Denis Wilmot Rae, born 1908

Denis Wilmot Rae was the son of Denis Wilmot Rae the elder and Ma Kyin (called Daw Kyin in later life: Ma/Daw are honorifics for a young and an older woman). His exact date of birth is uncertain but Sam Newland, who was born in 1900, remembered Denis as being about half his own age when Denis started at the Government High School in Maymyo with him some time between 1915 and 1917, so Denis must have been born round about 1908, give or take a year. The Maymyo High School was a very high-powered boarding school which took boys from age five all the way to their twenties in some cases, depending on how much schooling they'd had before they started.

He is probably the DW Rae of the Salt Revenue Department who appears on The Anglo-Burmese Library's List of Evacuees as being evacuated on 10^th May 1942 from Sagaing to the Birkmyre Hostel, 4 Middleton Row, Calcutta.

He is certainly the DW Rae of the Burma Forestry Service who served under Lieutenant-Colonel JP Shelley in the "British Officer Johnnies", one of the units who came under the aegis of Z-Force, a joint Allied reconnaissance and sabotage unit. The Johnnies were a group of ten British officers recruited from the Burmese Forestry service, arranged in five pairs of commmander and second in command, who led intelligence-gathering patrols behind enemy lines in occupied Burma from August 1942 onwards (see Spink medal catalogue for 25^th November 2010). By this point Sam Newland was a Major in the Johnnies, and he selected Denis as his second in command. Sam worked for the Forest Service and it seems that Denis did so as well, so they presumably re-met through work. In his memoirs Sam said of Denis that he had hardly known him at school because he was so much younger, about half Sam's age, "but I chose him as my second in command during my long, penetration patrols behind enemy lines in World War II. We also became firm friends."

sepia photo' showing six people all in about their twenties, dressed in lightweight summer clothes - from the left girl, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl - seated on an expanse of mossy rock with another huge curve of rock above them, rather as if they were sitting in the crack between two enormous bowling balls balanced one on top of the other

Kay Bruen (later Kay Monk) at centre with Denis Rae on her right (our left) and Adrian Cowsley on her left (our right), taken at Thandaung in the mid 1930s, from Kay's son in law Roger Kelly at Kosmoid.net

I have in my possession three photographs which probably show Denis Wilmot Rae the younger. One is a photograph taken in the mid 1930s at Thandaung (about a hundred and fifty miles nor' nor' east of Rangoon), showing a young woman called Kay Bruen flanked by three other young women and two young men who are named on the back as being Denis Rae and Adrian Cowsley, but with no note of which is which. One is a swarthy boy whose features are difficult to assess because he has a moustache and his lips are tightly pursed, as if he is either smirking or blowing a kiss at the photographer. The other is a paler youth whose mouth and nose are similar to Denis's brother Bertram's, although he has a shorter face. When I first saw this picture I couldn't be sure but I thought the paler boy was probably Denis.

greyscale photo' showing three men standing in a row in front of a white cottage-ish building, with a black and white spaniel sitting in front of them: on the left a swarthy man with his hands behind his back,wearing an army-style pullover and slacks; in the middle a tall white man with his hands in his pockets, wearing a military shirt and slacks; on the right a more Asian-looking man with his hands in his pockets, wearing a military shirt and shorts and Wellington boots

Photo' showing three army colleagues of Sam Newland's with Sam's dog Judy, taken in Imphal during the war: the man on the left with his hands behind his back is Denis Rae, the one in the middle is possibly either Major FV Webster or Lt.-Col. SEC Gregory, and the one on the right is either Sam Newland himself or somebody who looks a lot like him

greyscale photo' showing three men in casual military gear standing in a row in front of a rough straw shack, with a black and white spaniel sitting in front of them

Photo' taken by Sam Newland and captioned "Some Z and Levy officers at Langpi Camp in Jap occupied Chin-land. May 1944", showing three army colleagues with Sam's dog Judy in front of a jungle basha. The one on the right is Denis Rae; if the others are also in Z Force then they are possibly Major RW Wood on the left and Major JR Stewart in the middle.

However, among Sam Newland's effects is a photograph of three un-named soldiers, taken during the war and showing them standing in front of a building which also appears in Lieutenant-General Sir Geoffrey Evans's book The Johnnies, where it is labelled as "Z Force bungalow at Imphal" (this despite the fact that it has two storeys). One of these soldiers is almost certainly the same swarthy boy who is in the photograph with Kay, and now that he has lost the 'tache and the pursed lips you can see a resemblance to Bertram. Since there's no evidence that Sam ever knew an Adrian Cowsley, nor that there was any other twenty-something Denis Rae in Burma in the mid '30s apart from my great uncle, this dark-skinned, kiss-blowing young man is almost certainly Denis Wilmot Rae.

Comparison of this photograph with those in The Johnnies suggests that the bloke in the middle is Major FV Webster. Comparing the one on the right, wearing what appear to be wellies, with a photograph of Sam Newland taken when he was twenty-two suggests to me that the guy on the right is Sam himself: it must be said that both his daughter and his wife disagree, but this is in part because Sam's hair was grey by this point, not black, and since having a youthful face and grey hair would have made Sam very noticeable I wouldn't be at all surprised if he dyed it while he was working. If it isn't Sam, it as at least somebody who looks a lot like him.

If these are indeed Sam and Denis, then they are much the same height. Since Sam was several inches shorter than Bertram, that means that Denis too was a lot shorter than his literally big brother. However, another photograph showing Denis in front of a makeshift jungle hut makes him look fairly tall, which may mean the Sam look-alike is too tall to be Sam himself.

