escape from singapore 1942

I knew that if I had to fight for long for Singapore, I would be beaten. He proposed two options: an immediate counter-attack to regain the reservoirs and the military food depots around Bukit Timah, or surrender. For the rest of December there were false alerts and several infrequent and sporadic hit-and-run attacks on outlying military installations such as the Naval Base but no raids on Singapore City. [27][e], At Bakri, from 18 to 22 January, the Australian 2/19th and 2/29th battalions and the 45th Indian Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson) repeatedly fought through Japanese positions before running out of ammunition near Parit Sulong. A British lieutenantacting as an envoy with a white flagapproached Japanese forces but was killed with a bayonet. No hero's welcome greets them in Ceylon -- just some red tape. While particulars of all vessels involved in the exodus are incomplete the following participated. Navy List December 1941, Admiralty, London. [126], The following day, the remaining Commonwealth units fought on. As it starts, it's not really obvious whether it's a novel or narrative, since it's all told third person. Please try again. Lord Langford, who has died aged 105, was one of Wales's most colourful characters; during the Second World War he was involved in a daring escape from Singapore after the Japanese took control of the island, an adventure described by Ian Skidmore in Escape From the Rising Sun in 1973. After four days at sea they were sighted by the Singapore Harbour Services Launch Tern which took the General and his two aides inshore. Categories: [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. There was a problem loading your book clubs. [73] The next recorded raid on the city occurred on the night of 29/30 December, and nightly raids ensued for over a week, accompanied by daylight raids from 12 January 1942. A yarn of adventure in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. He was convicted and hanged in the Philippines on 23 February 1946.[176]. Doctors and nurses were also killed. Although the 25th Army was outnumbered by Commonwealth forces in Malaya and Singapore, they did not take the initiative with their forces while Japanese commanders concentrated theirs. [59] Also in support was a light tank brigade. Please try again. Finally, on sighting a friendly vessel, they hoist an improvised distress signal, not realizing that the one they select is a warning of their intention to attack. Of those forces that had seen action during the previous fighting, the majority were under-strength and under-equipped. [57] Much of the equipment and resources of the garrison had been incorrectly allocated to the north east sector, where the most complete and freshest formationthe 18th Infantry Divisionwas deployed, while the depleted 8th Australian Division sector with two of its three brigades had no serious fixed defensive works or obstacles. The flight from the island became a lottery with the odds stacked heavily against the escapees. - News Of The World - February 10, 1942 - Gordon Skene Sound Collection - Ominous day, this February 10th in 1942. There's nothing particularly thrilling or gripping in the whole book, and it's time poorly spent. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. ML 310was waiting in the stream for Rear Admiral Spooner and Air Vice Marshal Conway Pulford to embark. This brave man had refused to kneel in order to be beheaded. She suffered air attacks with some damage but then sailed directly into a convoy of enemy transports escorted by warships. Following Japanese atrocities in Hong Kong as many female nurses as possible were to be evacuated. Showing one featured edition. At dawn an island could be seen with Malay fishermen who came to help, and with a rising tide they were once again afloat and, seemingly with little damage, again underway. 0 Ratings 1 Want to read; 0 Currently reading; 0 Have read; Borrow Listen. 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. Churchill called it the worst disaster in British military history. Escape from Singapore, 1942;: The story of an incredible voyage through enemy waters Ian Skidmore 4.00 3 ratings0 reviews Want to read Buy on Amazon Rate this book 198 pages, Unknown Binding First published January 1, 1974 Book details & editions Loading interface. Need help? The British destroyed the causeway, forcing the Japanese into an improvised crossing of the Johore Strait. Reynolds had other ideas and as a skilled sailor and engineer he borrowed a vessel. [136][j] At 09:30, Percival held a conference at Fort Canning with his senior commanders. This information, coupled with its own appreciation, convinced the Japanese War Office of the weakness of the British position (Robinson 2016). [49] From aerial reconnaissance, scouts, infiltrators and observation from high ground across the straits (such as at Istana Bukit Serene and the Sultan of Johor's palace), Japanese commander General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his staff gained excellent knowledge of the Commonwealth positions. The capture of Singapore resulted in the largest British surrender in its history. 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. Fairmile Motor Launches (MLs) were versatile small craft produced in their hundreds and served in most theatres during WWII. . [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. The surrender of Singapore was the largest single wartime tragedy that shook the morale of Australians. Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2001. For the first time this momentous 20th century battle, and its equally dramatic aftermath, will be told from a multi . There were 49 infantry battalions21 Indian, 13 British, six Australian, four Indian States Forces assigned to airfield defence, three Straits Settlements Volunteer Force, and two Malayan. This was achieved by moving the defending forces from the beaches along the northern shore and from around Changi, with the 18th Infantry Division being tasked to maintain control of the vital reservoirs and effecting a link up with Simmons' Southern Area forces. 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. The next day the cruiser HMS Danae arrived from Batavia and took onboard about 80 officers and 500 men. Pool, Richard, Course for Disaster From Scapa Flow to the River Kwai, Leo Cooper, London, 1987. 4 Bill Reynolds, later working for American Intelligence, was landed behind enemy lines in Malaya in November 1943. [48], From 3 February, the Commonwealth forces were shelled by Japanese artillery, and air attacks on Singapore intensified over the next five days. Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. The situation had become so desperate that one British soldier took to the middle of a road to fire his Vickers machine gun at any aircraft that passed. Please use a different way to share. By midnight, the two Japanese divisions fired star shell to indicate to their commander that they had secured their initial objectives and by 01:00 they were well established. The RAF provided meals and then loaded their guests onto three buses which took them to the nearest railhead. [46] Also under Bennett's command was the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade. Moreman, Dr. John & Reid, Dr. Richard, A Bitter Fate: Australians in Malaya & Singapore, Dec 1941 Feb 1942, Department of Veterans Affairs, Canberra, 2002. The 18th Division has a chance to make its name in history. The British troops left in the city of Singapore were basically garrison troops. In January 1941 a large component of the Australian Armys recently raised 8th Division was posted to Malaya. During the Japanese Occupation (1942-45), it was used by the Japanese Imperial Army to hold Australian and British prisoners-of-war (POWs). Japanese aircraft continuously bombed the civilian water supply which was expected to fail within days. , Language 226 Group RAF, they flew from an airfield code-named P1, near Palembang, Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies, while a flight was maintained in Singapore. The surviving garrison was marched into Japanese prison camps, some never to return. Rarely did this strategy work and the small and largely defenceless vessels fell easy prey to enemy air attacks. [128][i], On 14 February 1942, the Japanese renewed their assault on the western part of the Southern Area's defences near the area that the 1st Malayan Brigade had fought desperately to hold the previous day. Includes bibliographical references. [43], Percival gave Major-General Gordon Bennett's two brigades from the 8th Australian Division responsibility for the western side of Singapore, including the prime invasion points in the northwest of the island. The Japanese, however, were well aware of this deadly game of cat and mouse and had set a trap with aircraft overhead and ships guarding the Straits which caused havoc. The bombers struck the city centre as well as the Sembawang Naval Base and the northern airfields. Dalforce, formally the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, was formed in Singapore in early 1942 by Colonel John Dalley. Date 8-15 February 1942 Location Singapore, Straits Settlements A latter British War Ministry report described the behavior of troops as deplorable, having particular harsh words for a group of Australians, many of whom were deserters from Singapore (Weintraub 2016). Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in SouthEast Asia and had been of great importance to British interwar defence strategy. Burroughs, Walter, The Naval Evacuation of Singapore February 1942, Naval Historical Review Vol 40 No 2, June 2019, Naval Historical Society of Australia, Sydney. [k][l] The Kappe Report, compiled by Colonels J. H. Thyer and C. H. Kappe, concedes that at most only two-thirds of the Australian troops manned the final perimeter. No community reviews have been submitted for this work. For the second time since the battle began, Yamashita demanded unconditional surrender and that afternoon, Percival capitulated. station45.cebu His forces consisted of elements of the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade and the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force Brigade with the Indian 12th Infantry Brigade in reserve. Russell-Roberts, Denis, Spotlight on Singapore, Times Press, Douglas, IOM, 1965. 