Malcolm Garle Seton
Cap badge of the Frontier Force Regiment.
Malcolm Garle Seton was born in Melbourne, Australia on the 22nd October 1919. As a soldier from the first Chindit expedition, he has fallen very much under the radar and is not mentioned in any books or war diaries that I have read. In fact, the only anecdotal information I possess about Lt. Seton and his time in Burma, comes from my conversations with Alec Gibson, formerly of the 8 Gurkha Rifles and a member of 3 Column on Operation Longcloth:
I remember Malcolm as a fairly shy, but thoughtful man. Our paths did not cross before or even during the operation in Burma, but we did share one of the communal officer cells in Block 3 of Rangoon Jail from about July 1944. He was deeply concerned about contracting disease whilst a POW, something that worried us all, but for Malcolm it became almost his total focus. He had been with one of the Gurkha columns in Southern Group and suffered a wound, which took a long time to completely heal. Anyway, it all ended well, when we were all liberated on the Pegu Road in April 1945.
Most of the details I possess in relation to Malcolm Seton and his war time experiences, have been centred around his WW2 medals. These to my knowledge, have been placed up for sale on no fewer than three occasions over the last 20 years.
Firstly with the famous auctioneers, Christies on the 24th April 1992. The lot included his 1939-45 Star, Burma Star and War Medal, all of which had been privately named. Also with these medals was the original box of issue and a copy of his birth certificate. The medals had been part of an extended lot which also contained the same three medals for one, Pte. P.D. Follis of the Northamptonshire Regiment. The full group sold for £330.
Then just 4 years later, on the 5th March 1996, the medals appeared for sale again, this time at an auction run by Dix Noonan Webb of Mayfair in London. The group was sold for just £140 on this occasion, but had been parted from the medals of Pte. Follis. There was also a considerable amount of additional information with the lot, including Seton's military pathway for WW2 and some details about his time on the first Chindit expedition. Finally, on the 6th August 2013, Seton's medals appeared for sale on the popular on line auction site, eBay. This time the lot sold for £230, but had sadly lost both the birth certificate and the original box of issue.
As mentioned above, by the second sale in March 1996, the group had been supplemented with more information about Malcolm Seton's military career and to some extent his participation on Operation Longcloth. This had been complied, by Mr. Edward Holmes, presumably the successful bidder for the medals at Christies. Although we have never been in contact, I would like to thank Edward for his efforts in finding out the following in regards to Malcolm Garle Seton:
CAPTAIN M.G. SETON, INDIAN ARMY
Malcolm Garle Seton was of British nationality but was born in Melbourne, Australia on October 22nd 1919. Another source gives the year of his birth as 1921 and his second name as Gordon. He was the son of Hector and Mary Seton who later lived at 23 Princes House, London W11, but probably came originally from Aberdeen in Scotland. Malcolm Seton was a Roman Catholic.
He came to the United Kingdom and decided to join the British Army, becoming a private soldier in the Royal Fusiliers on January 2nd 1938. Nothing is known about this period of his service, except that the 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers moved from India to North Africa in 1939 and the 2nd Battalion was involved in the defence of Dunkirk in 1940. It seems unlikely that Malcolm Seton took part in either campaign, although shortly after the evacuation from Dunkirk, on June 17th, he was transferred to the Essex Regiment.
Little is known of his activities in this early part of WW2. The 1st Battalion Essex Regiment spent the first year of the war on garrison duty in Khartoum and then Atbara in the Sudan, then joined the 5th Indian Division near the border with Italian-held Abyssinia, before leaving in December 1940 for Palestine. In April 1941 it took part in the suppression of an uprising in Iraq, followed by a brief campaign in Syria, before moving to North Africa in time to assist the break-out from the besieged town of Tobruk.
In the meantime the 2nd Battalion at Dunkirk had emerged with comparatively few casualties. The 1/4 and 2/5 Battalions of the Regiment spent much of 1941 in Sierra Leone where the main enemy was disease, especially malaria. Wherever Seton served whilst in the ranks, he came to the notice of his superiors and was selected for officer training towards the end of 1941. He joined 161 Infantry Wing at Sandhurst O.C.T.U. and, after a sixteen week course, passed out as a Second Lieutenant on April 4th 1942 with an Emergency Commission and was appointed to the Indian Army.
2nd Lieutenant Seton went to India and joined the 12th Frontier Force Regiment. He was soon attached to the 2nd Burma Rifles, which became part of the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade allotted to Brigadier Orde Wingate for his Long Range Penetration Force, soon to become famous as the Chindits. After much planning and training the force assembled at Imphal and prepared to march forward into Burma. The force were to cut the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway, then the Japanese lines of communication in Northern Burma together with various sabotage and disruption tasks in the Shwebo area.
