Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2021-11-09T15:24:58Z

robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:54, 9 November 2021
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{short description\|English journalist}}		{{short description\|English journalist}}
	{{EngvarB\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		{{EngvarB\|date=August 2014}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=August 2014}}
	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\|name =Philip Crosland		\|name =Philip Crosland

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2021-11-09T15:24:58Z

robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

New page

{{short description|English journalist}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
|name =Philip Crosland
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_name =
|birth_date ={{Birth date|df=yes|1918|07|30}}
|birth_place =[[Guildford]], Surrey, United Kingdom
|death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|2012|07|14|1918|07|30}}
|death_place =
|nationality =
|other_names =
|known_for =Journalist
|occupation =
}}

'''Philip Crosland''' (30 July 1918 – 14 July 2012) was "one of the last of a group of British journalists to make a career working in the Indian national press."<ref name=Times>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article3499555.ece|title=Philip Crosland|date=7 August 2012|accessdate=1 November 2012|newspaper=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

==Life==
Philip William John Crosland was born in [[Guildford]], Surrey, eldest of four children of John and Harriet Crosland. His paternal grandfather was the writer [[Thomas William Hodgson Crosland]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/philip-crosland-fp03pgpt8qn|title = Philip Crosland}}</ref> He was educated at [[Kingston Grammar School]].<ref name=DT>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9605570/Philip-Crosland.html|title=Philip Crosland|date=12 October 2012|accessdate=1 November 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> At 17 he was working as a junior reporter for the ''Essex Express and Independent'', and in October 1938, when he was 20, joined the staff of ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' in Calcutta (now [[Kolkata]]), and was transferred to the [[Delhi]] office two months later.<ref name=Statesman>{{cite news|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=416933&catid=36&show=archive&year=2012&month=7&day=17&Itemid=66|title=Philip Crosland passes away|date=16 July 2012|accessdate=1 November 2012|newspaper=[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]}}</ref>

After the outbreak of [[World War II]], in November 1939, Crosland received an emergency commission as an officer in the [[15th Punjab Regiment]] of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]]. In May 1941 he was posted with the 2nd Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment to [[Kuching]] in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, where the battalion was to defend the landing ground. After the Japanese invasion of Borneo commenced in mid-December, the scorched earth policy was brought into play and Crosland assisted with the destruction of the oilfields at Miri and Seria and the landing ground at Kuching. When the Japanese arrived at Kuching on 24 December 1941, the Punjabis were ordered to withdraw into [[West Kalimantan|Dutch West Borneo]] to join forces with the Dutch troops there. Crosland commanded two platoons, and they joined up with the rest of the battalion at [[Sanggau Regency|Sanggau]] on 29 December.<ref name=DT/>

A period of fighting followed when the Dutch forces and the battalion tried to prevent the Japanese from reaching [[Singkawang|Singkawang II Aerodrome]], but the attack came on 24 January 1942,<ref>Ooi, Keat Gin, 1998, ''Japanese Empire in the Tropics: Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak, Northwest Borneo, 1941–1945'' Ohio University Center for International Studies, Monographs in International Studies, SE Asia Series 101 (2 vols), 246–247</ref> and running out of both food and ammunition, the Commanding Officer ordered the battalion to withdraw to the south Borneo coast. Ten weeks of arduous trekking through deep jungle followed. The battalion finally surrendered at [[Kumai]] in April 1942.<ref name=DT/>

Along with the remnants of the 2/15th battalion, Crosland was incarcerated in several POW camps: [[Tanjung Priok]] at Batavia (now Jakarta) in Java, which they left on 22 September 1942 for Singapore. After about two weeks in Singapore they reached [[Batu Lintang camp]] in Kuching on 13 October 1942, where they were to spend the rest of the war, housed in the very army barracks that had been built for the 2/15th Punjabis before the invasion.<ref>Ooi, Keat Gin, 1998, ''Japanese Empire in the Tropics: Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak, Northwest Borneo, 1941–1945'' Ohio University Center for International Studies, Monographs in International Studies, SE Asia Series 101 (2 vols), 249–250</ref> The camp was liberated in September 1945.<ref>Ooi, Keat Gin, 1998, Japanese Empire in the Tropics: Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak, Northwest Borneo, 1941–1945 Ohio University Center for International Studies, Monographs in International Studies, SE Asia Series 101 (2 vols), 610, 626–7</ref>

Crosland returned to work at ''The Statesman'' at Calcutta in June 1946. In September 1955, he was appointed News Editor for the Delhi edition of the paper. He became Resident Editor in April 1962, then was transferred back to Calcutta as Deputy Editor in August 1963, and in March 1965 he was appointed Chief Administrative Officer. He also wrote for papers such as the ''[[Montreal Star]]'', the ''[[New Zealand Herald]]'', ''[[The Age]]'' (Melbourne), ''[[The Times]]'' and ''[[The Observer]]'', sometimes under the pseudonym Jonathan Swayne.<ref name=Times/><ref name=DT/>

Crosland returned to England in 1967 to be with his family. He worked for the [[Central Office of Information]] and on the editorial staff of the ''[[Surrey Advertiser]]''. He finally retired from journalism at the age of 80.<ref name=DT/><ref name=Statesman/> A contribution by Crosland was included in the 2010 publication ''Sahibs Who Loved India'', edited by [[Khushwant Singh]].<ref name=DC>{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/columnists/sunanda-k-datta-ray/%E2%80%98sahib%E2%80%99-return-visit|title=A 'sahib' on a return visit|authorlink=Sunanda K. Datta-Ray|first=Sunanda K.|last= Datta-Ray|date=2 October 2012|accessdate=3 November 2012|newspaper=[[Deccan Chronicle]]}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Crosland married Joy Shaw in 1946, and they had a son and a daughter. His wife predeceased him in 2007.<ref name=Times/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=416933&catid=36&show=archive&year=2012&month=7&day=17&Itemid=66 Obituary in ''The Statesman'' (Delhi), 16 July 2012]
* [http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/52078-tale-of-a-sahib-bibi-and-dum-aloo.html?tmpl=component&print=1 Obituary in ''The Pioneer'', 27 July 2012]
* [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article3499555.ece Obituary in ''The Times'', 7 August 2012 (paywall)]
* [http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/wire/9092 Obituary in the ''Press Gazette'', 7 August 2012]
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9605570/Philip-Crosland.html Obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph'', 12 October 2012]
* [http://www.deccanchronicle.com/columnists/sunanda-k-datta-ray/%E2%80%98sahib%E2%80%99-return-visit Personal reflection by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray in ''The Deccan Chronicle'']
* [http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=417684&catid=38 Letter in ''The Statesman'' about Crosland]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosland, Philip}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Kingston Grammar School]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan]]
[[Category:Prisoners of war at Batu Lintang camp]]
[[Category:British male journalists]]
[[Category:Punjab Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Indian prisoners of war]]
[[Category:British World War II prisoners of war]]
[[Category:British expatriates in India]]

Philip Crosland - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.