BIBLIOASIA OCT – DEC 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 03 / Feature

Athanasios Tsakonas is a practising architect with degrees from the University of Adelaide and the National University of . This essay is a precursor to his book on , the Principal Architect from the Imperial Graves Commission who designed many of the war found IN HONOUR in South and . On a bright and early Saturday morning on 2 March 1957, Governor of Singapore Robert Black presided over the unveiling of the Singapore Memorial at the War . Under a sky filled with towering OF WAR oclouds, Black, a former prisoner-of-war interned in Changi during the Japanese Occu- pation (1942–45), was received by Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, Vice-Chairman of the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC). Some 3,000 guests, including digni- HEROES taries and representatives of the various Commonwealth governments, had gath- ered to bear witness to the culmination of an event that had commenced over a decade THE LEGACY OF COLIN ST CLAIR OAKES earlier in the aftermath of World War II. Unveiling the Memorial Who was the architect behind Singapore’s Kranji War As the party comprising Black, selected guests and the presiding clergy was about Cemetery and other similar memorials in South and to lay their wreaths at the base of the , a weeping, elderly Chinese Southeast Asia? Athanasios Tsakonas has the story. woman dressed in a worn samfoo suddenly emerged from the crowd and stumbled up to the cross. Major-General J.F.D. Steedman, Director of Works at the IWGC, gently put his arm around her shoulders and led her away to a chair under the shade of a tree. Journalist Nan Hall reported in The Straits Times the following day that the woman had “sobbed loudly and rocked her head in her hands”.1 Following the unveiling and a short speech by Governor Black, the Last Post was played, hymns were sung, and bless- ings offered by clergy from the Hindu, Islam, Buddhist and Christian faiths. A flypast by jet fighters from the Royal Australian Air Force punctured the sky in a salute. The British national anthem, God Save the Queen, concluded the service prior to the laying of wreaths and inspection of the memorial by invited guests. The ceremony, steeped in the tradition of a protocol dating from the beginnings of the IWGC in 1917, would be over within a few hours.

A panoramic view of and Memorial. The memorial is designed to resemble an aeroplane with its 22-metre (72-ft) central pylon and wing-shaped roof supported by 12 stone-clad pillars. Annual memorial services are held at the cemetery on and . Courtesy of Chester Chen via flickr. Photo was shot with a pinhole camera on Kodak 120 black and white negative film. 24 25 BIBLIOASIA OCT – DEC 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 03 / Feature

After the ceremony, the sobbing The Legacy rise to a common history with its own narra- woman identified herself as Madam tive: the advance of the Japanese campaign, a biography of colin st clair oakes as by 1932, Italy’s fascist regime, coupled tasked with the design of numerous Cheng Seang Ho (alias Cheong Sang Designed by a relatively unknown young its subsequent confrontation and with rising anti-British sentiments, had war cemeteries and memorials in Asia. Hoo), an 81-year-old wartime heroine architect named Colin St Clair Oakes occupation, and eventual retreat. Born 23 May 1908, in the village of created an environment of hostility. These edifices would later prove to whose husband’s name was one of those (see text box opposite), the Kranji War Kranji War Cemetery, like other Tanyfron in north Wales, the childhood By spring of 1936, Oakes once again be his defining body of work, bringing engraved on the very memorial being Cemetery resembles the design of many similar sites in the region, had a contested of Colin Sinclair Rycroft Oakes was left England, this time for . Appointed together all that he had learnt from his unveiled. Madam Cheng and her husband such war cemeteries he would design history from the outset. It was perceived bookended by the achievements of the Second Architect to the Government of past. In accepting the position, Oakes Sim Chin Foo (alias Chum Chan Foo) in South and Southeast Asia, influenced as quintessentially British or “imperial” Victorian age and the catastrophe of , he would quickly assume the role would follow in the footsteps of his pre- had joined a group of army and civilian by his military service background and in form, sentiments not shared by a . This was a period that also of Acting Government Architect, respon- decessors but, unlike them, he would fighters known as Dalforce during the experience of having lived and worked in colonised populace seeking indepen­- ushered