The Brigade advanced into Japanese-held territory in a number of columns, all suppled by air and penetrated two hundred miles eastward, carrying out a number of their allotted tasks. Unfortunately, the expected Chinese offensive from Yunnan failed to take place, making the Chindit raid more difficult. The strong Japanese reaction to their presence, exhaustion and problems with air supply, forced the columns to break up into small groups in an effort to return to safety.
Malcolm Seton, who had become a War Substantive Lieutenant on October 4th 1942, was one of those who did not return. During his time in Burma he suffered from malaria and hookworm. He was twice wounded by Japanese grenades, firstly at Min Tin (possibly Mong Mit) in March and then at Chaungzauk in early May 1943. It was at Chaungzauk that he fell into Japanese hands and was taken prisoner. Lt. Seton was taken south and spent nearly two years as a prisoner of war in Rangoon Central Jail.
He remained an unwilling guest of the Japanese, who were notorious for their brutal treatment of captives, until the Allied advance through Burma reached Rangoon at the beginning of May 1945. Seton and the other prisoners were freed on May 4th and quickly evacuated to India before eventually returning to the United Kingdom. On August 23rd 1945 Malcolm Seton became Acting Captain and was rewarded with the rank of Brevet Major before being released from the Army on August 5th 1946.
On August 26th 1947, having made a good recovery from his ordeal in Burma, he was climbing a cliff at Droskyn Point in Cornwall after swimming in the sea, when he fell some twenty feet onto a ledge and slid into the water. He was rescued, but subsequently died from the resulting injuries at the Royal Cornwall Infirmary in Truro. He was just 28 years old.
Later, his WW2 medals were sent to his wife, Mrs. Bunty Seton, from Perranporth in Cornwall. His wife's maiden name was Sully and she was the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Sully, the proprietors of Sully's Hotel in Perranporth. The couple had married in the last quarter of 1945 at Truro.
Captain Seton's medals are impressed Capt. M.G. Seton I.A.
Shown below are some images in relation to Lt. Seton's time in WW2, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
I remember Malcolm as a fairly shy, but thoughtful man. Our paths did not cross before or even during the operation in Burma, but we did share one of the communal officer cells in Block 3 of Rangoon Jail from about July 1944. He was deeply concerned about contracting disease whilst a POW, something that worried us all, but for Malcolm it became almost his total focus. He had been with one of the Gurkha columns in Southern Group and suffered a wound, which took a long time to completely heal. Anyway, it all ended well, when we were all liberated on the Pegu Road in April 1945.
Most of the details I possess in relation to Malcolm Seton and his war time experiences, have been centred around his WW2 medals. These to my knowledge, have been placed up for sale on no fewer than three occasions over the last 20 years.
Firstly with the famous auctioneers, Christies on the 24th April 1992. The lot included his 1939-45 Star, Burma Star and War Medal, all of which had been privately named. Also with these medals was the original box of issue and a copy of his birth certificate. The medals had been part of an extended lot which also contained the same three medals for one, Pte. P.D. Follis of the Northamptonshire Regiment. The full group sold for £330.
Then just 4 years later, on the 5th March 1996, the medals appeared for sale again, this time at an auction run by Dix Noonan Webb of Mayfair in London. The group was sold for just £140 on this occasion, but had been parted from the medals of Pte. Follis. There was also a considerable amount of additional information with the lot, including Seton's military pathway for WW2 and some details about his time on the first Chindit expedition. Finally, on the 6th August 2013, Seton's medals appeared for sale on the popular on line auction site, eBay. This time the lot sold for £230, but had sadly lost both the birth certificate and the original box of issue.
As mentioned above, by the second sale in March 1996, the group had been supplemented with more information about Malcolm Seton's military career and to some extent his participation on Operation Longcloth. This had been complied, by Mr. Edward Holmes, presumably the successful bidder for the medals at Christies. Although we have never been in contact, I would like to thank Edward for his efforts in finding out the following in regards to Malcolm Garle Seton:
CAPTAIN M.G. SETON, INDIAN ARMY
Malcolm Garle Seton was of British nationality but was born in Melbourne, Australia on October 22nd 1919. Another source gives the year of his birth as 1921 and his second name as Gordon. He was the son of Hector and Mary Seton who later lived at 23 Princes House, London W11, but probably came originally from Aberdeen in Scotland. Malcolm Seton was a Roman Catholic.
