Ian MacAlister Stewart

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Ian MacAlister Stewart

Lt.Col. Ian MacAlister Stewart (centre), commander of the Argylls advances through a mangrove swamp in Bukit Timah with Major Angus MacDonald (left) and Sgt-Major Munnoch. (right)
Allegiance	Great Britain
Rank	Brigadier-General
Unit	Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Commands	2nd Bn, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Indian 12th Infantry Brigade British 144th Infantry Brigade

Ian MacAlister Stewart, 13th Laird of Achnacone was a British Army officer.

Stewart's military career was dominated by his service with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a regiment that he was so wedded to that when he was given command of the 2nd Battalion in the 1930s some of his brother officers did not even realise that he was married with a daughter. He even refused a position at the staff college at Camberley to remain with his battalion thereby losing the only way to senior command. At the out break of the Second World War Stewart was very happily still in command of the 2nd Battalion. Stewart was one of the few British officers to realise the need for training in Jungle warfare that would be necessary in order to defeat the Japanese in a war in Malaya. In early 1941 after his battalion had been transferred from India to Malaya, Stewart began rigorously training his men and developing new tactics to fight in all of the extremely and hostile natural terrain of Malaya. When the 2nd Argylls were thrown into the battle in early December 1941 they were to prove one of the few effective units the Japanese would face in their rapid advance down the peninsular, inflicting heavy casualties in every engagement. Sadly their effectiveness meant that they were continuosly used as the buffer and suffered massive casualties as a result.

Stewart commanded his battalion so effectively during the Battle of Malaya and the Fall of Singapore that he was given command of the Indian 12th Infantry Brigade after Brig.Paris took over the Indian 11th Infantry Division.

Stewart soon returned to his beloved Argylls in Singapore after they had been decimated in the fighting on the mainland. The Argylls were reformed with Royal Marines, survivors from the H.M.S. Prince of Wales and the H.M.S. Repulse, becoming known as the Plymouth Argylls.

He was evacuated unwillingly from Singapore before it's surrender due to the need for experienced officers and men who had proven ability to fight the Japanese Army successfully, an ability rare in the British Army at this time.

By the end of the war he had been promoted to Brigadier and was in command of the 144th Infantry Brigade.