According to the Spink article "... the Johnnies were generally recruited from the Forest Department of Burma or one of the big timber firms. By the beginning of July 1942 all the Johnnies had been selected and were assembled in Delhi. They were: Bertie Castens, Freddie Webster, Sammy Newland, and D.W. Rae, all of the Burma Forest Service; Robin Stewart, Dickie Wood, Jimmy Middleton, and George ‘Red’ Parker, all of the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation; and J.K. Parry and Micky Merton, of Foucar Brothers. Although these ten men differed in appearance and background, they shared certain attributes. All had a thorough knowledge of the jungle, its inhabitants, and their language; all were tough and used to living on their own far from civilization; and all possessed courage of outstanding quality. [cut] it was agreed that each patrol should consist of two Johnnies and a minimum of eight men, recruited from among the ex-Burma Riflemen who had escaped into India and were concentrated in one depot." Sam Newland and Denis Rae made up one of these pairs.

The Supplement to The London Gazette of 14^th August 1945 (page 4157, actually published on the 16^th) records that Major (temporary) Dennis Wilmot Rae (9652), on the General List, Indian Army, has been awarded the Military Cross, along with six other temporary Majors at least two of whom (George Edgar Parker and John Keith Parry) were also Johnnies, and also that Major (temporary) Sam Newland (5592) of the Intelligence Corps, Indian Army, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

       Major NEWLAND patrolled during the campaigning seasons of 1942-43 and 1943-44, in the SOUTH CHIN HILLS, in advance of our forward troops.
       He produced most valuable, meticulous and consistent information throughout, regarding enemy troop movements and dispositions. The accuracy of his information regarding important Japanese troop movements to the ARAKAN was later confirmed in detail by captured Japanese documents.
       When the Japanese occupied the SOUTH CHIN HILLS, he remained behind the enemy lines, constantly hunted by the Japanese, carried out numerous daring reconnaissances, and continued to produce most valuable information. He consistently refused to come out until he reached a state of absolute exhaustion.
       On one occasion he penetrated alone at night into HAKA, then held by the Japanese, in order to obtain accurate information. He exercised considerable influence among the CHIN Chiefs, and did much to keep many of them loyal during a most difficult period.
       One of the most gallant and valuable officers in Z FORCE, Major NEWLAND showed consistent gallantry and qualities of leadership throughout two years' operations.

Patrolled during the two campaigning seasons of 1942-43 and 1943-44 in the SOUTH CHIN HILLS as a worthy Second-in-Command to Major NEWLAND, and shared all the latter's dangers and hardships behind the enemy lines during the Japanese occupation of the SOUTH CHIN HILLS. Continued to carry on despite severe bouts of fever, and did not come out until, like Major NEWLAND, he too reached a state of complete exhaustion. He has shown consistent gallantry throughout two years' operations, and is now a Patrol Leader in Z FORCE.

It gives his unit as Indian Army General List, Att:GSI(z) GHQ(I). His rank is typed in as W.S. Captain Temp. Major, but above this somebody has written "2nd Lt.", and below it "Emergency Commission, Indian Army".

greyscale photo' showing a mixed column of armoured cars and tanks, one with a U.S.-type white star, parked on a winding road at the foot of a wooded slope: a man is standing leaning against an armoured car, and two others are sitting on a crossbar of a fence, facing him

Photo' of allied troops moving back into Burma 1944/45, found among Sam Newland's effects and probably taken by him: the man leaning against the armoured car may be Denis

Sam's diary shows him several times leaving Denis out of the last stage of a patrol and doing the last, most dangerous leg of a pass by Japanese lines on his own. This evidence that Denis suffered from recurring fever - possibly malaria - probably explains why, because any delay due to sudden health problems when they were very close to the line could have proved fatal. It also made tactical sense not to put all their eggs in one basket - if Sam had been seen and killed, at least Denis would still be able to make it home with whatever information they had collected up to the point at which Sam went on alone.

Sam's diary also shows that Denis acted as his gopher ("Go fer this, go fer that"), e.g. returning to the British lines to source a working replacement radio while Sam continued spying.

The fact that Denis's medal citation gives one of his units as GSI(z) means that after The Johnnies were no longer needed, owing to the advance of the Allies back into Burma, he became part of Z-Force proper, advance scouts who gathered information on Japanese positions about fifty miles ahead of the advancing Fourteenth Army and reported back by radio. It must have been in this force that Denis was a Patrol Leader.

The Supplement to The London Gazette of 9^th May 1946 (page 2226, actually published on the 7^th) also records that Maj. (temp.) D. W. Rae (EC.9652), on the General List, Indian Army, has been "Mentioned in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Burma" - just like his big brother Bertie, although as far as I know Bertram didn't get an actual medal as well as a mention.

Some time after the war Denis went to live with his mother Daw Kyin (according to Sam). However, he was in Rangoon in September 1946, for Sam's diary records meeting up with Denis (and sometimes Bertram as well) for a restaurant meal of kebab paratha at least four times during a visit to the city by Sam. On 21^st September 1946 Sam records that he "... went back with Denis to 'Lemongin Guest House' on Thompson Street" although it's not clear which of them was lodging there.

Susan Rae, born in Rangoon in 1948.

Timothy Rae, born in Prome in 1950.

Christopher Rae, born in Rangoon in 1952 and nicknamed U Ni.

Mary Rae, born in Rangoon in 1954.

David Rae, born in Rangoon in 1956.

Denis Rae, called Maung Maung Rae in Burmese but nicknamed Maung Nge.

Denis Wilmot Rae the Younger died in 1999 and his wife Daw Khin Kyaing died in 2007.

Denis Wilmot Rae, born circa 1908