SS Quah's Anything Goes: Part Four: Kuala Lumpur falls...

Last December, I had written stories on the fateful days that followed the landing of the Japanese military on the shores of Kota Baru on the east coast of Malaya, concentrating on the early Penang experience of the war. From there and also from their other landings in southern Thailand where they met only token resistance from the Thais, the Japanese smashed their way down the peninsula, over-ran the positions of the British armed forces everywhere and captured Singapore on the eve of Chinese New Year in February 1942.

In December 1961, The Straits Times newspaper in Singapore ran a five-part controversial serial called Eighty Days to Singapore to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1941 Japanese invasion. The serial was based on the report of General Arthur Percival (General Officer Commanding (Malaya)) and the memoirs of Japanese master tactician Colonel Tsuji Masanobu.

From the 24 December 1961 issue of The Straits Times, David Baratham wrote the fourth part of his serial which I reproduce here:

KUALA LUMPUR FALLS...
Civilians are recruited as guerillas
Southwards...From Muar and on to the Last Week

QUOTE: During the short campaign, there were all in all five C-in-C's. Such rapid changes, though largely forced on us by circumstances, are naturally not calculated to create an atmosphere of confidence. - Lt General AE PERCIVAL, C.B., D.S.O., O.B.E., M.C.

WITH THE BRITISH obviously putting in every ounce of effort to strengthen their defences, trouble was brewing among the top Japanese staff. Col Tsuji, for one, claimed that jealousies between impatient backroom planners and tired frontline leaders exasperated him so much that he drove all the way back to HQ at Ipoh to demand his own instant dismissal!
And among his opponents, there was disagreement between General Percival and General Gordon-Bennett, when Percival would not consent to his request to take over command of the whole of Johore.
Or, alternatively to take over West Johore, with the 3rd Indian Corp taking over East Johore.
Instead, Percival said that "the only practical solution" seemed to be for the Australians to hold East Johore, while the Indians hold West Johore. But he promised to be "guided by events."
On Jan 5, yet another main line of resistance was hastily drawn up, this time from Mersing via Batu Anam to Muar.
To ensure a breathing space north of the Slim River, large concrete cylinders were put on the road and all bridges were wired for demolition.
This had to be done at night, due to low-level machinegun attacks by the enemy aircraft during the day.
But on the night of Jan 7, the Japanese attacked in bright moonlight and cleared the tank blocks.
Percival describes how a fantastic bottleneck was caused when the leading tank, followed closely by 30 others, blew up over a mine.
Although Tsuji's account does not mention any tank being mined, he agrees that the ensuing battle was the most desperate one in the whole campaign.
SHATTERING EFFECT
PERCIVAL states that seven tanks were destroyed during the hold up, but the sight of the tanks "took the troops by surprise."

Not having seen, or known about the bridges being blown up, it must have had a shattering effect on morale to find tanks appearing on the other side of the river within a matter of a few hours; the tanks, once clear of further obstructions, cut down infantry retreating along the road and liquidated everything in sight until stopped by a 4.5" howitzer 15 miles from their starting point.
Tsuji describes how this leading tank was knocked out, the dead tank captain sitting upright among the ruins, still grasping his sword, a first-class private dead at his machinegun, and a sergeant collapsed beside his gun like a dish of "ame."
The effect of the tank-infantry attack, says Percival, was disastrous. There was practically nothing between them and Kuala Lumpur.
The hasty retreat was continued down the railway line to Tanjong Malim. The three battalions of the 12 Indian Brigade had been reduced to only about a company each. A battalion of 28 Indian Brigade had been entirely obliterated. The 11 Indian Division had ceased to exist as a fighting unit.
Tsuji's summary of the prizes gained in the savage victory included 13 heavy guns, 41 other guns, 30 armoured cars, 550 motor cars, ammunition rations, forage and medical supplies galore, and over 3,200 prisoners.
Tsuji's explanation of this success? "Frontline soldiers, on fire with the idea of the emancipation of Asia."
Percival's explanation of the defeat? The weariness of the troops, fighting and moving night and day for one month.
"In the exhausting and enervating climate of Malaya," he added, "this is too long. But had we the reserves we asked for, the story might have been different."