in new attitudes to function sible for the design of numerous public become the only Principal Architect Japanese Occupation.2 Her husband this part of the world. dence from their oppressors. From the and style – a movement that otherwise projects such as the Calcutta Custom who had served in the recent war. would subsequently be captured by the Oakes’ appointment by the IGWC IWGC’s perspective, this “sacred site” became known as Modernism. House, expansion of Dum Dum Jail, and Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, would prove an astute choice as he would represents the fallen soldiers and airmen Admitted to the Northern Poly- technical colleges in Dacca and Chit- and tortured to death.3 introduce a modernist sensibility to the of the Commonwealth forces in the war technic School of Architecture in 1927, tagong. His design contribution included It was a poignant moment that cap- various commemoration and pilgrimage against the Japanese. Oakes would come under the tutelage three bridges, notably the iconic Sevoke- tured the essence of the human sacrifice sites he designed in the region, a sensibility The bodies interred and names of British abstract artist and pioneer of Teesta Bridge spanning the Teesta River. the memorial was erected to convey, not that would later define his career. Similarly, inscribed at Kranji reflect a foreign enter- Modernism, John Cecil Stephenson. The Oakes’ experience of living in India, only for the servicemen who died in the Kranji can be framed within the wider con- prise far removed from their places of polytechnic would instil in him a cosmo- along with membership of the Territorial war and whose names were inscribed on text of similar sites that bear testament to origin. Kranji also bears testimony to its politan outlook and design temperament Army during his youth, would prove benefi- the stone panels, but also for those who the horrors and brutality of war. Although uncomfortable position within a society that veered towards the contemporary. cial to the British Army when the Japanese would come to pay their respects and find located in disparate countries, the shared that is culturally different from the West. It also inspired his first overseas foray, entered World War II. Commissioned as a some measure of solace. architectural heritage of these sites gave As a result, the cemetery has become departing in April 1930 for Helsinki, Captain, Oakes’ posting to Bengal would , to join the practice of architect see his active involvement in the Allies’ Jarl Eklund. Eklund would also mentor Arakan Campaign into Burma. For his (Right) The Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, designed by Colin St Clair Oakes, in the town of Kanchana- a young Eero Saarinen, one of the great role in the campaign, Oakes was bestowed buri in Thailand, near the border with Burma. The architects of the 20th century. an MBE in May 1944 and promoted to the stone entrance portico and visitor shelter frame Oakes’ return home in 1931 rank of Major. the cemetery, which houses almost 7,000 identi- would prove short-lived. His applica- Shortly after the end of the war, fied casualties from the notorious Siam-Burma tion to the prestigious Rome Schol- Oakes came to the attention of Sir Frederic Railway. Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Colin St Clair Oakes, the architect with the Graves Commission. arship in Architecture, offering an Kenyon, Director of the British and Imperial War Graves Commission responsible (Below) The view along the main axis of the Sai Wan opportunity to live and study at the Artistic Advisor to the Imperial War Graves for designing a number of cemeteries located Bay War Cemetery located in Chai Wan, Hong Kong. British School at Rome, was success- Commission (IWGC). On 2 November 1945, across South and Southeast Asia. These include Built in 1946, it commemorates fallen soldiers from ful. Travelling to the historic cities Oakes was invited to undertake a three- Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore; Taiping World I and II. The bay view beyond is now of Europe and producing detailed month long tour of the very regions he had War Cemetery in ; Kanchanaburi War obscured by high-rise housing estates. Courtesy Cemetery and Chungkai War Cemetery, both of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. measured drawings from archaeo- recently lived and fought in – along with in Thailand; Rangoon War Cemetery in Burma; (Bottom right) The Cross of Sacrifice atop Garrison logical sites, Oakes’ work would be Ceylon (), Siam (Thailand), Malaya War Cemetery in India; Sai Wan Bay Hill at the War Cemetery in , exhibited at the Royal Academy, and and Singapore – on behalf of the IWGC. Cemetery in Hong Kong; and Chittagong War