Since then further interesting information has come to light. This proved disastrous as by dreadful coincidence the Japanese invasion fleet heading for the Banka Strait converged with the approaching fleet of small ships departing Singapore. After some boring to-ing and fro-ing, a small band of some twenty or so British officers are selected to escape to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on a dubious native craft. The 2/20th managed to concentrate three of its four companies around the Namazie Estate, although one was left behind; the 2/18th was only able to concentrate half its strength at Ama Keng, while the 2/19th also moved back three companies, leaving a fourth to defend Tengah airfield. The ship later sailed to Colombo and served as a hospital ship in Burma. Of the few survivors eight were picked up by the Japanese and later six more were found by the steamer Mata Hari. Lieutenant Richard Pool RN, a survivor from Repulse,had been allocated to ML 310 and writes of his experiences (Pool 1987): All day long columns of evacuees filed patiently along the approach road and on the wharf and gradually found spaces in the miscellany of craft which now thronged the dockside. SSPerak, a 1,200-ton passenger/cargo steamer of the Straits Steamship Company, had sailed from Singapore a few days before the surrender with personnel from No 36 Squadron RAF embarked. They also bombed the other vessels which were set on fire and sank, suffering numerous casualties. The British erroneously considered the jungle terrain impassable, leading to a swift Japanese advance as Allied defences were quickly outflanked. I had 30,000 men and was outnumbered more than three to one. Survivors from this closely knit unit stayed together and some managed to escape whilst others were taken into custody. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. This contained top secret British Cabinet papers addressed to Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, Commander-in-Chief Far East. The remaining force was a mix of front-line and second-line troops. A trio of old Yangtze river steamers Kung Wo, Kualaand Tien Kuangwere crewed as naval auxiliaries: RNR officers Brooks and Terry, plus 100 men, embarked in the largest of these, Kung Wo.Others aboard Kung Wo were a five strong media contingent which included an attractive budding Chinese film actress, Doris Lim. 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. Naval Historical Review, Ship histories and stories, WWII operations, History - WW2 Singapore, Ship losses, Australian Naval History Podcasts The Australian 22nd Brigade, under Brigadier Harold Taylor, was assigned a 10mi (16km) wide sector in the west, and the 27th Brigade, under Brigadier Duncan Maxwell, had responsibility for a 4,000yd (3,700m) zone just west of the Causeway. McKerron, P.A.B., Escape from Singapore Dalforce, Journals 65-67 of the Overseas Services Pensioners Association (OSPA) April 1993 April 1994, London. On 13 February ML311was attacked and destroyed by enemy surface ships and two days later ML432 was captured when beached off Banka Island. Adding to the panic, they were being bombed. All Rights Reserved. Most were damaged and many sunk with large numbers of casualties. I knew that if I had to fight for long for Singapore, I would be beaten. Buy Escape from Singapore, 1942; the story of an incredible voyage through enemy waters. No more is known of the fate of Kembong but with a new lease of life the venerable Perak sailed for the Mediterranean. Nearly all were captured by the Japanese and 21 nurses were summarily executed with a further eight dying in captivity (Shaw 2010). She was later sold to Chinese shipping interests. on Amazon.com. The next day the cruiser HMS Danae arrived from Batavia and took onboard about 80 officers and 500 men. As of 13 February they had been told to disband and form an underground guerilla force to escape Japanese reprisals. He was convicted and hanged in the Philippines on 23 February 1946.[176]. [174] British forces had planned to reconquer Singapore in Operation Mailfist in 1945, but the war ended before it could be carried out. While we do not have a crew and passenger list, LTCOL McKerron and LCDR Whitaker were both serving in Colombo in 1942 and it is assumed they arrived in Perak. [21] The aircraft were, according to historian Peter Dennis, "not considered good enough for use in Europe" and major shortcomings included a slow rate of climb and the fuel system, which required the pilot to hand-pump fuel if flying above 6,000ft (1,800m). Blackburn, Kevin & Chew Ju Eru, Daniel, Dalforce at the Fall of Singapore in 1942: An Overseas Chinese Heroic Legend, Journal of Chinese Overseas 1, 2 (Nov 2005), NUS Press, Singapore. [172] An unknown number were taken to Japanese-occupied areas in the South Pacific as forced labour. It was also the greatest defeat of Australian forces, but much closer to home in South East Asia, our near north. 