Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan - Effects and Aftermath

Effects and Aftermath

Military historian Brian P. Farrell believes that Heenan could not have done decisive damage to the Allies, but he probably cost No. 62 Squadron some personnel and aircraft. Elphick suggests that the British Commonwealth air forces would have been defeated without Heenan's help: their aircraft in Malaya were inadequate compared to the Japanese, and airfields in northern Malaya had been located in undefensible positions. Elphick added that Heenan "...must have passed on much helpful information pre-war and he pushed the rate of aircraft destruction along a bit after the war began." Elphick also says that word of Heenan's actions spread quickly among British Commonwealth officers and had a significant effect on morale.

By 1998, the families of other personnel listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission World War II memorial at Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore, were requesting the removal of Heenan's name. His date of death on the memorial, February 15, 1942, was reportedly a standard date assigned to all Commonwealth personnel officially listed as missing during the Battle of Singapore. In fact his date of death listed by the CWGC is 15 February 1944.