India, 1954. Garrison Hill – the former site of the see his scholarship extended for a It would culminate with his appoint- Cemetery in Bangladesh. Courtesy of the Oakes British Deputy Commissioner’s residence housing Family Collection. his bungalow, garden and tennis court – witnessed the second year. It would also be the last, ment as a Principal Architect of IWGC, and most bitter fighting in the Burma campaign. Colin St Clair Oakes, who also designed the cemetery, elevated the cross above a stone shelter and preserved the relatively isolated, bereft of visitors as Kranji is by Singaporean journalist described the prevailing literature as historic tennis court in memory of the fierce hand-to- hand combat that took place here. Courtesy of the well as the accompanying vigils and com- Romen Bose. Titled Kranji: The Com- tending to “analyze these spaces of Commonwealth War Graves Commission. memoration services that might occur at monwealth War Cemetery and the Poli- memory as loci of ’personal’ mourn- the better known and more frequently tics of the Dead (2006), the book offers ing or as symbolic manifestations of visited war cemeteries and memorials the first insight into the establishment imperial identities”.6 of Western Europe. of the cemetery from the perspective of 4 Over the years, the literature on its host country. It details all of Kranji’s The Imperial War Graves Commission Kranji has placed the war cemetery and individual memorials and explores the in Asia memorial within various scholarly frame- politics of its approval and funding, works. Edwin Gibson and G. Kingsley along with the official unveiling of the Barely two months after the surrender Ward’s Courage Remembered (1989), Singapore Memorial. The publication of the Japanese and the end of World Philip Longworth’s The Unending Vigil also marks an important shift in the War II, three senior officers of the Brit- (1967) and Julie Summers’ Remembered: local perception of Kranji. ish Army gathered at Croydon Airfield in A History of the Commonwealth War From the late 1980s onwards, South London on the wintry morning of Graves Commission (2007), nominally there was renewed interest from both 14 November 1945. The men had been view Kranji through a Eurocentric lens, as the public and state over the battlefield tasked by the IWGC to travel to India, an effect of the institution and its ideals. history of the Japanese invasion and Burma and the Far East to visit sites It is one of the few cemeteries created occupation of Singapore. New literature that had witnessed some of the heaviest from the “distant” war against Japan, yet on the subject gave rise to a national battles of the war and assess the burial somehow fitting in within the wider war discourse on Singapore’s post-colonial sites where their fallen comrades had graves endeavour. history, raising important questions been laid to rest. They would then rec- Outside the “imperial” view, the on national identity.5 Academics Bren- ommend the suitability of these sites in most comprehensive book written on dah Yeoh and Hamzah Muzaini have becoming permanent war cemeteries.

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An early sketch design of the Singapore Memorial by It was, in fact, a small yet prominent In his report submitted to the IWGC, The “factors” Oakes referred to were, Colin St Clair Oakes, with the tower’s original height of hill in central Singapore that captured Oakes identified Point 348 as the site in fact, three minor difficulties he foresaw 24 metres (80 ft). Preliminary costings exceeded the Oakes’ imagination and fulfilled all the most suited for the development of the in shaping the hill for its new role as a war budget and in order to avoid a perception of excess, the entire memorial was scaled down by 10 percent necessary requirements. At a height of 104 permanent war cemetery in Singapore. cemetery. Aside from the existing terrac- and the tower height reduced by 8 ft. Courtesy of ft, Point 348, also known as Bukit Batok Writing to headquarters, he said: ing which was unable to accommodate the the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Hill, overlooked Ford Motor Factory, site almost 2,500 estimated war graves, there of the Allied surrender to the Japanese. “The site is one of the most was the “large unsightly factory with tall Tall and conical in shape, it was well impressive imaginable. From the chimneys, which at present disfigures excellent coastal views. However, its situated along the main road connecting summit, the views across the whole the main axis and proposed cemetery sandy soil and water run-off were prob- Singapore town to the Johor Straits. The island, and to the sea beyond are approach”.15 Both, however, were not obsta- lematic. Melaik, on