Imperialism and Identity in British Colonial Naval Culture, 1930S to Decolonialisation
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Imperialism and identity in British colonial naval culture, 1930s to decolonialisation. SPENCE, Daniel O. Available from the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20391/ A Sheffield Hallam University thesis This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Imperialism and Identity in British Colonial Naval Culture, 1930s to Decolonisation Daniel Owen SpenGe A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2012 Abstract During the Second World War, around 8,000 men from fifteen colonial territories fought for the British Empire in locally-raised naval volunteer forces. Their relatively small size has meant that up to now they have remained merely a footnote within the wider historiography of the war. Yet, if examined beyond their ambiguous wartime contribution and placed within the broader context of imperial history, they provide an important new lens for analysing the dynamics of imperialism during the twilight of the British Empire. Through a comparative analysis of three case studies - the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and East Asia - and by reconciling the 'official' record in the 'metropole' with 'subaltern' sources located in those regions, this thesis examines for the first time the political, social and cultural impact of these forces. It explores how they emerged out of a climate of 'imperial overstretch' as bulwarks for the preservation of British 'prestige'; how imperial ideology and racial discourses of power influenced naval recruitment, strategy and management, affecting colonial conceptions of identity, indigenous belief systems and ethnic relations; and how naval service, during both war and peacetime, influenced motivations, imperial sentiment, group cohesion and force discipline. This thesis will also assess the evolution of these part-time colonial volunteer forces into professional sovereign navies within the context of decolonisation. It will investigate the extent to which British hegemonic influence was maintained within post-colonial relationships. Issues of nationalisation, its utilisation as a tool for 'nation-building', and the impact of nationalist ideology and social engineering upon service efficiency and esprit de corps will also be examined. In the process this thesis furthers developments within the 'new naval history', by reconceptualising our understanding of navies as not merely organisations for the physical projection and maintenance of political and economic influence, but as human and cultural institutions, in which power was expressed as much in the ideas and relations they cultivated, as the barrels of their guns. Contents List of Tables, Maps and Images iv List of Abbreviations vi Acknowledgements viii General Introduction 1 Imperial Overstretch and Colonial Naval Defence 18 Case Study One: The Caribbean Introduction 43 Origins 46 Part One: The Cayman Islands 59 Part Two: Trinidad 87 Conclusion 121 Case Study Two: Southeast Asia Introduction 124 Part One: Pre-1945 127 Part Two: Post-Second World War 156 Conclusion 210 Case Study Three: East Asia Introduction 215 Part One: Pre-1945 218 Part Two: Post-Second World War 281 Conclusion 330 General Conclusion 334 Bibliography 339 iii List of Tables, Maps and Images Table 1. Imperial Defence Expenditure, 1908-1910 22 Chart 1. Naval Expenditure as a percentage of total national expenditure, 1914-1922 30 Table 2. Colonial Naval Force Complements 37 Map 1. Location of Colonial Naval Forces 38 Map 2. The British West Indies 45 Table 3. TRNVR ratings per West Indian colony, April-June 1945 57 Image 1. The TRNVR on parade at its headquarters in Staubles Bay, Trinidad 1943 69 Image 2. TRNVR ratings under inspection 101 Image 3. TRNVR rating with flag officer 102 Image 4. TRNVR ratings under instruction 103 Image 5. TRNVR ratings under instruction 103 Table 4. Apportionment of colonial personnel and financial contributions to proposed Royal West Indian Navy 115 Map 3. British Malaya, c.1922 126 Image 6. Peter Fosten and the crew of P.3509 170 Image 7. P.3509 in Mersing, Malaya 172 Image 8. A Malayan motor tongkang searched on patrol, depicted by Peter Fosten 173 Image 9. The crew of P.3509 digging for opium on Pulau Tioman 175 Image 10. 