On Jan 11, the last bridge was blown up in Kuala Lumpur and the troops resumed their retreat to the Labu area west of Seremban.
Entering the capital of Malaya the Japanese troops were careful not to repeat their conduct in Penang.
All was quiet in the town apparently, but the R.A.F. were still holding out at the aerodrome and they attacked Japanese anti-aircraft guns surrounding it.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE
THE Japanese gunnery commander's claims that he had shot down four aircraft were not believed until he produced photographic evidence. Then, still cross, he accepted the apologies of the disbelievers.
On Jan 10, the big bridge at Klang being rather ineffectually blown up, Port Swettenham was evacuated, and by that night all troops had made off for Port Dickson.
Two days later the remnants of the 12 Indian Brigade took a train back to Singapore.
On Jan 13th, the military transport jam at Segamat was so enormous that it took a full day to clear. There the defence command was shared by "Eastforce" under the 3rd Indian Corps, and "Westforce" under General Gordon-Bennett, whose forces initiated one of the few successes in the entire campaign by triggering off an ambush so effectively that at least 1,000 advancing Japanese troops cycling into it were killed or wounded.
Tsuji who, as chief of operations and planning under General Yamashita, knew a thing or two about military tactics, more or less admits the success of this ambush by narrating how the leading infantry troops were "suddenly subjected to heavy shellfire from inside the jungle."
And he acknowledges also that "the 8th Australian Division, which had newly arrived on the battlefield, fought with a bravery we had not previously seen."
At the loss of only about 70 of their men, the Australian ambush took the highest toll of the enemy recorded in any action described in the Percival report.
Also the R.A.F. Dutch pilots, flying a motley circus of Glen Martins, Wirraways, Vildebeests and Buffalos, attacked enemy columns approaching Gemas and the Japanese Headquarters which had now progressed as far south as Tampin.
But the ambush was not conclusive. The advance continued mostly on two wheels.
According to Tsuji, the "co-operation" of Malay, Indian and Chinese residents was obtained in carrying the bicycles forward to the advancing troops.
He depicts this "co-operation" being carried out behind a Japanese soldier waving the national flag, as "surely an army in the form of a cross for the emancipation of East Asia!"
Emancipation or no emancipation, war correspondents still supplied stimulating accounts of the campaign.
"In London it is stated (on or about Dec 25) that the comparative quiet on the Malayan situation may be due to the difficulty confronting the Japanese in bringing up fresh supplies."
LOSSES WERE TERRIFIC
ON Jan 8, two days after the world's largest tin mine was abandoned and flooded in Pahang, a speaker said on the radio that after his tour of the north-east front, his impression was of a force "well co-ordinated and with a clearer view of the job in hand."
Another war correspondent on Jan 4 said that the Japanese troops fought shy of the open country, yet, nevertheless, their losses were terrific.
He gave stirring reports of how the Gurkhas rushed to engage the Japanese in hand-to-hand fighting; in the reported words of their officer "they had some great fun."
But others described Chinese refugees moving back from the fighting zone.
"Women trudged along the road with babies swung over their backs, or carrying heavy loads of wicker baskets on bamboo poles. Others passed by with their household belongings piled high on rickshaws."
In the Straits Budget of Jan 15, an ambulance driver said that the first aid teams in Ipoh were mainly Chinese and Indian school boys.
Many had no idea where their families were; they had lost their means of livelihood and their future was black and uncertain, yet they carried on - many doing two or three shifts concurrently.
SCHOOLBOYS HARD AT WORK
HE took off his hat to those lads who stayed by their jobs in the M.A.S. at Ipoh, even after aircraft and administration had been removed from the town and there were no defences at all, until orders came from Civil Defence Headquarters to leave on Dec 23rd.
"We left," he reported, "in a convoy for Tanjong Malim. An hour afterwards Japanese bombers made a heavy raid on the town.
"Christmas Eve at Tanjong Malim brought work for us to do. At about 11 p.m. military ambulances brought in casualties from a dastardly raid on Tapah railway station.
"Perak State doctors and the Ipoh M.A.S. were hard at work until 5 a.m. on Christmas Day."
The Japanese attack at Gemas very nearly caused the death of their chief of operations whose car was blown up by a mine on his way back to report to General Yamashita.
"Look here," said the General when he received him, "you really must be a little more careful of yourself."
