[167][168] The other ethnic groups of Singaporesuch as the Malays and Indianswere not spared. Despite their numerical inferiority, they advanced down the Malayan Peninsula, overwhelming the defences. 2 Michael Pethers mother (Kathleen) and her baby daughter were evacuated from Singapore on Christmas Eve 1941 and his grandmother escaped on 12 February 1942, all reaching the safety of home in New Zealand. (Brooke 1989). The survivors were forced to leave behind about 110 Australian and 40 Indian wounded, who were later beaten, tortured and murdered by Japanese troops during the Parit Sulong Massacre. Buy Escape from Singapore, 1942; the story of an incredible voyage through enemy waters. The surviving garrison was marched into Japanese prison camps, some never to return. Search the history of over 778 billion As it starts, it's not really obvious whether it's a novel or narrative, since it's all told third person. Three small patrols were sent on the evening of 6 February, one was spotted and withdrew after its leader was killed and their boat sunk and the other two managed to get ashore. Here they met a Chinese who for payment agreed to take them to Sumatra. Only 24 Australian Army nurses survived the bombings, massacre and POW captivity. 488 Squadron RNZAF, a Buffalo squadron, had converted to Hurricanes; 232 Squadron became operational on 20 January and destroyed three Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscars" that day, for the loss of three Hurricanes. The once proud naval base, HMS Sultan,was evacuated at the end of January and set on fire with personnel relocated to a hutted camp at Seletar. [6][7] During 1940 and 1941, the Allies imposed a trade embargo on Japan in response to its campaigns in China and its occupation of French Indochina. Anniversary Cruise: Sydney under Japanese Attack, Sydney Harbour in War and Peace: Bradleys Head Tour, Garden Island Northern Hill and Garden Tour, Night of the midget subs Sydney under attack, D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN Part 1, D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN Part 2, D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN Part 3. Previous ed. Singapore was considered so important that Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered Percival to fight to the last man. On passage she met the armed merchant cruiser HMS Kedahwhich had sailed two days previously laden with evacuees. Rarely did this strategy work and the small and largely defenceless vessels fell easy prey to enemy air attacks. The Japanese attacked the weakest part of the island defences and established a beachhead on 8 February. They carried 2 x 4-inch guns, 1 x 3.7-inch gun and 8machine guns, with a crew of 75 officers and men. They displaced 85 tons, were 112feet in length, with a top speed of 20 knots. Yamashita and his officers stationed themselves at Istana Bukit Serene and the Johor state secretariat buildingthe Sultan Ibrahim Buildingto plan for the invasion of Singapore. With the Japanese now within gun range on the opposite side of the Causeway a few thousand more persons escaped in an organized convoy on the night of 11/12 February. They were whimsically known as the Plymouth Argylls (Plymouth Argyle is a football club). RAF Kallang was the only operational airstrip left; the surviving squadrons and aircraft had withdrawn by January to reinforce the Dutch East Indies. The Jurong Line eventually collapsed after the 12th Indian Brigade was withdrawn by its commander, Brigadier Archie Paris, to the road junction near Bukit Panjang, after he lost contact with the 27th Brigade on his right; the commander of the 44th Indian Brigade, Ballantine, commanding the extreme left of the line, also misinterpreted the orders in the same manner that Taylor had and withdrew. By 15 February, about a million civilians in the city were crammed into the remaining area held by Allied forces, 1 per cent of the island. Fighting courageously, they were amongst the last to pass from the mainland over the Causeway and retreat into garrison Singapore. [138], In analysing the campaign, Clifford Kinvig, a senior lecturer at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, blamed the commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Duncan Maxwell, for his defeatist attitude and not properly defending the sector between the Causeway and the Kranji River. The Dalforce irregulars, also known as Dalleys Desperadoes, were mainly local businessmen with some limited military service. Having demonstrated their abilities as matelots many of the ex-Kembong crew were offered berths and were part of about 50 men and a dozen women and children taken aboard. Ying Pingwas first bombed with some damage but continued to the Banka Strait where she was shelled by an enemy cruiser. [92] During the initial assault, the Japanese suffered severe casualties from Australian mortars and machine-guns and from burning oil which had been sluiced into the water following the demolition of several oil tanks by the Australians. [45] In the heart of the "Western Area" was RAF Tengah, Singapore's largest airfield at the time. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. Thailand resisted landings on its territory for about 5 to 8 hours; it then signed a ceasefire and a Treaty of Friendship with Japan, later declaring war on the UK and the US. Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2001. [120] Earlier that day, Percival had issued orders to destroy all secret and technical equipment, ciphers, codes, secret documents and heavy guns. [56] The two Australian brigades were subsequently allocated a very wide frontage of over 11mi (18km) and were separated by the Kranji River. Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. The escape from Singapore Creator Gough, Richard, 1956-Subject Great Britain. Further, losses on the mainland had resulted in a general shortage of equipment. The AIF was given a disproportionately small allocation of 100 places to all ranks. As they had destroyed all code books the Rear Admiral Malaya was thereafter unable to read signals. On sailing there were about300 passengers and crew. [46] Also under Bennett's command was the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade. [108][109][110] With the vital water supply of the reservoirs in the centre of the island threatened, the 27th Australian Brigade was later ordered to recapture Bukit Panjang as a preliminary move in retaking Bukit Timah. With the Japanese stranglehold over the Malay Peninsula there was no land exit, and after the last few RAF aircraft evacuated on 10 February the enemy controlled the skies. Twenty-two others escaped the island after rebuilding a native vessel but were captured and returned to Singapore as POWs. After ML310was attacked by enemy ships she grounded on Tjebia Island about 30 miles north of Banka Strait. Bennetts independent spirit did not fit into the Allied command structure, however his Division generally acquitted themselves well against a seasoned enemy. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. Military analysts later estimated that if the guns had been well supplied with HE shells the Japanese attackers would have suffered heavy casualties but the invasion could not have been prevented by this means alone. [83], Air battles went on for the rest of the day and by nightfall it was clear that with the few aircraft Percival had left, Kallang could no longer be used as a base. [58], As the landing craft closed on the Australian positions, machine gunners from the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion, interspersed amongst the rifle companies, opened fire. From the composite Plymouth Argylls, 52 Highlanders and 22 Marines finally reached Colombo. Japanese newspapers triumphantly declared the victory as deciding the general situation of the war. Dragonflyand Grasshoppersailed in company on 13 February with about 325 troops, bound for Sumatra. The Locust class river gunboats were relatively new steam turbine ships of 585 tons capable of 17 knots. On Monday 8 December the Japanese crossed the border and carried out bombing attacks which completely destroyed the defending aircraft. The growth of this list from small beginnings is the result of people contacting me via the Cofepow website and contributing further information. The Australian Army 8th Division in Malaya eventually reached about 15,000 men. Both ships were attacked by aircraft in the Banka Straits with Dragonflyhit three times, sinking quickly. The most positive escape concerns the ex-Japanese fishing vessel Kofoku Maruskippered by Australian master mariner turned mining engineer, William (Bill) Reynolds. ORIGINAL NOTEBOOK AND REPORT WRITTEN BY WO2 FISHER OUTLINING THE ESCAPE FROM SINGAPORE ON 15 FEB 1942 OF MEMBERS OF THE UNIT UNDER LT K R KING, THEIR PASSAGE TO SUMATRA, EVENTUAL DEPARTURE FOR CEYLON ABOARD THE S S DE-WIERT AND RETURN TO AUSTRALIA ABOARD THE "STIRLING CASTLE". The faithful old Kembong and her attendant naval launches were left to the Dutch authorities. . The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,[c] took place in the SouthEast Asian theatre of the Pacific War. [22] The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was more numerous and better trained than the second-hand assortment of untrained pilots and inferior Commonwealth equipment remaining in Malaya, Borneo and Singapore. A US submarine S-39was sent to look for the survivors but they could not be found. The 1942 battle ended with 140,000 troops and citizens in Singapore captured, wounded or killed Around 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops based in Singapore became Prisoners of War. Gibson, Walter, The Boat Singapore Escape, Monsoon, Singapore, 2007. MV Kembong1 was a 1936 vintage Straits Settlements Government Fisheries Research vessel anchored off Singapore in February 1942, out of commission, with her crew dispersed. Roberts, Janet I., The Yachties Australian Volunteers in the Royal Navy 1940-45, Master of Arts Thesis University of Melbourne, October 2007. This podcast series examines Australias Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere. 14 day loan required to access PDF files. The Japanese were also almost at the end of their supplies and Yamashita wanted to avoid costly house-to-house fighting. There must at this stage be no