Part Two: December upcountry

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

DECEMBER UPCOUNTRY

Penang taken without one Jap casualty 

3,000 troops throw away their rifles in panic

"THE PEOPLE of Singapore," declared an enthusiastic but pompous head of a department store, "especially the children, may consider themselves extremely fortunate, as the stocks exhibited in the shops here would excite the envy of every child in Britain."

And a reporter agreed: "With the third Christmas since the war was commenced barely a month away, Singapore shops are displaying attractive stocks of seasonal fare of every description."

But in the Federated Malay States - as they were then known - the records show that matters more serious than Christmas were being raised.

On Dec 1, Mr Cheah Him Leng said in the Perak State Legislative Council: "While many non-European British subjects are in the volunteer forces, many more are not."

To this the British Deputy Resident replied: "The matter would be considered," explaining that the present rules only provided for compulsory service for British subjects of pure European descent.

I wonder whether it satisfied Mr Cheah, or Mr K Rama, who wrote from upcountry to the Straits Times:

CALLED UP FOR PRACTICE

"IT would be a great boon to the estate population if the Government would take compulsory measures to train some of the Asian staffs as auxilliary fire fighters, air raid wardens, medical orderlies, etc."

In Penang, on the same day that Mr Cheah spoke in Ipoh, the Local Defence Corps was called up for a practice.

How many in Penang imagined that barely a fortnight later, this news would be printed in Singapore: "Six hundred evacuees, mostly women and children, the majority of whom were Europeans, arrived from Penang by train on Monday."

That was Monday, Dec 15, the same morning that the Japanese, according to Colonel Masanobu Tsuji's memoirs, made a surprise landing at Penang and took possession of the island without losing a single man!

The shock of the Invasion obviously set up a chain reaction of public alarm, which soon spread to Ipoh.

There, on Friday, Dec 12, the Assistant Protector of Chinese warned the Chinese Chamber of Commerce that merchants in the State must keep their premises open, and that any dealer refusing to sell would be severely dealt with.

There were ample supplies of various foodstuffs in the country, he stressed.

Ten days earlier, in the Negri Sembilan State Council, a record budget had been passed in record time.

In the unavoidable absence of the British Resident the Public Services Supply Bill for 1942, amounting to $5,700,000, was passed. The proceedings lasted 15 minutes.

A FREAKISH ATTACK

BACK to Ipoh four days later, back to Saturday, the first day of the Perak Turf Club's December meeting, when a turf correspondent reported that "the going is likely to be soft" and Super Special, Spun Wool and Jesanne were tipped as best bet.

Back to that Saturday of the Last Weekend, when in Singapore promoters were inviting all comers to enter - at a dollar a time - a roller-skating race from Johore Bahru to Singapore, to be held on Sunday, Dec 14.

Two days after the Japanese Saeki Detachment of about 500 - men who, according to Col Tsuji, more by accident than design broke through from Changlun and penetrated the Jitra line in 15 hours, and so paved the way to Alor Star, the scene of a freakish attack the day before.

At ten that morning, a raiding party of 11 Japanese, riding motorcycles and sidecars, shot into town and made for the bridges, in an attempt to cut the demolition charges.

Will some readers recall this fantastic episode? If so, would they share these sentiments, expressed by a London newspaper correspondent: "The main in the street is not dismayed by the totally unexpected reverses in the Far East. Singapore shall never be taken while Britain lives - that is what London is saying this morning."

And this is what Mr FI Durdin of the New York Times said on his return from the battle areas in north-west Malaya: "I gathered the impression that the atmosphere is rapidly clearing now, and that things are rapidly getting under control. The unflinching spirit of the Asian population, especially the Chinese. impressed me most.

"All are engaged on some sort of war work, and cheer whenever a column of British troops pass by."

Mr L Impey of the London Daily Mail said that the Japanese casualties were between 10.000 and 20,000, and in the Singapore Legislative Council on Dec 16, Sir Shenton Thomas, the Governor, said:

VALUABLE PRIZES

"SINGAPORE must not fall. It shall not fall. Let us fight every inch of the ground in this great task that lies before us, knowing, as we do know for certain, that ultimate victory is our."

Turning from these stirring despatches back to the Alor Star bridges and Col Tsuji's account which states that the Japanese raiding unit, moving abreast of the Asai patrol, not only managed to cut the demolition wires to the railway bridge, but also spread planks along the bridge decking, making it possible for cars to cross.

This helped the Japanese dash - and smash - into Taiping and Sungei Patani, where they gained the most valuable prizes they could wish for: Kedah's four largest aerodromes, from which they could mount further aerial onslaughts with vast stocks of captured bombs, fuel and provisions.

These unexpected assets, Col Tsuji writes, helped speed up the entire campaign.

"Our hurriedly constructed air bases in southern Indo-China could not be compared in equipment with these 'Churchill aerodromes.'