the other hand, would summit had been levelled and extensively superb.... Taking into consideration cles to Oakes. To accommodate additional be the most centrally placed cemetery on terraced with a wide road built to access all factors, POINT 348 is probably war graves, he recommended levelling the the island but was unfortunately enclosed it, all constructed by Australian POWs. the best site for the proposed lower slopes of the hill to create more ter- within a dense plantation of rubber trees During the early days of the Occu- Allied Christian Cemetery. With races, and as for the “unsightly” factory, he and the site hemmed in on three sides by pation, the Japanese had used the same it could well also be combined a proposed screening it out with a gently building development. On the fourth side, labour force to erect a and memorial to the missing from that sloping carriageway winding around the across the road, it adjoined the mental a Shinto shrine known as Syonan Chureito theatre of operations.”14 hill along with suitable plantings. asylum and leper colony. on its summit to commemorate their war Wing Loon, located at the eastern heroes. In a small gesture to the prison- end of the island near Changi Prison ers, the Japanese had allowed the Allied and accessible by a semi-private road, forces to build a memorial to honour their had much to commend it with its views war dead; this comprised a 15-foot-tall of the sea. But it would entail securing wooden cross behind the Shinto shrine. permanent access rights to the road and Both were destroyed when the Japanese additional sea-fronting land to its south; surrendered, and only two entrance pillars Accompanying the IWGC’s Deputy significant battles or were associated this site was later ruled out due to the and a steep flight of 120 steps leading to Director of Works, Major Andrew MacFar- with disturbing but significant memo- difficulty of acquiring land. the summit remained when the officers lane, was Colonel Harry N. Obbard,7 sec- ries. The scholar Maria Tumarkin in her Nee Soon, Changi and Kranji had arrived to assess the site.13 onded from the army as the Inspector for book Traumascapes (2005), identified existing cemeteries. Nee Soon was situ- India and Burma, and Major Colin St Clair the places upon which war cemeteries ated on sloping ground facing the Seletar (Right) Governor of Singapore Robert Black in Oakes, an architect recently discharged are founded as bearing the tangible River estuary, about 400 yards from the conversation with relatives of servicemen who had from active service. The itinerary included imprint left behind at a place of violent main road. Oakes had identified Nee Soon perished in World War II during the unveiling of the visits to all known military cemeteries so suffering or “traumascape”.8 Obbard and as a “pleasant and suitable” site for a war Singapore Memorial at Kranji War Cemetery on 2 that the advisory architect could make Oakes were aware of this policy. In their cemetery, but agreed with Obbard that March 1957. Ministry of Information and the Arts Col- lection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. proposals for their general layout and initial tour of Asia, they were asked to it was better retained as a permanent (Below) Another vista of the Kranji War Cemetery architectural treatment. The men would identify sites that could be built as war Muslim War Cemetery given the large framed against the setting sun. Courtesy of Tan also traverse the Siam-Burma Railway cemeteries. Notable examples in this number of Muslim graves at this site. Heng Wang via flickr. and advise on the number, location and regard were Kohima and Imphal in India, Changi cemetery, established dur- layout of military cemeteries from this Chungkai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand, ing the Japanese Occupation by POWs dark episode of World War II. Covering over Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar, and Sai Wan incarcerated at the adjacent Changi 26,000 miles by air, rail, road and water, Bay in Hong Kong. Prison, was Obbard’s original choice the trip would conclude in Singapore. It Arriving in Singapore on 6 January for the Combined Allied Christian War would be late February 1946 before the 1946, Obbard and Oakes would meet Cemetery in Singapore.10 Its well-tended team returned to London. Colonel Foster Hall, the British Army’s graves told a tragic history that was well Despite having to contend with the Deputy Director of Graves Registration suited for memorialisation. However, as difficulty of travelling in war-ravaged & Enquiries, and were also briefed by it was located adjacent to the runways countries, the party managed to visit -Colonel A.E. Brown, the of Changi Aerodrome, which the Royal