Editing Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan (section)

== Military career ==
In
<nowiki> </nowiki>the early 1930s, Heenan applied for the Army Supplementary Reserve, the
<nowiki> </nowiki>only way he could become an officer without formal qualifications. 
According to Elphick, had Heenan's illegitimacy been known, it would 
have prevented him becoming an officer. He was able to join the reserve 
by presenting his baptism certificate, along with a certificate signed 
by his school headmaster, stating that Heenan was capable of performing 
the duties of an officer. This was endorsed by the commander of 
Cheltenham's OTC.

In 1932, he was placed on the Supplementary Reserve.

In 1935, Heenan was commissioned into the British Army, with the service number 547AI.His address at this time was recorded as Cheam, Surrey, England. He was put on the Indian Army's Unattached List, and was sent to India.
<nowiki> </nowiki>After six months' training with a British regiment, Heenan was not 
accepted by any Indian Army regiments. He had to do an additional six 
months with another British regiment before being accepted by the 16th Punjab Regiment. He reportedly performed well in a skirmish on the North-West Frontier, but was later transferred to the Indian Army Service Corps.
<nowiki> </nowiki>According to Elphick, this was a device commonly used to get 
unsatisfactory officers away from prestigious frontline regiments. However, Heenan later returned to the 16th Punjabs, but to a different battalion.

In 1938–39, Heenan took a six-month "long leave" (an Indian Army tradition) in Japan.

During 1941 , as fears of a Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia grew, Heenan's unit was sent to Malaya. He was transferred to an Indian Army air liaison unit and was sent to Singapore for training. Following the completion of air liaison training, Heenan was stationed at Alor Star, in Kedah, northern Malaya, in June 1941.<sup>[2]</sup> It was in this area that most of the British Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons in Malaya were based.

Circa 8 February 1941. Bristol Blenheim Mark I bombers of No. 62 Squadron RAF lined up at Tengah, Singapore, before flying north to their new base at Alor Star, Kedah, Malaya. Heenan was attached to the squadron at Alor Star in late 1941.

Japanese forces invaded Thailand and Malaya
<nowiki> </nowiki>on 8 December. Mr Sydney Tavender, chairman of the Cotswold branch of 
the Far East Prisoners of War, and who served in the AIL unit with 
Heenan, said the Japanese aircraft always seemed to know the correct 
recognition codes, despite the fact that they were changed every 24 
hours. By 10 December, the Japanese had destroyed most of the Allied aircraft in northern Malaya.

Heenan was caught during an air raid. "When we discovered he 
wasn't in the slit trenches with us we became suspicious," Mr Tavender 
reported. "We went to his quarters and discovered a radio, which was 
still warm. That was the last we saw of him. He was arrested." The Japanese air raids were assisted by radio transmissions made by Heenan. Among other espionage equipment, he reportedly had a morse code transmitter operated by an alphanumeric keyboard — similar to a Traeger Transceiver — which was disguised as a typewriter.<sup>[''citation needed'']</sup> Heenan was sent to Singapore, and was reportedly court-martialled in January 1942. He does not seem to have been formally sentenced, but the normal sentence for treason by British officers was death.

Heenan remained in custody at Singapore for several weeks. The 
Japanese gradually drove the Allies out of Malaya, and on 8 February 
they invaded Singapore Island.
<nowiki> </nowiki>Within days, it became clear that the battle was being won by the 
Japanese. In the words of journalist and author Lynette Silver:

:

By February 13, Heenan had become very cocky, taunting his guards ... that he would soon be free and they would be prisoners. It 
appears that ... British military police took matters into their own 
hands. After cards were cut
<nowiki> </nowiki>to decide who would ... [kill] Heenan, it is alleged he was taken to 
the dockside, where a sergeant executed him with a single pistol shot to
<nowiki> </nowiki>the back of the head. The body was then dumped in the harbour.
Elphick also says that Heenan was shot at Keppel Harbour.