the British were taking hostile action, fired back at the British troops. Captain R.C. Smith, who was in the stationary car, reported that a young Republican shot and killed Mallaby after a short conversation. Smith then reported throwing a grenade from the car in the direction of where he thought the shooter had hidden. Although he was not sure whether or not it hit its target, the explosion caused the back seat of the car to ignite. Other accounts, according to the same source, stated that it was the explosion and not a shooter that killed Mallaby. Whatever the exact circumstances of his demise, Mallaby's death was a significant turning point for the hostilities in Surabaya, and a catalyst for the battle to come. The British ordered an Indonesian surrender, and on 10 November they rolled out a large retaliatory attack. His death also caused the British command to lose trust in the Indonesian politicians. He received a posthumous Mention In Despatches in April 1946 as a Temporary Brigadier. Mallaby's killer was an unsolved mystery. Reportedly, his identity was only known by a number of top republicans such as Doel Arnowo and Roeslan Abdulgani. The top republicans however, were unpleased to learn of the attack on Mallaby, knowing that his death may result in dire consequence to Surabaya and its residents. They asked the killer to keep silent and told nobody about his involvement in the killing. Although Doel Arnowo admitted in 1970 that a young republican was indeed the killer, his name was not mentioned. Until their deaths, they kept the identity of the killer a secret. 73 years later after the incident, a local Ampel resident, Muhammad Chotib, revealed an untold story to the media and told that his late father, Abdul Aziz a.k.a Endog (Javanese word of Egg, due to his job as egg seller), was Mallaby's killer. Local Surabaya historian Ady Erlianto Setyawan also confirmed that the possibility of Abdul Aziz being the killer was high, since the claim is also supported by testimony of the last known witness present on the killing site, a Republican journalist of Arab descent, Amak Altuwy. Personal life Mallaby married Margaret Catherine Jones (known as Mollie) on 9 April 1935 at St Mark's Church, North Audley Street, London. Mallaby is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Menteng Pulo, Jakarta. His son, Sir Christopher Mallaby, was later British