Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan was a captain in the British Indian Army who was supposedly convicted of treason, after spying for Japan during the Battle of Malaya of World War II. Heenan was executed by his wardens while in custody during the Battle of Singapore. With the defeat of the British imminent, Heenan had mocked the guards, saying he would soon be free, while they would be the prisoners. In response, British military police shot him and dumped his body into the harbour.

The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the Malay Operation , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between British Commonwealth army units and the Imperial Japanese Army, with minor skirmishes at the beginning of the campaign between British Commonwealth and Royal Thai Police. The Japanese had air and naval supremacy from the opening days of the campaign. For the British, Indian, Australian, and Malayan forces defending the colony, the campaign was a total disaster.