Vivian Fox-Strangways

Vivian Fox-Strangways
Vivian Fox-Strangways
Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
	In office; 1941–1946
Preceded by	Jack Barley
Succeeded by	Henry Evans Maude
Personal details
Born	29 July 1898
Died	21 November 1974 (aged 76)
Nationality	British
Occupation	British Officer then Colonial Service

Vivian Fox-Strangways CBE (29 July 1898 – 21 November 1974) was a British officer (Colonel, British Army),^[1] Resident Commissioner of the partly occupied by Japan Gilbert and Ellice Islands, from 1941 to 1946.

Because of the Pacific War, Fox-Strangways was seconded into the army with the rank of major and was located on Tulagi in the British Solomon Islands.^[2] From December 1941 to August 1942, being on Ocean Island at the administrative centre of the colony, Cyril George Fox Cartwright was acting Resident for Fox-Strangways. Therefore, the effective resident mandate of Fox-Strangways was from August 1942 to November 1945 — when his office and headquarters was in Funafuti (Ellice Islands),^[3] until on 22 November 1943, he could land on Betio islet, at the end of Battle of Tarawa,^[4] where he began to establish the administrative centre of the colony on Tarawa, first on Betio islet and subsequently on Bairiki islet.^[2]^[5]^[6] The provisional headquarters of the colony stayed in Funafuti until 1946 and the rebuilding of Tarawa.^[7]

Carl Henry Jones (1893–1958) was the U.S. commander Gilbert Islands Subarea (from 18 December 1943 to 1 October 1944). In November 1946, Fox-Strangways was replaced by Henry Evans Maude as Resident Commissioner.^[8] Fox-Strangways was transferred to Palestine.^[9]

Vivian Fox-Strangways was the brother of Walter Angelo Fox-Strangways, 8th Earl of Ilchester. He was educated at Winchester College in Winchester. He fought during World War I. He was with Queen Victoria's Corps or Guides and Overseas Civil Service. He was awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit in 1944.^[10] He was appointed Commander, Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1953.

References

^ "About Islands People". XIV(10) Pacific Islands Monthly. 20 May 1944. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b Macdonald, Barrie Keith (2001). Cinderellas of the Empire: Towards a History of Kiribati and Tuvalu. Canberra: (Australian National University Press, (first published 1982). ISBN 982-02-0335-X.
^ Lifuka, Neli (1978). "War Years In Funafuti" (PDF). In Klaus-Friedrich Koch (ed.). Logs in the current of the sea : Neli Lifuka's story of Kioa and the Vaitupu colonists. Australian National University Press/Press of the Langdon Associates. ISBN 0708103626. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
^ Cooper, Harold (18 September 1944). "Late – But In Company: Arrival of New Resident Commissioner in Tawara". XV(2) Pacific Islands Monthly. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
^ Maude, H. E., & Doran, E., Jr. (1966). The precedence of Tarawa Atoll. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 56, 269-289.
^ Macdonald, Barrie Keith (1985). The Phosphateers: A history of the British Phosphate Commissioners and the Christmas Island Phosphate Commission. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 9780522843026.
^ Walsh, Michael Ravell (2020). A History of Kiribati: From the Earliest Times to the 40th Anniversary of the Republic. ISBN 9-79869535-895-7.
^ Walsh, Michael Ravell (2020). A History of Kiribati: From the Earliest Times to the 40th Anniversary of the Republic. pp. 176–178. ISBN 9-79869535-895-7.
^ "New Post for G. and E. Resident Commissioner". Pacific Islands Monthly. 20 January 1947. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
^ "No. 36779". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 November 1944. p. 5067.