And "tears," said Col Tsuji, "shone in the eyes of the generous-hearted general."
At Bakri and Parit Sulong, a strange, confused, series of attacks and counter-attacks resulted when the defenders were engaged from the front, their retreat cut off by the Osaki Battalion, which had "shortcut" them through the jungle; the defending troops counter-attacked in both directions at the same time and succeeded in forcing the Osaki Battalion to withdraw.
The battle area extended from the mouth of the Muar River inland along the Simpang Jeram-Pelandok road, and took in Batu Pahat.
During the fighting, an entire Japanese tank company of 10 tanks was wiped out, the survivors from the burning tanks fighting to the last man at Parit Sulong bridge.
But Batu Pahat was finally taken; and the casualties in the 2/29 Battalion and the 45th British Indian Brigade were very heavy.
On Jan 19, six weeks after their landings at Patani and Kota Bharu, the greater part of Malaya was in Japanese hands.
LAST OF THEIR CONQUESTS
DURING this period they had fought an average of two actions a day and repaired an average of two blown-up bridges daily.
Their small craft had made landings nearly 500 mils south of their own lines, their land forces had captured thousands of prisoners and millions of pounds worth of vital military equipment, and their air force had given the coup de grace to the Royal Navy's biggest ships for thousands of miles.
They were still surging forward irresistibly, preparing for the last of their conquests on Malayan soil, hitting southwards frenziedly before reinforcements could arrive to halt or turn them back.
On each coat through the jungle and down the main road, their irresistible forces were converging onto Johore.
On Jan 5 1941, General Wavell flew into Singapore from Delhi. His task was enormous and spped was essential. He had to devise a chain of "A B C D" commands along a line - Darwin, Timor, Java, South Sumatra, Singapore - to act as a forceful retaliation to the Japanese advance everywhere in South-East Asia.
He did not know what resources he would find at his command in Singapore until he got there, where he found to his concern that no defences had been made or planned in detail on the north side of the island although, as he reported seven years later, "it was obvious that we might be driven back into the island and have to defend it."
Wavell ordered the defences to be put into order at once.
Mr Duff Cooper, the British Cabinet Minister in the Far East, also impressed Wavell with a gloomy account of the efficiency of the civil administration and lack of civil-military co-operation.
NO ARMED FORCES
WAVELL called a meeting with General Percival and Sir Shenton Thomas and they both promised him the fullest co-operation and the fulfilment of all military requirements.
"As a scapegoat for the immeasurably greater mistakes and miscalculations on our higher levels," a Singapore newspaper commented later, Mr Duff Cooper recalled the Colonial Secretary, Mr Stanley Jones.
Wavell toured the Malayan front and revisited Singapore several times from Java before finally leaving General Percival in sole charge.
Mr Duff Cooper left for London on Jan 22.
Meanwhile, news from Penang had begun to trickle into Singapore.
On Dec 17, Lt Lim Koon Teck formed a special force to look after 80,000 evacuees from Geor4getown who had thronged Ayer Itam.
The village was in chaos with shops closed and barricaded and shootings in the night.
Mr Lim Cheng Ean, a leading lawyer, organised the issue of rice at 45 cents a gantang; cooked rice was issued free to those unable to pay.
The same day, the Penang Wireless Society called up on 49.3 metres: "Penang is an open city. There are no armed forces nor any defence whatever in Penang. The British have evacuated. Please stop bombing Penang."
Soon after, leaflets were dropped instead of bombs.
The Allied withdrawal from Muar started on Jan 20. During the retreat, the fiercest and most terrific fighting of the whole campaign took place.
When the retreat was finally executed according to plan and the survivors had reached Parit Sulong shortly after dawn the next day, they found it in Japanese hands!
Gordon-Bennet then took over command of all forces in the Yong Peng-Muar theatre where the Japanese had already deployed heavy tanks in the rear.
Eventually, Percival stated, 550 Australian and 400 Indian troops survived and got through the jungle to Yong Peng; the wounded left behind, according to Percival, were massacred by the Japanese. ("It is a fine thing," wrote Col Tsuji in "Singapore - the Japanese Version" - "that enemy wounded should receive the same treatment as the wounded on one's side. This was the policy of General Yamashita and it was carried out.")