14 day loan required to access PDF files. Unable to add item to List. [23] Although outnumbered and outclassed, the Buffalos were able to provide some resistance, with RAAF pilots alone managing to shoot down at least 20 Japanese aircraft before the few survivors were withdrawn. Lionel Wigmore, the Australian official historian of the Malayan campaign, wrote, Only one of the Indian battalions was up to numerical strength, three (in the 44th Brigade) had recently arrived in a semi-trained condition, nine had been hastily reorganised with a large intake of raw recruits, and four were being re-formed but were far from being fit for action. Bennetts independent spirit did not fit into the Allied command structure, however his Division generally acquitted themselves well against a seasoned enemy. Magazine Subscribers (How to Find Your Reader Number). Captain K. R. King and Sergeant J. E. Iliffe, who were with an Ordnance auit in Malaya, met the other day for the first time since the fall of Singapore. By this time, Kallang Airfield was, according to author Frank Owen, "so pitted with bomb craters that it was no longer usable". In the interwar years, Britain had established a naval base in Singapore after the Anglo-Japanese alliance had lapsed in 1923. In the early afternoon McKerron and the Vlielands were joined by an old friend, Commander C. P. Robinson, the Deputy Master Attendant (Deputy Harbour Master). The growth of this list from small beginnings is the result of people contacting me via the Cofepow website and contributing further information. I think many of us felt at the time that it was yet another example of the lack of firm leadership. Since 1998, Singapore has observed Total Defence Day on 15 February each year, marking the anniversary of the surrender of Singapore. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. Survivors from this closely knit unit stayed together and some managed to escape whilst others were taken into custody. The Japanese had imprisoned some 75,000 commonwealth soldiers in war camps on the swampy island of Singapore in the spring of 1942. Naval Historical Review, Ship histories and stories, WWII operations, History - WW2 Singapore, Ship losses, Australian Naval History Podcasts Were glad you found a book that interests you! Singapore was considered so important that Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered Percival to fight to the last man. Despite stubborn resistance and inflicting considerable casualties over 17 days of fighting, Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day 1941. On 16 February a small Dutch steamer Tandjong Pinangarrived and embarked the women and children and those who were critically injured, but it was sunk about 12 hours later with only 15 persons reaching land. His relations with senior British commanders and staff in Malaya were, at times, strained, as he grappled to maintain control of the Australian troops. In recognition of their importance these documents were entrusted to the prize crew of a recently captured Norwegian tanker, Ole Jacob, and immediately sent to Japan. They were witnessing the beginning of the end of the British Empire with the whole city lying under a pall of smoke, lit up by the glow of fires, as the once rich and powerful garrison surrendered to the Japanese. The Buffaloes were operated by one Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and two Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons. [100], In the early afternoon of 10 February, on learning of the collapse of the Jurong Line, Wavell ordered Percival to launch a counter-attack to retake it. He joined the AIF in WWII; post-war he became General Manager of the ABC and was knighted. [39][f] Of this figure, 15,000 men were employed in supply, administrative, or other non-combatant roles. The Highlanders, now down to 250 men, reformed with the addition of 210 Royal Marine survivors from the Prince of Walesand Repulse. [m] Thompson wrote that the 22nd Australian Brigade was "so heavily outnumbered that defeat was inevitable" and Costello states that Percival's insistence on concentrating the 22nd Australian Brigade at the water's edge had been a serious mistake. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. Of the few survivors eight were picked up by the Japanese and later six more were found by the steamer Mata Hari. Attacks would be made against the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor as well as landings in the Philippines and attacks on Guam, Wake Island and the Gilbert Islands. Here they met a Chinese who for payment agreed to take them to Sumatra. by Ian Skidmore. On reaching Padang on Wednesday 18 February they joined similar parties that had been arriving over the past few days. [93] Some of the Guards reached the shore and maintained a tenuous beachhead; at the height of the assault, it is reported that the Guards commander, Nishimura, requested permission to cancel the attack due to the many casualties his troops had suffered from the fire but Yamashita ordered them to press on. The AIF was given a disproportionately small allocation of 100 places to all ranks. [162][163] Japanese casualties during the fighting in Singapore amounted to 1,714 killed and 3,378 wounded. [22], Force Z, consisting of the battleship HMSPrince of Wales, the battlecruiser HMSRepulse and four destroyers, sailed north out of Singapore on 8 December to oppose expected Japanese landings along the coast of Malaya. