Lieutenant Colonel Francis George Leach Chester

Service number VB255581, 255581
Birth Date 14/06/1899
Birth Place South Africa: Gauteng, Johannesburg
Death Date 18/08/1946
Final Rank Lieutenant Colonel
Service British Army
Units
  • Services Reconnaissance Department
  • Z Special Unit
Places
Events
Conflicts/Operations
  • Second World War, 1939-1945
  • Second World War, 1939-1945
Description

Lieutenant-Colonel Francis George Leach "Gort" Chester was a British officer attached to Special Operations Australia (SOA). Gort Chester led several covert operations in Borneo with SOA including Python, Agas I and Agas III. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). For 20 years prior to the Japanese invasion Chester was a rubber planter near Jesselton on the West Coast of North Borneo. His fluency in Malay, intimate knowledge of the country and many acquaintances in the Dayak and Chinese community provided vital intelligence and safe contacts in the region. Chester returned to North Borneo in October 1945 and resigned his commission in March 1946. He died at Jesselton now Kota Kinabalu on the 18th August 1946 of malaria. His gravestone is in Kota Kinabalu Anglican Cemetery.

Rolls

Timeline

Date of birth 14/06/1899
Date of death 18/08/1946