As a result of the Muar withdrawals, the 45th Indian Brigade had ceased to exist. Its commander and every battalion commander and second in command had been killed.
Percival's caustic verdict was: "This brigade had never been fit for employment in a theatre of war."
AFFECT SCENES
BUT this last positive, planned battle on Malayan soil had at least help up a division of the Japanese Imperial Guards for six days, and saved Segamat from total loss.
In London, Mr JL Garvin of the Observer claimed that by leadership and speed of production, the Japanese could still be stopped.
In the House of Commons, Mr Emanuel Shinwell attacked the Government for "gross neglect in the Far East."
"The fact is," he asserted, "we have been caught napping in every theatre of war."
In Singapore, Mr Justice Lavelle sentenced a labourer to three months' hard labour for making "a certain statement" in connection with the war.
From "the front" a correspondent described "the many affecting scenes as the men leaving tried and trusted wounded friends made ready to lead up the Simpang River in search of a crossing place, leaving their wounded behind in trucks. The wounded were stout hearted and cheerful, and urged their comrades to hasten"
On Jan 12, the Japanese raided Malacca which was in the process of being abandoned. Thousands of gallons of liquor in bond were dumped into the river.
And while the London Daily Mail still believed that Singapore could be held, the Daily Express expressed its conviction that "Apathetic Singapore is run by boneheads."
Mr Cecil Brown, a strongly critical American correspondent was banned from Singapore: in London, Mr Brendan Braken told the House of Commons that his comments "passed the bounds of fair criticism."
THE RIGHT SPIRIT
ON the radio, Sir Shenton Thomas told how he had picked up a Chinese member of the Auxilliary Fire Services on his way to the office that morning.
"I asked him how he and his colleagues were getting along," Sir Shenton said, "He said, 'Fine: we are determined to defend our country.' That is exactly the right spirit."
Thousands of citizens were being recruited for guerilla training, joining forces officered by 30 men who had been fighting with the Chinese New Fourth Communist Army.
The Vice-President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Mr Yap Pheng Geck, also helped to organise guerillas.
Recruiting meetings were held in Club Street, officiated by Mr Kok Oh Toh and Mr Phang Yew Ching.
A leading article criticised the procedure adopted by the military in requisitioning civilian cycles "representing the savings of a year or more" which were being "seized without any explanation or even a receipt."
A London correspondent wrote on Jan 22: "Thank Gawd ole Winston's ere to deal with them Japs" as illustrating the average British working man's comment on hearing of the Prime Minister's return from America, adding that "more educated people" told each other that Mr Churchill would soon get to the root of the matter of inefficiency in Malaya, and sort things out.
In the House of Commons, Capt Gammans questioned the Under-Secretary of State about the activities of certain British subjects reported to be collaborating with the Japanese.
Capt Gammans also asked if it was proposed to make a declaration that any British subject willingly co-operating with the Japanese would be charged with treason when the war was over.
The Under-Secretary said he could not confirm or deny the reports.
The Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to Able Seaman Kadir bin Said for bravery when wounded in H.M.S. Kudat when she was attacked and sunk by enemy aircraft.
Thailand declared war on Britain and America on Friday, Jan 25.
LAST MALAYAN WEDDINGS
WHEN LIM HUN appeared before him on a charge of not having an identification card, Mr Moore said: "The day will come when people not having these cards will be shot dead."
Lim was discharged because the prosecutor offered no evidence.
The straits Budget of Jan 22 included a column on "How To Grow Your Own Vegetable."
With the front about 100 miles away and with only a bare shadow of air protection, Singapore suffered really serious air raids.
As an additional security measure, 200 police patrolled north of Ticas up to Changi with powers to arrest any person attempting to land elsewhere than ay Woodlands or Changi steps.
Mr Cecil Brown's controversial radio report to the Columbia Broadcasting network was reprinted in the Daily Express under the heading: "City Of Blimps - Singapore Apathetic and Unprepared."
A Fifth Columnist was sentenced to 18 months' rigorous imprisonment for spreading rumours. A substantial reward paid to "patriot" informers was returned.
In London, the last tins of Malayan pineapples were being rationed out. In Singapore, the public was being urged to put up with two meatless days in a week.
