Heath, Lewis Macclesfield (1885-1954)

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"Piggy" Heath fought in Egypt and Mesopotamia in the First World War, losing an eye and suffering permanent injury to his left arm. He commanded III Corps in Malaya when war broke out in the Pacific. He unsuccessfully urged that his corps be withdrawn from eastern Malaya after the Japanese landings in December 1941. As a result, by the time the withdrawal was ordered on 2 January 1942, 22 Indian Brigade was under attack by 56 Regiment and its withdrawal was a shambles. Heath subsequently urged deep withdrawals to southern Malaya that were also rejected, with better reason.

Percival was of the opinion that Heath was distracted during the campaign by the knowledge that his wife, who was in Singapore, was about to give birth. Heath joined Bennett in calling for an early surrender of the colony to spare civilians.

During his captivity, Heath was once punched in the face and then imprisoned in a half-flooded dark cell for two days after he refused to "discuss the defenses of India" (Thompson 2005). Word of his treatment got around and helped stiffen resistance to coercive interrogation from other prisoners of war.

Service record

References

Generals.dk (accessed 2008-1-18)

Pettibone (2006)

UnitHistories.com (accessed 2012-5-28)

Thompson (2005)

Willmott (1982)

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2008, 2012, 2015 by Kent G. Budge. Index

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