Herbert Cecil Duncan: Difference between revisions

| battles      = [[First World War]]<br/>[[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]<br/>[[Waziristan campaign (1936–1939)|Waziristan campaign of 1936–1939]]<br/>[[Second World War]]

| awards        = [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (2)

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 (1936–1939)|Waziristan campaign of 1936–1939]]. He took command of the 45th Indian Infantry Brigade in June 1941.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitAppointments?UniX=6162 |title=45 Indian Infantry Brigade: Command Appointments |work=Orders of Battle.com |access-date=22 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080958/http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitAppointments?UniX=6162 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the [[Battle of Muar|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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Peter |title=Pacific Fury: How Australia and Her Allies Defeated the Japanese Scourge |year=2008 |publisher=William Heinemann |location=North Sydney, New South Wales |pages=229–230}}</ref> Duncan is buried in the [[Kranji War Cemetery]] in Singapore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/Cemeteries/Kranji_War_Cemetery/D/html/du.htm |title=Kranji War Cemetery Roll of Honour: Du |work=Roll of Honour.org.uk |access-date=22 December 2022}}</ref>

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