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Colonels and brigadiers, civilians and civilservants,battle-hardenedwarriorsandarmy deserters intent on escape at any price, left in launches, junks, rowing boats, naval craft, in fact anything that floated. Malaya Tribune: Colombo Man as Deputy Master Attendant, 24 November 1936. She also towed a motor launch Eureka, manned by a petty officer and two ratings. He had been arrested on 10 December and court-martialled in January. The remaining force was a mix of front-line and second-line troops. An apt description of the commander, Major General Henry (Gordon) Bennett, found in a Veterans Affairs publication, (Moremon & Reid 2002) reads: A prominent citizen soldier, he had proven himself in World War I to be a fierce fighter and leader, but he was well known for his prickly temperament, argumentative nature and proneness to quarrel. Government authorities had been tardy and inefficient in the evacuation of civilians until only a few days before and now, as the last vessels that could be remotely called ships prepared to leave, chaotic scenes were taking place at the Singapore wharves as dozens of European and Eurasian civilian men, together with hundreds of servicemen from the UK, Australia, India and New Zealand scrambled onto any vessel departing that would take them. [99] On the evening of 10 February, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, cabled Wavell, I think you ought to realise the way we view the situation in Singapore. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Twenty-two others escaped the island after rebuilding a native vessel but were captured and returned to Singapore as POWs. [170][171], An Indian revolutionary, Rash Behari Bose, formed the pro-independence Indian National Army (INA) with the help of the Japanese, who were highly successful in recruiting Indian prisoners of war. 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Select a location to see product availability. It was reported to Cabinet by the CIGS [Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke] that Percival has over 100,000 [sic] men, of whom 33,000 are British and 17,000 Australian. Please try again. To avoid capture, the senior officers came ashore before she was examined by a Japanese boarding party and her engines disabled. The presence of the prison camp is said to have shielded the town of Barth from Allied bombing. [67], Shortly before 20:30 on 8 February, the first wave of Japanese troops from the 5th Division and 18th Division began crossing the Johor Strait. In the first encounter, the last ten Hurricanes were scrambled from Kallang Airfield to intercept a Japanese formation of about 84 aircraft, flying from Johor to provide air cover for their invasion force. [115] Elsewhere, the 22nd Brigade continued to hold a position west of the Holland Road until late in the evening when it was pulled back to Holland Village. HMAS Sydney II and the HSK Kormoran Shipwreck Sites, Admiralty House, Garden and Fortifications, Royal Australian Naval Transmitting Station ACT, 81st. After a full and frank exchange of views, all present agreed that no counter-attack was possible, and Percival opted for surrender. Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. Shaw, Ian W., On Radji Beach, Macmillan, Sydney, 2010. Eventually it becomes clear that Skidmore must have reconstructed it all from interviews with and diaries of those involved, but it makes for an awkward beginning. To prevent the remaining ships falling into enemy hands the senior naval officer, Rear Admiral Ernest Spooner, decreed that these must sail by 13 February. After ML310was attacked by enemy ships she grounded on Tjebia Island about 30 miles north of Banka Strait. [29] Of over 3,000 men from these units only around 500 men escaped. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. When the first bombs fell on Singapore the evacuation began in earnest with torrents of people desperately seeking passage in the next available ship. Assisted by Dalforce volunteers, McKerron went to find a retired Royal Naval officer, Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Whitaker3, who was persuaded to take command; that Whitaker was not a navigator but an electrical engineer seemed of little consequence. They also bombed the other vessels which were set on fire and sank, suffering numerous casualties. [50][51] Although his military advisors judged that Istana Bukit Serene was an easy target, Yamashita was confident that the British Army would not attack the palace because it belonged to the Sultan of Johor. Free shipping for many products! 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". Over the course of a day, they found large concentrations of troops, although they were unable to locate any landing craft. We have new and used copies available, in 1 editions - starting at $3.98. [121] An Air Liaison Officer with the British Indian Army, Heenan had been recruited by Japanese military intelligence and had used a radio to assist them in attacking Commonwealth airfields in northern Malaya. 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. Silver, Lynette R., The Heroes of Rimau, Leo Cooper, London, 1990. 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. Raised 8th Division was posted to Malaya bennetts independent spirit did not fit into the Allied command structure however. In Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas day 1941 conference at Fort Canning his... And that afternoon, Percival held a conference at Fort Canning with his senior commanders expected to within! After rebuilding a native vessel but were captured and returned to Singapore as.! Ideas and as a skilled sailor and engineer he borrowed a vessel formed in in! To all ranks seeking passage in the interwar years, Britain had established a base. 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