He came to the United Kingdom and decided to join the British Army, becoming a private soldier in the Royal Fusiliers on January 2nd 1938. Nothing is known about this period of his service, except that the 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers moved from India to North Africa in 1939 and the 2nd Battalion was involved in the defence of Dunkirk in 1940. It seems unlikely that Malcolm Seton took part in either campaign, although shortly after the evacuation from Dunkirk, on June 17th, he was transferred to the Essex Regiment.
Little is known of his activities in this early part of WW2. The 1st Battalion Essex Regiment spent the first year of the war on garrison duty in Khartoum and then Atbara in the Sudan, then joined the 5th Indian Division near the border with Italian-held Abyssinia, before leaving in December 1940 for Palestine. In April 1941 it took part in the suppression of an uprising in Iraq, followed by a brief campaign in Syria, before moving to North Africa in time to assist the break-out from the besieged town of Tobruk.
In the meantime the 2nd Battalion at Dunkirk had emerged with comparatively few casualties. The 1/4 and 2/5 Battalions of the Regiment spent much of 1941 in Sierra Leone where the main enemy was disease, especially malaria. Wherever Seton served whilst in the ranks, he came to the notice of his superiors and was selected for officer training towards the end of 1941. He joined 161 Infantry Wing at Sandhurst O.C.T.U. and, after a sixteen week course, passed out as a Second Lieutenant on April 4th 1942 with an Emergency Commission and was appointed to the Indian Army.
2nd Lieutenant Seton went to India and joined the 12th Frontier Force Regiment. He was soon attached to the 2nd Burma Rifles, which became part of the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade allotted to Brigadier Orde Wingate for his Long Range Penetration Force, soon to become famous as the Chindits. After much planning and training the force assembled at Imphal and prepared to march forward into Burma. The force were to cut the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway, then the Japanese lines of communication in Northern Burma together with various sabotage and disruption tasks in the Shwebo area.
The Brigade advanced into Japanese-held territory in a number of columns, all suppled by air and penetrated two hundred miles eastward, carrying out a number of their allotted tasks. Unfortunately, the expected Chinese offensive from Yunnan failed to take place, making the Chindit raid more difficult. The strong Japanese reaction to their presence, exhaustion and problems with air supply, forced the columns to break up into small groups in an effort to return to safety.
Malcolm Seton, who had become a War Substantive Lieutenant on October 4th 1942, was one of those who did not return. During his time in Burma he suffered from malaria and hookworm. He was twice wounded by Japanese grenades, firstly at Min Tin (possibly Mong Mit) in March and then at Chaungzauk in early May 1943. It was at Chaungzauk that he fell into Japanese hands and was taken prisoner. Lt. Seton was taken south and spent nearly two years as a prisoner of war in Rangoon Central Jail.
He remained an unwilling guest of the Japanese, who were notorious for their brutal treatment of captives, until the Allied advance through Burma reached Rangoon at the beginning of May 1945. Seton and the other prisoners were freed on May 4th and quickly evacuated to India before eventually returning to the United Kingdom. On August 23rd 1945 Malcolm Seton became Acting Captain and was rewarded with the rank of Brevet Major before being released from the Army on August 5th 1946.
On August 26th 1947, having made a good recovery from his ordeal in Burma, he was climbing a cliff at Droskyn Point in Cornwall after swimming in the sea, when he fell some twenty feet onto a ledge and slid into the water. He was rescued, but subsequently died from the resulting injuries at the Royal Cornwall Infirmary in Truro. He was just 28 years old.
Later, his WW2 medals were sent to his wife, Mrs. Bunty Seton, from Perranporth in Cornwall. His wife's maiden name was Sully and she was the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Sully, the proprietors of Sully's Hotel in Perranporth. The couple had married in the last quarter of 1945 at Truro.
Captain Seton's medals are impressed Capt. M.G. Seton I.A.
Shown below are some images in relation to Lt. Seton's time in WW2, please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
As I mentioned previously, there is no precise information available that points to which Chindit column Lt. Seton might have served with in 1943. We do have the anecdotal evidence of Alec Gibson, that suggests he was with one of the Gurkha columns from Southern Group, presumably working within the Burma Rifles platoon for that unit. However, the information written in Japanese Kanji script on his POW index card, does in my opinion, offer weight to Alec Gibson's viewpoint.
Firstly, his date of capture, the 4th May 1943, shown on the right hand side of the card, is within the date range for a number of men from Southern Group Head Quarters and 1 Column, who fell into Japanese hands after being ambushed close to the west banks of the Mu River. The details for the place of capture, written in Kanji characters on the left side of the card, translates as:
Burma, 25 miles south-east of the Chindwin River, near a place called Peindaw.