hundreds of burial sites – many hastily recently appointed head of the Australian Air Force was enlarging, it was pre- prepared by the army graves service units War Graves Service.9 Over the next seven cluded from consideration as it would – in five countries and over 50 cities within days, they visited burial grounds at Buona involve removing and re-interring the the space of just three months. Working Vista, Changi, Nee Soon, Melaik (located existing graves. around the clock with little rest, Oakes north of the former Mental Hospital along Ironically, Kranji cemetery, located was forced to write his notes and prepare Yio Chu Kang Road), Wing Loon, Point within the grounds of a former POW hos- sketches under hurricane lamps well into 348 (Bukit Batok Hill) and Kranji. Their pital overlooking the Johor Straits, was the night. Yet, in spite of the personal dis- primary task was to critically assess not even considered in the first place. comforts of the trip, the conceptual ideas the suitability of the existing burial sites “Difficult cemetery to expand and situ- for the present-day Commonwealth War and select one place where all the Allied ation not exceptional”, reported Oakes.11 Cemeteries in India, Burma, Bangladesh, war graves on the island could be con- Obbard too concurred that Kranji, along Thailand and Singapore had been cast. solidated and re-interred permanently. with Buona Vista, as being “surrounded Oakes would then assess each location by jungle and are on very sandy soil, and Kranji: The Final Choice and compile the final report for the IWGC. would be costly to construct... [besides] Buona Vista, situated high up in a there are no special historical associa- A long-standing policy of the IWGC was cluster of hills about five miles to the west tions with these two sites at Buona Vista to select sites that were the scene of of the port, had few trees but possessed and Kranji”.12

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It was the third difficulty that that Changi be the preferred choice for had demanded the urgent removal of we saw for a cemetery. We did not An aerial view of Kranji War Cemetery and the Singapore Memorial. The Kranji Military Cemetery of proved insurmountable. Given the the war cemetery, with Nee Soon to be the graves in the cemetery so that the suggest it in the first place because non-world war dead is located on the right. Photo by Weixiang Schrödinger Lim. presence of the Japanese shrine, Oakes retained for the Muslim war graves. airport could be expanded. Obbard its previous use as a Japanese noted that “its previous association as However, soon after the men left then revised his recommendation in memorial hill might be regarded as an enemy memorial might be considered Singapore, they were informed that line with Oakes’: objectionable; but, if the Changi site objectionable”.16 Obbard recognised additional land required for establishing is not available, then we strongly the sensitivities associated with the a war cemetery at Changi could not be “This hill [at Point 348] forms recommend the adoption of this hill site and, in the end, recommended secured. Instead, the actually the best of all the sites site, on which a most impressive cemetery can be formed, and on which also a memorial to the kranji’s war dead a small cemetery for those who died within World War II from numerous burial missing could very well be set up. its care. When the war ended, this simple sites spread across Singapore, includ- The advisory architect is preparing Named after the local tree, pokok hospital graveyard would be expanded to ing graves relocated from Changi, a suggested layout on this site.”17 kranji or keranji, Kranji is situated become Singapore’s main war cemetery. Buona Vista and Bidadari. The Chi- in the north of Singapore, on a small In early 1946, the Imperial War nese Memorial marks the collective However, in the subsequent chaos hill with commanding views over the Graves Commission (IWGC) would send grave for 69 Chinese servicemen of the aftermath of the war and in spite Straits of Johor. The British first estab- officers and an architect to Singapore to killed during the Occupation in 1942. of the uncertainty of the Changi site, the lished a military base in this area in the advise on the general layout of Kranji for In addition, there are the Singapore IWGC went ahead to recommend it as the 1930s, which also served as a depot for its impending transformation into a war (Unmaintainable Graves) Memorial, permanent war cemetery for Singapore. armaments and ammunition during the cemetery and a memorial to the missing. Singapore Cremation Memorial and This decision carefully avoided the sen- early days of World War II. When the Yet, plans for the present-day cemetery the Singapore