Two sets of twins were married during the week ending Jan 22 at the Singapore Registry Office: Mr Quek Kim Guan who married Miss Loh Meow Kim and Mr Quek Kim Chua who married Miss Loh Meow Choo. These were the last Malayan weddings to be reported before Feb 15.
A circular issued by the Governor exhorting greater effort and co-operation by civil government officials was commented on in the Free Press: "Unless it is followed up by vigorous action on the part of His Excellency personally, nothing much will happen."
The leading article urged the release of a number of civil servants for service in the forces "to which they would have been conscripted had they not lived in Malaya."
"Let there be immediate promotion," it demanded, "of the few go-getters the Malay Civil Service possesses."
Undaunted by conditions in Singapore, Mr George KC Yeh, the Chungking Government publicity officer said in a Chinese New Year broadcast on the radio: "Singapore will hold, and hold forever. Reinforcements of all kind are rushing to us. Every hour we grow more confident.
"Before long, you will hear of success in Malaya and you will know that the Chinese helped in these successes. Be patient, for victory is near."
A few days earlier, a naval spokesman had said: "Singapore will never be taken. Here we are, and here we mean to stay."
Lawrence Impey of the Daily Mail described his version of the fall of Kuala Lumpur: "It presented an eerie night, the sun setting on a pall of smoke. The railway station and bridge had been blown up, also the palatial hotel and the F.M.S. railway workshops. The principal shops on the main street were set on fire."
On the radio on Jan 21, Sir Geoffrey Samson, the ABCD British representative, said: "In today's orthography, ABCD spells victory in Asia."
READY AND EAGER
ROBERT Allington said on the radio that after a short rest, the troops recently returned to Singapore would be "ready and eager" to take their part "in the more pleasant task of pushing the Japanese back north."
A Communist speaker at a rally of over 2,000 labourers at Albert Street was reported as having said that the soldiers were not only defending Malaya and Malayans "but the whole of the British Empire."
The same day, the wages for unskilled labourers were raised at $1.20 per eight-hour day for men and 90 cents for women.
The G.P.O. was reported to be dealing with "an unwarranted and unnecessary run" on the savings department.
Brigadier Curtis congratulated 50 recruits on their smart parade drill in a passing out parade.
A leading article suggested that soldiers under training should go into the jungle and it was better to know how to shoot a sniper in a tree than to be the world's finest exponent in the art of changing step.
A businessman said that on his way down from Penang he had found Taiping like a tombstone town, "unashamedly looted and as dry as a bone that a dog had left behind."
Singapore suffered its worst serial blitz on Wednesday, Jan 29, when the casualties were proportionately higher than London's worst raids, especially 'among poor Asians with little to lose but their lives" as one journalist wrote.
A polite belated hint from the Manpower Bureau addressed to business firms asked "if it is not possible to put some of your younger fit men at the disposal of the fighting services."
JOHORE IS DOOMED
ABOUT 5,000 air raid wardens were spread around the island; many were under 20. There were no satisfactory arrangements for feeding them, despite the Governor's instructions that they be supplied with one hot meal a night.
Instead, some wardens got 20 cents to buy a meal if they could find one.
The Johore Council of State passed the Food Control and Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Enactments on or about Jan 29 when most of the State was doomed.
On Jan 9, the Malay Mail brought out its last edition and then wrecked its printing press.
A London report stated that for the first time since its foundation, Consolidated Tin Smelters were not paying a dividend, their subsidiary smelting company in Malaya having been occupied by the Japanese.
On the London Stock Exchange, Braunstone shares were quoted at 5s, and Kamunting Straits Rubber at 7s.
Mr Patton, the US representative to ABCD, said on the radio: "Victory will crown our efforts if we keep our chins up and do our duty as worthy members of those races who are fighting for freedom, honour and peace, for the right to live as good neighbours."
Upcountry, guerilla forces were wrecking trains, demolishing bridges, destroying vehicles and killing and wounding Japanese soldiers.
A leading article on Jan 22 invited readers to "think what 10,000 Chinese irregulars could do if they were let loose among the Japanese in North Johore tomorrow."
"Wrecked cars, recumbent lamp-posts and damaged traffic islands are becoming increasingly common in Singapore," another leader reported, noting that there were no buses or taxis available at night.
On Jan 21 Sir Shenton Thomas helped with the rescue work when several houses collapsed near a market after being bombed.