After looking up Peindaw on several maps (see above gallery) I found it to be located just north-east of Chaungzauk and no more than a few miles west of the Mu River. Southern Group was led by Lt-Colonel Leigh Arbuthnot Alexander of the 3/2 Gurkha Rifles and 1 Column by Major George Dunlop of the Royal Scots. Colonel Alexander was killed on the 28th April 1943, just a few hundred yards east of the Mu River, many other men were wounded at this time and became separated from the main body of the dispersal party. It might well be that Malcolm Seton, now injured from a Japanese grenade, was able to ford the river, but could not continue on much further and was captured a few days later at Peindaw or Chaungzauk. To read more about the enemy ambush at the Mu River and the dispersal journey of Colonel Alexander and Major Dunlop, please click on the following link: Lieutenant-Colonel L.A. Alexander
Other important details recorded on the POW card are Malcolm Seton's correct date of birth, 22nd October 1922, his POW number in Rangoon Jail, which was 34 and on the reverse of the card, his eventual liberation at a village called Waw, close to the Burmese town of Pegu on the 29th April 1945. To read more about Chindit prisoners of war and their experiences inside Rangoon Jail, please click on the following link:
Chindit POW's
After recovering from his time as a prisoner of war, Malcolm Seton, now holding the rank of Captain was repatriated to the United Kingdom. In the last quarter of 1945 he married Bunty Sully in Truro, Cornwall. The newlyweds settled down in Bunty's home town of Perranporth on the north coastline of Cornwall. On the 26th August 1947, Malcolm Seton suffered a fatal accident whilst climbing the cliff face at Droskyn Point, which marks the south-western perimeter of the beach at Perranporth.
This is how the local newspaper, the West Briton, reported the event in the issue dated Thursday 28th August 1947:
Perranporth Tragedy-Cliff Climber's Fatal Fall
A verdict of 'death by misadventure' was returned at an inquest at Perranporth yesterday, by county coroner, L.J. Carlyon, on Captain Malcolm Garle Seton, aged 28, who fell from a cliff at Droskyn Point and was killed.
Mr. Horace Henry Butler, brother-in-law, said it was usual for Captain Seton to go down to the sea in the afternoons by himself. Mr. H.J. James of Albemarle Road, Beckenham, said he saw Seton wearing a bathing costume, start to climb the cliff at about 3.30 in the afternoon. When he was about 15 to 20 feet up, the witness recounted, he lost his footing on loose pebbles and rocks and fell. Seton attempted to re-grip the rocks, but was travelling too fast. He hit the ledge at the bottom of the cliff and slid into the water. Mr. James recalled that Captain Seton's face was cut and he was groaning.
Police Constable Hill said that with the help of Police Sergeant Keast, a Mr. E. Beard and Miss M.A. Smith from the Red Cross, a rubber dinghy was sent out to rescue the man. He was suffering from head injuries and had a large bruise on the side of his body. With the assistance of Dr. Whitworth he was taken to the Royal Cornwall Infirmary at Truro, but died on admission.
The Coroner, Mr. Carlyon remarked that it was an unfortunate end, especially after such a good record in the Services. Captain Seton, who was residing at Sully's Hotel in Perranporth, had served for five years in the Army and had seen action in Burma. For two years he was a prisoner of war in Japanese hands. He leaves a widow, the daughter of the late Mr.& Mrs. Sully of Perranporth.
It is suggested that Malcolm Garle Seton was buried in the grounds of St. Piran's Church in the village of Perranzabuloe, just a few miles in land from the scene of his sad demise. In the summer of 1996, the Church Lychgate carried the names of local men who lost their lives during the years of WW2 and included an entry for Captain Seton. It seems likely that his war medals were claimed after his death by his wife Bunty, as they are addressed on the condolence slip with the words did not live to receive them. It also seems probable that she had the medals privately engraved with his Army details, as no WW2 medals, other than those awarded for Gallantry were engraved with the recipients name, Army number and Regiment.
Seen below is another gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. Also buried in the grounds of St. Piran's Church at Perranzabuloe are some of the victims from the 58th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, killed by a German Junkers Bomber on the 7th July 1940. For more details, please click on the following link: perranporthveteransmissing.wordpress.com
Firstly, his date of capture, the 4th May 1943, shown on the right hand side of the card, is within the date range for a number of men from Southern Group Head Quarters and 1 Column, who fell into Japanese hands after being ambushed close to the west banks of the Mu River. The details for the place of capture, written in Kanji characters on the left side of the card, translates as:
Burma, 25 miles south-east of the Chindwin River, near a place called Peindaw.