Civil Hospital Grave sitivities Point 348 would have generated Japanese attacked Singapore by air on would not materialise immediately. As Memorial; the latter commemorates among locals and returning service 8 December 1941, the camp was turned the IWGC had a long-standing policy of more than 400 civilians and Common- personnel. But it would be a short-lived into the battalion headquarters for the not taking over any remains that could wealth servicemen buried in a mass decision, for HQ Air Command South East Australian forces. On 9 February 1942, not be satisfactorily proven as entitled to grave on the grounds of Singapore Asia had proceeded with extending the Kranji was defended by the Australian a war grave burial, there was a protracted General Hospital. The Kranji Military airport at Changi in the meantime and 27th Brigade and a company of Chinese impasse over identifying the remains of Cemetery, which is the resting ground would not guarantee building near the appointed Chief Administration Officer, IWGC India, Notes Pakistan and Southeast Asia District, overseeing all the Dalforce volunteers when the Japanese both combatants and non-combatants. for non-world war burials, adjoins to earmarked site. With both sites Obbard 1 Hall, N. (1957, March 3). Thoughts of the past move Commission’s works in the region, including French first landed on Singapore soil at nearby Across the causeway, the Malayan the west. and Oakes had recommended declared 81-year-old war heroine to tears. The Straits Times, Indo-China and Hong Kong. Kranji Beach. Emergency and numerous post-war The most visible structure is unsuitable, Kranji, which had been placed p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Blackburn, K., & 8 Tumarkin, M. (2005). Traumascapes: The power and Hack, K. (2012). War memory and the making of modern During the Japanese Occupation, independence movements in Asia seeking the Singapore Memorial, designed to well down on their lists, was selected as fate of places transformed by tragedy (pp. 10–11). Singapore (p. 110). Singapore: NUS Press. (Call no.: Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. (Not available Kranji camp was appropriated as a sovereignty from colonial rule would see reflect an aeroplane with its 22-metre a suitable compromise. RSING 940.53595 BLA-[WAR]) in NLB holdings) field hospital for the Indian National further delays. It would take more than (72-ft) central pylon and wing-shaped Work on establishing Kranji as a war 2 Dalforce was a volunteer army whose members were 9 CWGC SDC 97 Box 2004. Obbard’s Tour Reports Army (INA) until its departure in 1944. 10 years and the involvement of various roof supported by 12 stone-clad pil- cemetery began in April 1946, with all avail- recruited from among the ethnic Chinese community in 1945–46. Annexure 2. The meeting also included Singapore. It was formed in December 1941 and named British Army officers Major-General K.G. McLean and The camp was then modified to accom- parties, the British Army and War Office, lars inscribed with the names of over able clues to the locations of other grave after its commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley of modate returning POWs from the Siam- the British Colonial Office, the IWGC and 24,000 casualties who have no known sites in Singapore followed up. Search Major-General Denning. Foster Hall at the time was the Federated Malay States Police Force. See National heading the Graves Registration Units, undertaking the Burma Death Railway as well as large the Singapore government, before the graves. It is dedicated to servicemen workers from the Graves Units in Library Board. (2014, August 19). Dalforce written by recovery and concentration of remains found in Burma numbers of sick and injured POWs Kranji War Cemetery and Memorial was from the , Australia, and the United Kingdom were despatched Chow, Alex. Retrieved from Singapore Infopedia. Mdm and along the Siam-Burma Railway. Brown would in a transferred from Changi Prison. As with officially unveiled on 2 March 1957. , Ceylon, India, Malaya, the to Singapore, but the lack of manpower to Cheng and Sim Chin Foo's aliases courtesy of Kevin few years be appointed Secretary-General of the IWGC, Blackburn in written communication, 24 April 2018. the small hospital at Changi, the make- Today, Kranji contains the remains and . physically dig and relocate graves made heading up the ANZAC Agency responsible for the war 3 Private Sim Chin Foo, Dalforce, Service no. DAL/46, graves throughout Australia, Indonesia, Borneo, Papua shift “Kranji Hospital” also established of 4,461 Commonwealth casualties of Annual memorial services are progress painfully slow. Returning Sin- died 1 September 1942, col. 399, Singapore Memorial. New Guinea, the