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. Major Geoffrey Rowly-Conwy of the Royal Artillery refuses to obey an order to surrender to the Japanese as they close in on Singapore. Most women and children who wanted to escape by ship had already gone albeit that most of the ships which had left in the previous couple of days were doomed to be sunk. The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,[c] took place in the SouthEast Asian theatre of the Pacific War. For Australia too, the fall of Singapore was a disaster. She was known locally as The Ice-Box, therefore in taking passengers she was of limited value, only able to use the upper deck. Since 1998, Singapore has observed Total Defence Day on 15 February each year, marking the anniversary of the surrender of Singapore. Here another bit of luck came the way of the Dalforce party as they heard of another abandoned ship in need of their newfound recovery skills. [82] The Hurricanes shot down six Japanese aircraft and damaged 14 others for the loss of a Hurricane. [87], Believing that further landings would occur in the northeast, Percival did not reinforce the 22nd Brigade until the morning of 9 February, sending two half-strength battalions from the 12th Indian Infantry Brigade. by Ian Skidmore online at Alibris. Japanese forces quickly isolated, surrounded and forced the surrender of Indian units defending the coast. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. The surrender of Singapore was the largest single wartime tragedy that shook the morale of Australians. [17][18] Prior to the Battle of Singapore the most resistance was met at the Battle of Muar which involved the 8th Australian Division and the 45th Indian Brigade. Buy Escape from Singapore, 1942;: The story of an incredible voyage through enemy waters by Skidmore, Ian (ISBN: 9780684136387) from Amazon's Book Store. It consisted of a senior staff officer, the colonial secretary and an interpreter. Preview Book 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. 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. 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. An element of some 6000 men departed Sydney in the liner Queen Maryas part of Convoy US9 on 4 February 1941, arriving in Singapore two weeks later on 18 February. 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. 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. NONFICTION. 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. These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher. The Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse soon after the Japanese landings on Malaya, the fall of Singapore and other defeats in 1942, severely undermined British prestige, which contributed to the end of British colonial rule in the region after the war. After settling in Australia he became known as a sportsman and journalist. Please try again. For the first time this momentous 20th century battle, and its equally dramatic aftermath, will be told from a multi . Magazine Subscribers (How to Find Your Reader Number). Taking effect from 8.30 pm, control of this mighty fortress and its garrison was handed over to the Imperial Japanese Army. About 9,000 airmen - 7,588 American and 1,351 British and Canadian - were imprisoned there when it was liberated on the night of 30 April 1945 by Soviet troops. At noon on Sunday 15 February 1942 Lieutenant Colonel Patrick McKerron met with his sister and brother-in-law, Charles Vlieland, who was Secretary for Defence, Malaya, regarding the imminent surrender of the garrison. It is a familiar war story: jungle, disease, thirst. The Dalforce irregulars, also known as Dalleys Desperadoes, were mainly local businessmen with some limited military service. The Japanese were at the limit of their supply line and their artillery units were also running out of ammunition. Signaller lucky to escape from Singapore Signaller lucky to escape from Singapore Name: Allan Quick Date: 1942 Unit: L Section, 8 Division Signals Location: Singapore, Ceylon For someone who was a signaller trained to keep things short and to the point, Allan Quick wrote remarkably thoughtful and detailed letters home from the war. [88] Throughout the day, the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade, still holding its position on the coast, began to feel pressure on its exposed flank and after discussions between Percival and Bennett, it was decided that they would have to retire eastwards to maintain the southern part of the Commonwealth line. There was a problem loading your book clubs. The June 2019 edition of this magazine contained an article The Naval Evacuation of Singapore - February 1942which lists MV Kembongamongst forty-five vessels that escaped. Arrival at the RAF Base was timely as with enemy advances it was due to be evacuated with personnel and aircraft transferred to Java. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. My attack on Singapore was a bluffa bluff that worked. Here they met a Chinese who for payment agreed to take them to Sumatra. Their greatest challenge was transiting the Sunda Strait, now controlled by the Japanese, but somehow hugging the coast they remained undetected. This is without a doubt the most boring WWII book I've come across. 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. War finally came with Japanese forces attacking the northern beaches of Malaya on 8 December 1941 because of the dateline, one hour ahead of Pearl Harbor.Within days their attacks had extended to the Philippines and Hong Kong and through a pincer movement, down both sides of the Malay Peninsula. Little is known about their escape but it appears unauthorised. Michael Pether (Pether 2018), whose parents were in Singapore2, also describes the scene: On the evening of 13 February 1942 as the Japanese Army tightened its encirclement of the central area of the city of Singapore the Allied troops and civilians endured constant bombing and artillery shelling the city was in flames; thousands of dead bodies littered the streets and much of the city lay in ruins. 