"Possession of two-fold numerical air strength was one reason for our air superiority over the Malayan theatre of operations, but the decisive factor was that we were able to take immediate advantage of the captured 'Churchill aerodromes'."

The Japanese Army also made the maximum use of equipment captured in Alor Star, where their army headquarters moved in from Singora on Dec 14, jubilant with the news of the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse off Kuantan on Wednesday, Dec 10.

Col Tsuji, one of the master-planners of the Japanese invasion, tells in his "Singapore-the Japanese Version," that when the invaders forced their way southwards from Changlun, they discovered from captured prisoners that they were nearing the Jitra line; they were told also that this had taken six months to construct, and that it was defended by one division of troops, with the object of holding up the Japanese for at least three months.

DEMOLITIONS OF RAILWAY

GENERAL Percival, in his 1948 report said, however, that the defences in the Jitra position were not completed.

"In addition," he said, "most of the posts had become waterlogged after a week's heavy rain."

It was in these conditions that the troops set to work to complete the defences.

On Dec 10, the covering troops of No. 6 Brigade (2nd Battalion, East Surreys) withdrew without incident, carrying out important demolitions on the railway before they went.

This withdrawal, General Percival recalled in his report, "entailed the evacuation of the State of Perlis, as a result of which Britain was accused by one of the Perlis Ministers of State of violating her treaty by abandoning the State."

At 8 a.m. on Dec 11, General Percival states, the 1/14th Punjab Regiment was attacked in the Changlun position, but succeeded in driving the enemy back.

Col Tsuji gives his version of what may well have been this counter-attack: "I had not witnessed the enemy's pretence of resistance and so, accompanied by an orderly, I moved out of the rubber plantation at the north end of Changlun to observe the progress of the battle from the frontline."

There he noted that his men were facing artillery comprising at least 20 guns, and with the bursting of the shells among the rubber trees "the enemy were covering the fighting zone with smoke; casualties were following close upon each other and it seemed that even withdrawal would be difficult."

Then there was a gas scare and Col Tsuji's praise for the troops' reaction was unstinted.

"Without a moment's delay, they put on their gas masks. Such alertness and such skill! Even at a special drill display by order of the Emperor, one would not have seen anything like it!"

Col Tsuji and his orderly had forgotten to carry gas masks, so they soaked towels to wet mud and covered their mouths and nostrils, advancing through yellow smoke with a strange offensive odour, until suddently someone called out: "IT IS NOT GAS!"

The violent rainfall during early December is frequently mentioned, both by Tsuji and Percival. To Tsuji it came as an advantage. To Percival, an added handicap.

DEADENED NOISE

BUT even the explosions of the shells falling all round the advancing Japanese army was a help in Tsuji's opinion; they deadened the noise of their tanks.

General Percival write poignantly in his report about the effect of the Japanese tanks had on the defenders of Jitra.

"At 4.30 p.m., when the force was moving back covered by a rearguard, occurred the first of many incidents which showed the influence of the tank on the battlefield, especially against inexperienced troops.

"Suddenly, with little warning, 12 Japanese medium tanks followed by infantry in lorries and other light tanks attacked the rear of our column.

"FEW OF THE TROOPS HAD EVER SEEN A TANK BEFORE."

The tanks advanced through the column, inflicting casualties and causing much confusion, and approached the bridge in front of the Asun outpost position.

The bridge demolition exploder failed, but the leading tank was knocked out by anti-tank rifle fire, and blocked the road.

(Tsuji's version describe, the tanks advancing "like angry cattle running amok," while enemy machinegun bullets rebounded from their armour. He makes no mention of any tank being knocked out.)

Shortly afterwards the battalion commander decided to withdraw all his three companies. But communications had been broken and of the forward companies only 20 survivors ever reformed.

ABANDONED GUNS

THE Japanese losses in this action were about 500.

Tsuji recalls how he travelled with Lieutenant Saeki in a black car captured from the enemy, following close behind one of the advancing tanks in pouring rain, with it seemed "every opposing soldier with his rifle firing at the black car."

They travelled nearly two miles before being confronted at point-blank range by 10 field guns. But every gun had been abandoned.

Shortly afterwards the Japanese tanks sandwiched about 20 armoured cars at range so close that cannon and machineguns could not be brought to bear.

The tanks smashed into the armoured cars, one of which turned over and started to burn.

According to Tsuji, he and Saeki got it righted and put the fire out while Japanese soldiers lobbed hand grenades at the soldiers inside.

"Blood," Tsuji declared, "fell as rain, flowing profusely and spreading thinly over the road surface."

On Dec 12 orders were given for a withdrawal of 10 miles from the Jitra line. General Percival said that some units withdrew without incident but others, finding themselves unable to use the only road, had to make their way as best they could across country.

Col Tsuji puts it in another way: "The much bragged Jitra line, which was to have been defended by a division for three months, was penetrated in about 15 hours by barely 500 men."