After looking up Peindaw on several maps (see above gallery) I found it to be located just north-east of Chaungzauk and no more than a few miles west of the Mu River. Southern Group was led by Lt-Colonel Leigh Arbuthnot Alexander of the 3/2 Gurkha Rifles and 1 Column by Major George Dunlop of the Royal Scots. Colonel Alexander was killed on the 28th April 1943, just a few hundred yards east of the Mu River, many other men were wounded at this time and became separated from the main body of the dispersal party. It might well be that Malcolm Seton, now injured from a Japanese grenade, was able to ford the river, but could not continue on much further and was captured a few days later at Peindaw or Chaungzauk. To read more about the enemy ambush at the Mu River and the dispersal journey of Colonel Alexander and Major Dunlop, please click on the following link: Lieutenant-Colonel L.A. Alexander
Other important details recorded on the POW card are Malcolm Seton's correct date of birth, 22nd October 1922, his POW number in Rangoon Jail, which was 34 and on the reverse of the card, his eventual liberation at a village called Waw, close to the Burmese town of Pegu on the 29th April 1945. To read more about Chindit prisoners of war and their experiences inside Rangoon Jail, please click on the following link:
Chindit POW's
After recovering from his time as a prisoner of war, Malcolm Seton, now holding the rank of Captain was repatriated to the United Kingdom. In the last quarter of 1945 he married Bunty Sully in Truro, Cornwall. The newlyweds settled down in Bunty's home town of Perranporth on the north coastline of Cornwall. On the 26th August 1947, Malcolm Seton suffered a fatal accident whilst climbing the cliff face at Droskyn Point, which marks the south-western perimeter of the beach at Perranporth.
This is how the local newspaper, the West Briton, reported the event in the issue dated Thursday 28th August 1947:
Perranporth Tragedy-Cliff Climber's Fatal Fall
A verdict of 'death by misadventure' was returned at an inquest at Perranporth yesterday, by county coroner, L.J. Carlyon, on Captain Malcolm Garle Seton, aged 28, who fell from a cliff at Droskyn Point and was killed.
Mr. Horace Henry Butler, brother-in-law, said it was usual for Captain Seton to go down to the sea in the afternoons by himself. Mr. H.J. James of Albemarle Road, Beckenham, said he saw Seton wearing a bathing costume, start to climb the cliff at about 3.30 in the afternoon. When he was about 15 to 20 feet up, the witness recounted, he lost his footing on loose pebbles and rocks and fell. Seton attempted to re-grip the rocks, but was travelling too fast. He hit the ledge at the bottom of the cliff and slid into the water. Mr. James recalled that Captain Seton's face was cut and he was groaning.
Police Constable Hill said that with the help of Police Sergeant Keast, a Mr. E. Beard and Miss M.A. Smith from the Red Cross, a rubber dinghy was sent out to rescue the man. He was suffering from head injuries and had a large bruise on the side of his body. With the assistance of Dr. Whitworth he was taken to the Royal Cornwall Infirmary at Truro, but died on admission.
The Coroner, Mr. Carlyon remarked that it was an unfortunate end, especially after such a good record in the Services. Captain Seton, who was residing at Sully's Hotel in Perranporth, had served for five years in the Army and had seen action in Burma. For two years he was a prisoner of war in Japanese hands. He leaves a widow, the daughter of the late Mr.& Mrs. Sully of Perranporth.
It is suggested that Malcolm Garle Seton was buried in the grounds of St. Piran's Church in the village of Perranzabuloe, just a few miles in land from the scene of his sad demise. In the summer of 1996, the Church Lychgate carried the names of local men who lost their lives during the years of WW2 and included an entry for Captain Seton. It seems likely that his war medals were claimed after his death by his wife Bunty, as they are addressed on the condolence slip with the words did not live to receive them. It also seems probable that she had the medals privately engraved with his Army details, as no WW2 medals, other than those awarded for Gallantry were engraved with the recipients name, Army number and Regiment.
Seen below is another gallery of images in relation to this story. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. Also buried in the grounds of St. Piran's Church at Perranzabuloe are some of the victims from the 58th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, killed by a German Junkers Bomber on the 7th July 1940. For more details, please click on the following link: perranporthveteransmissing.wordpress.com
On the 1st August 2016, I visited Perranporth and walked up to Droskyn Point with my sister Denise. It was a beautiful day, around 75 degrees with full sun and not a breath of wind. Nevertheless, the cliff feature was still an imposing sight and clearly a fall would be potentially catastrophic for any unfortunate recipient. It certainly crossed my mind at that moment, how ironic it was that Malcolm Seton should lose his life in such a manner, after all he had gone through during his war years in Burma.
Copyright © Steve Fogden, August 2016.
Copyright © Steve Fogden, August 2016.