'Showing the flag' in Phuket, Thailand 176 Image 11. 'Showing the flag' in Phuket, Thailand, with visiting Buddhist monks 177 iv Image 12. 'Make and Mend' - The crew of P.3509 earn their 'hard-lying' money 179 Image 13. 'Makan' (food) - P.3509's crew at mealtime 180 Image 14. Malayan class under steering instruction 183 Image 15. The Royal Malayan Navy is transferred to the Federation of Malaya, inspected by the Governor of Singapore, Sir William Goode 200 Map 4. Hong Kong Territory 216 Map 5. Hong Kong's location in East Asia 217 Image 16. HMS Cornflower 236 Image 17. The original crest of HMS Cornflower and the HKRNVR version incorporating the Elliot family crest and motto 237 Image 18. The Hong Kong Naval Volunteer Force in the grounds of the naval college, 6 November 1934 238 Table 5. Sample of HKRNVR vessels and dud ammunition fired during hostilities, 8-19 December, 1941 268 Image 19. Admiral Chan Chak 273 Table 6. RHKDF Membership by 'Races' (including HKRNVR), 31 December 1956 313 Image 20. HMS Cardinham 325 v List of Abbreviations A/S Anti-Submarine AB Able Bodied C-in-C Commander-in-Chief/Commodore-in-Charge CCP Communist Party of China CID Committee of Imperial Defence CINA Cayman Islands National Archives CO Commanding Officer CRNVR Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve GOC General Officer Commanding HKAAF Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force HKNVF Hong Kong Naval Volunteer Force HKPRO Hong Kong Public Records Office HKRNR Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve HKRNVR Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve HKVDC Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps - The Volunteers' HMS His/Her Majesty's Ship(s) HQ Headquarters KD Kapal di-Raja (His Majesty's Ship) KMT Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China) LEP Locally Enlisted Personnel MFV Motor Fishing Vessel ML Motor Launch MNF Malayan Naval Force MRNVR Malayan Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve MTB Motor Torpedo Boat OPV Offshore Patrol Vessel PRC People's Republic of China NEP New Economic Policy OHC Oral History Centre OIC Officer-in-charge PO Petty Officer RHKDF Royal Hong Kong Defence Force RN Royal Navy RMN Royal Malayan Navy RNR Royal Naval Reserve RNVR Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve RWIN Royal West Indian Navy SSRNVR Straits Settlements Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve TLDM Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (Royal Malaysian Navy) TNA The National Archives TNVF Trinidad Naval Volunteer Force TRNVR Trinidad Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve UMNO United Malays National Organisation WO Warrant Officer Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to a number of people without whom I simply would not have been able to produce this thesis: my supervisors Bruce Collins and Clare Midgley, who have selflessly devoted countless hours to impromptu meetings and the reading of numerous drafts, and to whom I will forever be indebted; Peter Cain and Ashley Jackson, for doing me the honour of being my examiners and for providing such inspiring academic examples to aspire to; my rapporteurs Barbara Bush and Roger Lloyd-Jones, who provided crucial feedback not only during the formative stages of this research, but also my earlier education and development as a historian; Mudzaffar Alfian Bin Mustafa, Datuk Hamid Ibrahim, Jerome Lee, Gaylord Kelshall, C. Charles Adams, Dale Banks, Indira Ramroop-Chadee, Dennis Olivier, Sean King, Mishka Chisholm, and Tricia Bodden, who have all been invaluable in facilitating my overseas research, and helping me access those crucial primary sources that make this thesis; similarly, I express my deep and heartfelt gratitude to my interviewees, Tan Sri Thanabalasingam, Karu Selvaratnam, Chitharanjan Kuttan (may he rest in peace), Reverend Neiville Tan, Peter Fosten, Jaswant Singh Gill, C.S. Nathan, William Harvey Ebanks, Thomas Ewart Ebanks, and Carley Ebanks, for their warmth, openness and generosity, and the inspiring stories they have so kindly shared; to academic colleagues Merv Lewis, Miles Larmer, Nir Arielli, Matthew Roberts, Robbie Aitken, Juanita Cox, and Bridget