Reginald Dorman-Smith

Colonel Sir Reginald Hugh Dorman-Smith GBE (born March 10, 1899 in County Cavan , Ulster , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , † March 20, 1977 in Midhurst , Sussex ) was a British diplomat, soldier and politician.

Training and military service

Dorman-Smith was born in County Cavan, Ireland . He received his education at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . After a short service in the British Indian Army , he was retired and then joined a volunteer battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment (2nd Regiment of Foot).

Political career

Dorman-Smith was Vice President in 1935, 1936, President of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales ( National Farmers Union , NFU). In 1935 he was one of the few NFU-supported candidates to become a Member of the House of Commons for the Petersfield constituency .

When the government's agricultural policy came under heavy criticism from the NFU, parliament and the press in the late 1930s, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appointed Dorman-Smith Minister of Agriculture in January 1939. In October 1939, he launched the government's Dig for Victory campaign to increase food production on private properties such as allotments to reduce dependence on convoys. When the Chamberlain government was overthrown in April 1940, Winston Churchill did not take him over into the new government, as he had considered his proposal “to slaughter everything on the island for the benefit of grain production” to be absurd.

Governor of Burma

Dorman-Smith was Governor General of the British Crown Colony of Burma from May 6, 1941 to August 31, 1946 . During his tenure, the Japanese invasion and the subsequent occupation of Burma fell during which he had to leave the country. Between May 1942 and October 1945 he was in exile in Shimla . In October 1943, he expressed disappointment over the fact that the Burmese had not supported the British defenders. 25,000 fighters of the Burma National Army stood at the side of the Japanese at the time.

In 1944, Dorman-Smith met with leaders of Anglo-Burmese society in Shimla to discuss the future of the British in Burma. As a result of the Shimla conference, the Anglo-Burmese received the assurance that they would also be able to live their religion, customs and language freely in the future Burma, but not independence.

The British general Sir Hubert Rance , who headed the British military administration of Burma after the capture of Rangoon , returned control of the government to Dorman-Smith in 1946. In May 1945 the British government laid down its plans for the future of Burma in a white paper : The governor was to exercise direct rule over Burma for a few years , after which the parliament established in 1935 was to resume its work and only then was a constitution to be drawn up would enable Burma to transition to a self-governing colony . The protection of the minorities in Burma was also reaffirmed. A decision on the Frontier Areas , in which Chin , Kachin , Shan and Karenni mainly lived, should not be made without their express consent.

Dorman-Smith, who had to implement the policy of the white paper , was confronted with the strict opposition by the Burmese nationalists united in the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). His attitude towards their leader Aung San was ambivalent: on the one hand, he was aware that he needed him for a peaceful solution and admired his sincere attitude; on the other hand, he had not forgotten Aung San's support for the Imperial Japanese Army during the war. After a murder charge against Aung San, Dorman-Smith wanted him arrested after telegraphic reassurance from London. Shortly afterwards, however, he received a new instruction from London to release Aung San.

In June 1946 Dorman-Smith traveled to England after suffering from amoebic dysentery . During his stay in England, Prime Minister Clement Attlee had him replaced by Hubert Rance, who enjoyed the support of Lord Mountbatten , the viceroy of India , and was open to Burma's quick path to independence.

Even after Dorman-Smith left Burma, he followed events there with interest. He was convinced that without Whitehall's intervention he would have been able to prevent Burma from leaving the Commonwealth .

family

Dorman-Smith's brother Eric was a major general in the British Army during World War II . He later broke with the British elite, became an Irish nationalist, and changed his name to Dorman O'Gowan. His second brother Victor was a captain in the Royal Navy.

swell

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Aung San Suu Kyi : Aung San of Burma: A Biographical Portrait by his Daughter. 2nd edition. Kiscadale Publications, Edinburgh 1991. ISBN 9781870838801
• Dunlop, Richard: Behind Japanese Lines . Rand MacNelly. 1979

Web links

• Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith at Hansard (English)