The Background to the Far East Campaign
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The Background to the Far East Campaign What is VJ Day? A commemoration of 15th August 1945 when Japan surrendered to the Allies. Although hostilities in Europe had ceased in May, fighting continued in the Far East. VJ Day brought World War II to an end. Why did Japan enter the war? The opening up to trading Europe of both Japan and China in the mid to late 19th century pushed both, but particularly the more forward-looking Japan, towards modernisation. China had a huge resource of raw materials whereas Japan had vey few. It lacked oil and rubber, for example. From then until the 1930s there were incursions and clashes between Japan and China ending in the Sino-Japanese war 1937-1945. At the same time relations between Japan and the US became fraught over Japanese immigration to the country and their rights in it. And Britain, who held India, Burma and Malaya, also held the largest garrison in the Far East—Singapore. Japan felt encircled by industrial nations such as America, Britain, The Dutch East Indies and China. What happened? By 1940 Japan had annexed Manchuria and occupied Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos (French Indo-China) and had been at war with China since 1937. In 1940 the country entered a pact with Germany and Italy. After Paris fell it occupied French Indochina as a springboard to the south. All of this led to economic sanctions from the Allies which cut off Japan's access to oil. On 7/8 December 1941 Japan launched a long-expected attack on Malaya, breaking through British and Indian defences and driving down to the one military base that stood in its way - the British fortress of Singapore. What the Allies had not anticipated was a simultaneous attack on Pearl Harbour. Japanese 95 minutes before Pearl Harbour on 7 Thailand Forces December 1941 Japan bombed RAF bases to the north of Singapore on the Malay coast. The naval response was to send the battleship Prince of Wales and the bat- tle cruiser Repulse at the head of a fleet of ships. Both were torpedoed Malaya and sunk. Singapore was left unguarded by both air and sea. The only hope was the ar- my of 90,000 Australian, British, Cana- dian and Indian soldiers. Fighting began on 11 December in the north of Malaya. The British were forced to retreat down the country throughout January 1942. They reached Singapore on 8 February 1942. Indonesia Singapore Singapore is a tiny sovereign island nation sandwiched between Malaysia and Indonesia. Before 1942 it was seen by the British as a South-East Asian Gibraltar, a formidable fortress, impregnable and vital to the control of the Far East. The Fall of Singapore 15 February 1942 The vast majority of the FEPOWS were taken prisoner on 15 February 1942 Not only Singapore but also the surrounding Malay countries were forced to surrender. Winston Churchill described it as "the worst disaster and the largest capitulation in British history". The surrender saw the beginning of the end of Britain's global empire both strategically and militarily. Within a decade of the end of the war new independencies were created and geo-political aspirations between Asia, including Australia and New Zealand, and Britain shifted for ever. Taken from the Whalebelly scrapbooks. The white flag of surrender carried alongside the Union Jack There were several reasons. The British tanks were cumbersome and old fashioned; High Command had focused on the war in Europe; uniforms and materials were not suited to jungle warfare; troops were unprepared and many had never seen combat on this measure before; The British relied too much on the belief that Singapore was impregnable; until the last the men were ordered not to surrender, which caused unnecessary loss of life; arrogance on the part of the British High Command. The soldiers—and it was the 4th, 5th and 6th Regiments of the Royal Norfolks who bore the brunt of it—felt betrayed by a Government who had placed them in this position. The Norfolk Regiments in the Far East Campaign In the Swaffham, Watton & District FEPOW Association 63% of the members belonged to the 4th, 5th or 6th Royal Norfolk Regiment Territorial Battalions of the 18th Infantry Division, altogether around 2000 men. Around 600 members of these battalions died at the hands of the Japanese, with many more suffering lasting physical and mental scars from their experiences in the PoW camps. The following text about the regiments in that campaign is taken from The Holy Boys, Sutherland and Canwell Barnsley, 2010 The 4th battalion: Headquarters—Chapelfield Drill Hall, Norwich. The battalion left England on 29 October and after sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia, travelled to