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Jim Fallace
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Early career
Jim Fallace, the son of a Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI) Sergeant, was born in Deal Barracks in 1903. Following his education in the barracks school and then the RN School at Greenwich he joined, aged 14, the Portsmouth RMLI as a Bugler.
Fallace transferred to the ranks of the RMLI. He passed out as a member of the premier squad, known as the King's Squad and he received the Kings Badge for being the best member. He passed as a Marksman and in Gunnery, qualifying him to operate ships' guns.
When the Royal Marine Artillery amalgamated with the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1923 Fallace found himself no longer a ‘Pompey Marine’ but a Chatham Marine. He also found he had a draft to HMS Birmingham for her three year commission on the Cape of Good Hope Station.
HMS Birmingham entering dock at Simonstown, 26 April 1921. (RMM)
After serving in South Africa Fallace then deployed to China. He was part of the Royal Marines 12th Battalion that travelled to China to defend British interests during the uprisings. After a brief spell at Chatham, Fallace returned to China as the Military Training Instructor aboard HMS Kent.
In 1929 Fallace decided to leave the Royal Marines after a trivial incident. Following his attendance at a dinner in a hotel with Police friends the Captain of Marines summoned him and reprimanded him for being seen in a hotel that only officers were allowed to use.
12th RM Battalion march through Shanghai, 1927. (RMM)
Devastated that his excellent service record would be blemished by what he saw as a petty incident Fallace decided to apply to join the Shanghai Police Force. He enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve (China) for five years and also the Shanghai Municipal Police Force.
He transferred to the city of Tientsin in 1937 but once Britain declared war with Germany Fallace resigned from the Tientsin Police and made his way, by sea, to Hong Kong to rejoin the Royal Marines. The situation was chaotic and Fallace ended up joining the Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (HKRNVR) as a Lieutenant.
In December 1941 Japan entered the war and attacked Hong Kong. Fallace was part of a team tasked with blowing up controlled minefields and destroying communication stations before they fell into enemy hands. The team eventually withdrew to defensive positions at the Repulse Bay Hotel. Further attacks resulted in Fallace taking command of a machine-gun section in the Naval Dockyard until, the next day – 25 December 1941 - Hong Kong fell.
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