. Having the 13th Frontier Force Rifles as his maternal British Indian Army unit, he eventually served from 1931 onwards as a General Staff Officer in various gradations. Duncan would earn a second Mention in Despatches during the Waziristan campaign of 1936–1939. He took command of the 45th Indian Infantry Brigade in June 1941.[1]

During the retreat from the Muar River in Malaya on 19 January 1941, Duncan was concussed during an air attack on his headquarters. The following day, during an attempt to break out of a Japanese encirclement in concert with Australian forces, he was killed while mounting a bayonet charge against a Japanese attack on the brigade's rear.[2] Duncan is buried in the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore.[3]

References
  1. "45 Indian Infantry Brigade: Command Appointments". Orders of Battle.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  2. Thompson, Peter (2008). Pacific Fury: How Australia and Her Allies Defeated the Japanese Scourge. North Sydney, New South Wales: William Heinemann. pp. 229–230.
  3. "Kranji War Cemetery Roll of Honour: Du". Roll of Honour.org.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
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