Cape Town where news of Peal Harbour reached them. They left Cape Town on 13 December 1941 and from there sailed to Bombay. They arrived in Singapore at Keppel Harbour on 29 January 1942. Part of their responsibility was the island of Pulau Ubin which they found to be abandoned by Pulau Ubin the Japanese. On learning that the Japanese had invaded the Bukit Pajang western side of Singapore the battalion marched towards Bukit Pajang village. Which had been taken by the Japanese. Singapore city RaceKeppel Course Harbour Adam Road The battalion was ordered to withdraw to the race course, and then again to the new defence line north of Adam Road. This would be their last stand before Singapore itself. Singapore city Shelling continued from 13th to 14th February. A major Japanese attack developed around 8pm. Japanese tanks and infantry broke through the line. The following morning a counterattack to regain the high ground was launched and the objective taken at 11am. The next day hostilities ceased. 75 officers and men and a further 7 died of wounds received, 65 were missing and 124 wounded. The battalion became prisoners of war. The Norfolk Regiments in the Far East Campaign In the Swaffham, Watton & District FEPOW Association 63% of the members belonged to the 4th, 5th or 6th Royal Norfolk Regiment Territorial Battalions of the 18th Infantry Division The following text about the regiments in that campaign is taken from The Holy Boys, Sutherland and Canwell Barnsley, 2010 The 5th battalion: Headquarters—King’s Lynn but by 1939 concentrated on Holt. The battalion left England on 28 October and followed a similar route to that of the 4th battalion and arriving in Singapore on 13 January 1942 1942. Yong Peng Malaya (See below—6th Battalion) Batu Pahat Jemaluang They began their defence in Malaya Skudai at Jong Peng on 16 January ready to go to Jemaluang the next day. They Serangoon Camp were then sent to Batu Pahat to keep the road, blocked by the Japanese, open. They moved down to Skudai, only to be told on 24 January to go back to Batu Pahat. They held their position there but the Japanese advanced. By 28 January the bulk of Singapore the 5th battalion were in Singapore at the Serangoon Camp. From here Keppel Harbour they helped defend the naval base. On 12 February the battalion was ordered Braddell Road to withdraw and take up position in the defensive perimeter around Singapore City. The Japanese had landed on the west coast of the island and had complete air superiority. On 13 February the battalion had taken up its position in the Braddell Road area. The Japanese attacked that night and again during the next 2 days. Shortly afterwards the order to cease fire was received. Singapore city At this stage the battalion had 30 officers and 660 other ranks although more would turn up later in captivity. The Norfolk Regiments in the Far East Campaign In the Swaffham, Watton & District FEPOW Association 63% of the members belonged to the 4th, 5th or 6th Royal Norfolk Regiment Territorial Battalions of the 18th Infantry Division The following text about the regiments in that campaign is taken from The Holy Boys, Sutherland and Canwell Barnsley, 2010 The 6th battalion: The City of Norwich Battalion, mobilised at the Aylsham Road Drill Hall. It was the weakest of the three battalions with only three companies at the beginning. It was quartered in various places in Norfolk during 1940, including spending Christmas at Swaffham. In January 1941 it moved to Scotland and from there travelled to Singapore on 27 October 1941 via Canada, Trinidad, Cape Town, India and the Maldives. They arrived in Singapore on 13 January 1942. Their first position was astride the Muar to Yong Peng road in Malaya, ten miles south of Muar. The Japanese were moving in from the west and the battalion was also bombed by aircraft. They withdrew to Yong Peng. On 24 January they moved to Sanggarang, leaving A company at Rengit. They were to hold the river crossings in support of the 15th Infantry brigade, which included the 5th Royal Norfolks, at Skudai Batu Pahat. They were ordered to withdraw to Benut. This was already in Japanese hands and so they were Malaya evacuated by gunboat to Singapore. They were encamped on the north coast of Singapore close to the Seletar Causeway river but the Japanese attacked from the west of the causeway which meant that they had to withdraw as soon as River Seletar possible to prevent being cut of. They oversaw the withdrawal and then took up position at the 7th milestone on the road from the naval base to Singapore city. On 13 February they were forced Braddell Road to withdraw to the Braddell road. (See Singapore previous page) It was here that they learned that hostilities would cease. At 1600 on 15 February.