The Saeki detachment had lost 27 killed and 83 wounded, and Col Tsuji claims that weapons and equipment left behind in the withdrawal included about 50 field guns, 50 heavy machineguns, about 300 trucks and armoured cars, and provisions and ammunition for a division for three months.

He also asserted that over 3,000 "enemy" soldiers threw away their rifles in panic, and took refuge in the jungle, surrendering a few days later through hunger.

Percival reported that on the day after the battle the strength of one brigade was only about 600, and was "temporarily unfit for further fighting."

The 2/1 Gurkha Rifles, except for one intact company, had been almost wiped out.

Among General Percival's reasons for the Japanese victor at the Battle of Jitra was that they had won it primarily by "bold and skilful infantry tactics and by the use of tanks. They also exploited the use of noise behind the defences.

Col Tsuji's summing up was slightly different. "The breakthrough of the Jitra line was due to extraordinary tactics and to an error in the report of our first patrol."

He considers that if they had judged the strength of the positions correctly, instead of underestimating it, the battle would have lasted for more than 10 days and the Japanese would have had to be prepared for over 1,000 casualties.

Four days after the decisive Battle of Jitra, the only fighter defence allotted Penang island was four Brewster Buffalo fighters; these were able to operate for exactly one day only.

On Dec 15, the Royal Air Force evacuated Butterworth aerodrome.

Five days earlier, the Japanese had started large-scale raids on Penang island; 70 bombers attacked Georgetown. there the only anti-aircraft defence consisted of small arms; there were only a few shelters available.

"The inhabitants," according to General Percival, "thronged the streets to watch the attack. The casualties ran into thousands. A large part of the population left Georgetown and moved to the hills in the centre of the island, but the ARP and medical and nursing services stood firm."

A POINTED HINT

ONE of many extraordinary facts revealed in Col Tsuji's book is that the island was captured by the regiment of the 5th Division which was still in Shanghai at the time of the landing on Singora only about one week earlier.

Tsuji makes a pointed hint that had the British been able to reinforce Penang with the same speed, the Japanese advance on Singapore could have been delayed.

Penang was important, because any mainland advance could have been checked or disrupted from there. But meeting no opposition during the first bombing raid - or during the second, which followed the next day (the bombers were flown all the way from bases in Indo-China), Japanese troops seized local boats on Monday, Dec 15, and walked ashore to occupy the island without losing a single man.

General Percival says this about the incredible feat: "The small (Penang) garrison, in addition to running the defences was called upon to assist the civil administration by taking the place of the labourers of essential services.

"It also had to assist in burying the dead."

On Dec 12, at a meeting between the fortress commander and the Resident Councillor, it was decided to evacuate on the following night all European service families.

The Resident Councillor was also asked to arrange for the evacuation of all civilian European women and children, as well as the sick and wounded.

On the night of Dec 16 and 17, according to General Percival, "most of the troops were removed to the mainland."

Thus, according to Col Tsuji, on Dec 15 there was no resistance of nay sort. Yet according to General Percival there were troops on the island until midnight Dec 16-17.

General Percival gives three reasons why mostly only Europeans were evacuated from Penang.

FIRST, because Asians serving in the Volunteers were given the option of being evacuated or staying behind, and the majority decided to stay to protect their families.

SECOND, because "lack of transport would have made it quite out of the question to evacuate large numbers of Asians."

THIRD, because "it was undesirable at that stage to increase the population of Singapore."

But at least, apparently, co-operation between the civil and military authorities in Penang was good during those crucial days.

CLASHES OF OPINION

BETTER it seems, than elsewhere, if General Percival's viewpoint is given the credence it surely merits. "I feel bound to record (he wrote in 1943) that in my experience in Malaya there was a lack of the team spirit between the Service departments on the one side, and the civil government on the other, in tackling problems of common interest.

"The vital importance of of attaining the common object, i.e. the security of Malaya, was at times overshadowed by local interests aggravated by the insistence of the Home Government on the maximum production of tin and rubber.

"Clashes of opinion naturally occurred, followed very often by long delays due in part to the complicated form of government."

In 12 days, from Sunday, Dec 7, the last day of the Last Weekend to Dec 19, the Japanese had destroyed the warships Prince of Wales and Repulse and had consolidated their land offensive over the whole of Malaya north of a line drawn from Penang to Kota Bharu. Alor Star had fallen, Taiping was doomed, and Singapore had been bombed.

"The Japanese," wrote General Percival, "had established complete air superiority over north Malaya and had gained full control of the sea communications east of Malaya.

"Our own forces were weak everywhere, and we could not expect any reinforcements until at least the following month.

"Further, it had been established that the Japanese force included tanks, while we had none. It was apparent that the safe arrival of reinforcements was of paramount importance and if we were to attain our object of securing the Naval Base it was essential that they should arrive in time to take part in operations on the mainland."

To be continued....

Part One: The last weekend at a cabaret