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. With the prevailing primitive instincts of escape and survival there were few heroes, with the exceptions of LEUT Thomas Wilkinson VC of HMS Li Wofor fearlessly engaging the enemy, and the courageous Captain Bill Reynolds4with his ironically named Kofoku Maru. The escape from Singapore Creator Gough, Richard, 1956-Subject Great Britain. [30][31] A determined counter-attack by the 5/11th Sikh Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel John Parkin) in the area of Niyor, near Kluang, on 25 January and an ambush around the Nithsdale Estate by the 2/18th Australian Battalion on 26/27 January bought valuable time and permitted East Force, based on the 22nd Australian Brigade (Brigadier Harold Taylor), to withdraw from eastern Johor (formerly Johore). [169] Numerous British and Australian soldiers taken prisoner remained in Singapore's Changi Prison and many died in captivity. 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. Meanwhile two small naval launches arrived full of miscellaneous Army and Navy personnel. Please try your request again later. [85][86] That evening, three Fairmile B motor launches attacked and sank several Japanese landing craft in the Johor Strait around its western channel on the evening of 9 February. Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. Table of Contents [29] Of over 3,000 men from these units only around 500 men escaped. , Publisher The war establishment, the paper strength, of an infantry division from 1941 to 1944, was 17,298 men. Russell-Roberts, Denis, Spotlight on Singapore, Times Press, Douglas, IOM, 1965. It therefore took some while to get everyone onboard and after the final trip the motor boat sank. When the first bombs fell on Singapore the evacuation began in earnest with torrents of people desperately seeking passage in the next available ship. Brooke writes of his experiences in Singapores Dunkirk(Brooke 1989), but tragically this episode did not emulate the success of the English Channel crossing. Please try again. 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. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. : - News Of The World - February 10, 1942 - Gordon Skene Sound Collection - Ominous day, this February 10th in 1942. In the interwar years, Britain had established a naval base in Singapore after the Anglo-Japanese alliance had lapsed in 1923. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Michael Pether (Pether 2018) has identified another twenty or so small craft which attempted the treacherous crossing. [152] According to another source, Taylor cracked under the pressure. When you buy books using these links the Internet Archive may earn a small commission. web pages The book starts by recounting the events leading up to the Japanese conquest of British Singapore. Singapore was no more, it would now be renamed Syonan-To or Light of the South. Roberts, Janet I., The Yachties Australian Volunteers in the Royal Navy 1940-45, Master of Arts Thesis University of Melbourne, October 2007. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. [90] The authority for this withdrawal would later be the subject of debate, with Bennett stating that he had not given Maxwell authorisation to do so. [46] Also under Bennett's command was the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade. She sustained casualties, was soon on fire and had to be abandoned before she sank. Singapore controlled the main shipping channel between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. A least one ship put up a gallant fight against overwhelming odds, she was the converted ferry cum armed patrol boat, HMS Li Wo, under command of Temporary Lieutenant Thomas Wilkinson RNR. Of those forces that had seen action during the previous fighting, the majority were under-strength and under-equipped. The resistance put up by the company from the 2/19th pushed the follow-on waves of Japanese craft to land around the mouth of Murai River, which resulted in them creating a gap between the 2/19th and 2/18th battalions. The "1942" appears to have been added to the title to avoid confusion with a book by the same name written by S.C. George in 1946. This was intended to take place at 4 pm but delayed until just after 5 pm when the General Officer Commanding Malaya, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, made the largest surrender in British military history, consigning the forces under his command to cease hostilities in an unconditional surrender to Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashitu, commanding the Japanese 25th Army. [78] Many of the Hurricanes were destroyed on the ground by air raids. Moreman, Dr. John & Reid, Dr. Richard, A Bitter Fate: Australians in Malaya & Singapore, Dec 1941 Feb 1942, Department of Veterans Affairs, Canberra, 2002. The AIF was given a disproportionately small allocation of 100 places to all ranks. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. A Royal Navy assessment of these vessels was scathing, finding them in poor repair and mostly unseaworthy, and many were later burned. The men were detailed to help the undermanned crew and the women assisted in the galley and saloon. [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. Unable to add item to List. 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". It is also the site of the infamous Selarang Barracks Square Incident during the war, in which some 15,000 Allied soldiers were interned at Selarang Barracks under very . station45.cebu 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. In deference to his Chinese crew Bill renamed his vessel Suey Sin Fah,and armed her with a machine gun before sailing with refugees from Sumatra to southern India. Fighting courageously, they were amongst the last to pass from the mainland over the Causeway and retreat into garrison Singapore. published under title: Escape from the rising sun. When ordered to leave Singapore she was heavily laden with 14 crew and 62 passengers. Over a period of 15 hours, starting at 23:00 on 8 February 1942, Yamashita's heavy guns fired a bombardment 88,000 shells (200 rounds per gun) along the straits, cutting telephone lines and isolating forward units. 14 day loan required to access PDF files. It was attacked by light naval craft and by aircraft. 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. I rely on you to show no mercy to weakness in any form. To their right, the 18th Division, the 11th Indian Division and the 2nd Malaya Brigade held the perimeter from the edge of the Farrar Road east to Kallang, while to their left, the 44th Indian Brigade and the 1st Malaya Brigade held the perimeter from Buona Vista to Pasir Panjang. [135] Little work had been done to build air raid shelters, and looting and desertion by Commonwealth troops further added to the chaos in the area. On 11 November 1940 the German raider Atlantisencountered the Blue Funnel liner Automedon. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Major Geoffrey Rowly-Conwy of the Royal Artillery refuses to by Ian Skidmore The final naval evacuation from Singapore in February 1942 was a tragedy of epic proportions, resulting in death and misery with few redeeming features except the eventual safety of the few survivors. Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. [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. Since then further interesting information has come to light. [107] Wavell told Percival that the garrison was to fight on to the end and that there should not be a general surrender in Singapore. [71] The initial fighting cost the Australians many casualties, the 2/20th, losing 334 men killed and 214 wounded. 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. . On Monday 8 December the Japanese crossed the border and carried out bombing attacks which completely destroyed the defending aircraft. Shortly afterwards Percival allocated the composite 6th/15th Indian Infantry Brigade to reinforce the Australians from their position around the Singapore racecourse. 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 last since the fall of Singapore. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. [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. I refer back to the original statement of "Left Singapore for Java in February 1942; escaped from Java by ship for Australia, but two ships were sunk and his ship turned and headed for India, arriving in Karachi March 1942". With necessary repairs he found that the 1934 built fishing vessel Kofoku Maru (Happiness), with a copper sheathed teak hull and German diesel engine, was a very sound craft and he recruited eight Chinese to crew her. Because of the dangers no women were to be taken onboard. About 40,000, mostly conscripted, Indian soldiers joined the Indian National Army and fought with the Japanese in the Burma campaign. [95] As parties of Japanese troops began to infiltrate the brigade's positions from the west, exploiting the gap formed by the Kranji River, the 2/26th Battalion was forced to withdraw to a position east of the Bukit Timah Road; this move precipitated a sympathetic move by the 2/30th away from the causeway. As the wreck of Kung Wowas still afloat bombers returned and sank her. on the Internet. [136][j] At 09:30, Percival held a conference at Fort Canning with his senior commanders. [157] About 5,000 men were killed or wounded, a majority of whom were Australian. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. [39][f] Of this figure, 15,000 men were employed in supply, administrative, or other non-combatant roles. Naval Historical Review, WWII operations, History - WW2 Japanese operations, Singapore, Ship losses, Australian Naval History Podcasts [38] Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, commander of the garrison, had 85,000 soldiersthe equivalent, on paper at least, of just over four divisions. 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. [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. The men were forced into a series of small, badly ventilated rooms where they were held overnight without water. Three other HDMLs for the Straits Settlement Volunteer Reserve (SSVR) were given names in lieu of numbers, Panglima, Penghambatand Penyengat. The Japanese let the other survivors go ashore and the wreck was used for occasional bombing practice. 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