Pacific and Japan. held at the Kranji War Cemetery gaporean residents assisted in the effort 4 Bose. R. (2006). Kranji: The Commonwealth war 10 CWGC SDC 97 Box 2004. Obbard’s Tour Reports 1945– on Remembrance Day and ANZAC to locate and identify graves and remains. cemetery and the politics of the dead. Singapore: 46. Annexure 6, In his notes on the selection of sites for Marshall Cavendish Editions. (Call no.: RSING permanent military cemeteries on Singapore, Obbard (Australian and New Zealand Army It was not until the end of 1946, some 16 940.54655957 BOS-[WAR]). Kranji would later be Corps) Day. The Remembrance Day months after the Japanese surrender, that highlights that Foster Hall’s original proposal was included as a chapter in Bose’s 2012 book. See Bose, R. for three Christian cemeteries at Buona Vista, Kranji ceremony is traditionally held on the all the war graves on the island had been (2012). Singapore at war: Secrets from the fall, liberation and Changi, and one Muslim cemetery at Nee Soon. second Sunday of November to honour exhumed and moved to Kranji. & aftermath of WWII. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Agreeing on Nee Soon for the Muslim site, Foster Hall those who sacrificed their lives in war. Editions. (Call no.: RSING 940.5425 BOS-[WAR]) indicated it contained the ashes of Hindu cremations 5 Lee, A. (2015, November 9). A case of renewed identity: ANZAC Day takes place on 25 April. and the need to scatter them. Post-War Developments The fading role of WWII in Singapore’s national 11 CWGC Add 1/6/17 Box 2003, Oakes report, Nov–Dec 1945. narrative. Retrieved from Singapore Police Journal 12 CWGC SDC 97 Box 2004, Obbard’s Tour Reports 1945–46. Colin St Clair Oakes would not see through website. Lee asserts that the war memory in Singapore 13 Bose, 2006, pp. 47–50. Also referred to as the Bukit References the completion of Kranji War Cemetery, is political rather than emotional. Singapore’s Batok Memorial, and along with the Allies’ memorial Bose. R. (2006). Kranji: The Commonwealth war abandonment by the British and subsequent occupation cross, it was constructed under the engineering cemetery and the politics of the dead. Singapore: nor attend the unveiling ceremony of his by the Japanese was used to emphasise self-reliance commander-in-charge Yasugi Tamura, using 500 Marshall Cavendish Editions. (Call no.: RSING “winged” memorial. By the late 1940s, he and the concept of “total-defence”, and the importance Australian prisoners-of-war from the Sime Road and 940.54655957 BOS-[WAR]) had taken up a partnership at Sir Aston of a strong national identity. Adam Park camps. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Webb & Son, and rejoined the Architectural 6 Hamzah Muzaini & Yeoh, B.S.A. (2007, June). Memory- 14 CWGC Add 1/6/17 Box 2003, Oakes report, Nov–Dec 1945. (2018). Kranji War Cemetery. Retrieved from making ’from below’: Rescaling remembrance at 15 CWGC Add 1/6/17 Box 2003, Oakes report, Nov–Dec 1945. Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Association. In 1949, with a young family the and Cemetery, Singapore. 16 CWGC Add 1/6/17 Box 2003, Oakes report, Nov–Dec 1945. Lane, A. (1995). Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore. and having endured years away during the Environment and Planning, 39 (6), 1288–1305, p. 17 CWGC SDC 97 Box 2004, Obbard’s Tour Reports 1945– Stockport, Cheshire: Lane Publishers. (Call no.: war, followed by months travelling for the 1288. Retrieved from ResearchGate website. 46. In a special note to Annexure 6. 940.54655957 LAN-[WAR]) IWGC, Oakes was appointed Chief Architect 7 Harry Naismith Obbard (1898–1970) was commissioned 18 Beacon, October 1949. In-house publication of Boots Longworth, P. (1967). The unending vigil: A of Boots Pure Drug Company,18 continuing into the Royal Engineers during World War I. Seconded Pure Drug Company. Oakes joined Boots in 1949, with history of the Commonwealth War Graves Sorting and reburial of remains by workers despatched from the Graves Units in Australia and the to the Indian Army in 1924, he was serving on the staff an arrangement with the IWGC to hand over part of Commission. London: Constable. (Not his predecessor’s work in rebuilding the United Kingdom, 1946. Kranji War Cemetery. Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. of GHQ, New , when he was loaned out to IWGC for the outstanding war cemeteries whilst committing to available in NLB holdings) many Boots stores in England that were the tour of India, Burma and the Far East. By November completing the remainder. This arrangement would destroyed during the German bombings. 1946, Obbard had been promoted to Brigadier and conclude on 31 March 1953.

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