thought of saving the troops or sparing the population. He proposed two options: an immediate counter-attack to regain the reservoirs and the military food depots around Bukit Timah, or surrender. The escape from Singapore is perhaps best summarised by Lieutenant General Percival who wrote (Brooke 1989): I regret to have to report that the flotilla of small ships and other light craft which left Singapore on the night of 13-14 February encountered a Japanese naval force in the approaches to the Banka Straits. Robinson, Stephen, False Flags Disguised German Raiders of World War II, Exisle Publishing, Wollombi, NSW, 2016. I was very frightened all the time that the British would discover our numerical weakness and lack of supplies and force me into disastrous street fighting. Hitler reportedly forbade Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop from issuing a congratulatory communique. Japanese fighters were superior to the Commonwealth fighters, which helped the Japanese to gain air supremacy. A Royal Navy assessment of these vessels was scathing, finding them in poor repair and mostly unseaworthy, and many were later burned. For his leadership in the fighting withdrawal, Anderson was awarded the Victoria Cross. Alices nephew is CMDR Mike Storrs RAN Rtd. There was then a further dangerous voyage through waters controlled by Japanese warships and submarines to the safety of Colombo for British, and Fremantle for the Australian, personnel. How came 100,000 men (half of them of our own race) to hold up their hands to inferior numbers of Japanese? Survivors from this closely knit unit stayed together and some managed to escape whilst others were taken into custody. About 6,000 survived until they could be liberated by Australian and US forces in 19431945, as the war in the Pacific turned in favour of the Allies. Discounts, promotions, and special offers on best-selling magazines. Blackburn and Hack give a total of 226 for British artillery pieces captured during the siege of Singapore itself, including fortress guns (172 without them), Two brigades from the 8th Australian Division had been dispatched to Singapore and then Malaya in February 1941, while its third brigade had been dispersed to garrison. They fell upon X Battalion, which had camped in its assembly area while waiting to launch its counter-attack, and two-thirds of the battalion was killed or wounded. Though his mind had been gradually prepared for its fall, the surrender of the fortress stunned him. It comprised about 2,000 Chinese under (mainly retired) British reserve officers, and was only in existence for a matter of weeks. Over the final five-day period before surrender on Sunday 15 February 1942, about 5000 souls escaped but less than one in four made a safe landing, the rest being killed or captured. Please try again. Despite stubborn resistance and inflicting considerable casualties over 17 days of fighting, Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day 1941. Silver, Lynette R., The Heroes of Rimau, Leo Cooper, London, 1990. Another unfortunate consequence leading to confusion was that naval personnel responsible for coding and decoding signals were approved to leave the island aboard HMS Jupiterin the early hours of 12 February. Within hours, with a small naval escort Perak was amongst the last Allied ships to sail from Batavia. Heenan was shot at Keppel Harbour, on the southern side of Singapore and his body was thrown into the sea. web pages This podcast series examines Australias Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere. According to Woodburn-Kirby the majority of deserters were from administrative units or were men who had only recently arrived in Malaya and were inadequately trained. Along the way, the severe class-conciousness of the British Army in WWII becomes quite clear, and not a whole lot happens. [155] At Gemas, Bakri and Jemaluang, "they achieved the few outstanding tactical successes" of the campaign in Malaya and although the Australians made up 13 per cent of the British Empire's ground forces, they suffered 73 per cent of its battle deaths. [152] According to another source, Taylor cracked under the pressure. Its free and takes less than 10 seconds! The June 2019 edition of this magazine contained an article The Naval Evacuation of Singapore February 1942 which lists MV Kembong amongst forty-five vessels that escaped. Preview Book Commandeering a small launch and a junk, he and some fellow British soldiers head for Dutch Sumatra, where -- in return for a commission to operate a Dutch craft -- they rescue survivors of Japanese bombings. Grasshopperwas hit twice and set on fire but her captain managed to beach her on nearby Sebayer Islands. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. Please try your request again later. Only one lifeboat with a capacity for 28 persons was launched, into which 135 survivors crammed, including Brigadier Paris. However his Division generally acquitted themselves well against a seasoned enemy British reserve officers and... Knit unit stayed together and some managed to escape whilst others were taken into.! 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