On August 1945, the Japanese surrendered, ending World War II. By then, the Imperial Japanese Navy effectively ceased to exist, and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. The Soviets, meanwhile, were preparing to attack the Japanese, to fulfil their promise to the Americans and the British.
On August 6 and 9, the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also, the Soviet Union launched a surprise invasion of the Japanese colony in Manchuria, in violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, on the 9th of August. These two attacks caused Emperor Hirohito to intervene and order the Supreme War Council (the Big Six) to accept the terms the Allies had set down for ending the war (in the Potsdam Declaration). After a few more days, Hirohito gave a recorded radio address to the nation on August 15. In the radio address he read the Imperial Rescript on surrender, announcing to the Japanese populace the surrender of Japan.
On August 28, the occupation of Japan by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers began. The surrender ceremony was held on September 2 aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri, at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, officially ending World War II.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Endau Settlement
In September 1943, truckloads of people, the first migrants, from Singapore were the first joyful settlers of Endau, or New Syonan.
During the Japanese Occupation, Singapore's trade with other countries was disrupted because of war. As a large portion of Singapores food supply was imported, this put a strain on the food supply for the islands one million population. To solve the food shortage problem, the Japanese authorities promoted the Grow More Food Campaign and encouraged the population to become self-sufficient by growing their own food. In August 1943, the Japanese decided to evacuate about 300,000 Singaporeans and to resettle them north of Singapore to cultivate the land there.
The responsibility for carrying out the project was placed on Mamoru Shinozaki, Head of Welfare Department in the Syonan Municipality, who in turn approached the Overseas Chinese Association (OCA) to build a settlement for Chinese migrants. Shinozaki persuaded the OCA to agree to the project by promising that the new settlement would be self-governing and that no Japanese would set foot in the settlement. In addition, the settlement was assured of rice supply until it became self-sufficient. A New Syonan Model Farm Construction Committee was then set up under the chairmanship of Lim Boon Keng. A team was dispatched to Malaya to look for a suitable site and after some survey Endau in Johore was selected as the site for the new settlement.
The first migrants had to live in crude huts made of opeh leaves until the administration allocated land for them to build their own houses. The pioneering work was challenging to many, as they did not have construction or farming experience. They had to be resourceful and learned to make necessity items such as soap, coconut oil, and condensed milk.
However, the settlement began to develop. Restaurants and schools were set up, a branch of Overseas Chinese Banking Cooperation was opened, streets were named after officials and shops sold vegetables grown by the settlers.
However, life at the settlement was disturbed by activities of Chinese anti-Japanese guerillas, which claimed the lives of several settlement officials and civilians. Peace was only restored after Shinozaki entered into a secret pact with the guerillas, offering rice in exchange for peace.
Byt the end of 1943, there were more than 12,000 people living in Endau.
Another settlement was also set up in Bahau, Negri Sembilan. Called Fuji Village, the place was populated with namely Eurasians. However, poor land and disease doomed the project.
During the Japanese Occupation, Singapore's trade with other countries was disrupted because of war. As a large portion of Singapores food supply was imported, this put a strain on the food supply for the islands one million population. To solve the food shortage problem, the Japanese authorities promoted the Grow More Food Campaign and encouraged the population to become self-sufficient by growing their own food. In August 1943, the Japanese decided to evacuate about 300,000 Singaporeans and to resettle them north of Singapore to cultivate the land there.
The responsibility for carrying out the project was placed on Mamoru Shinozaki, Head of Welfare Department in the Syonan Municipality, who in turn approached the Overseas Chinese Association (OCA) to build a settlement for Chinese migrants. Shinozaki persuaded the OCA to agree to the project by promising that the new settlement would be self-governing and that no Japanese would set foot in the settlement. In addition, the settlement was assured of rice supply until it became self-sufficient. A New Syonan Model Farm Construction Committee was then set up under the chairmanship of Lim Boon Keng. A team was dispatched to Malaya to look for a suitable site and after some survey Endau in Johore was selected as the site for the new settlement.
The first migrants had to live in crude huts made of opeh leaves until the administration allocated land for them to build their own houses. The pioneering work was challenging to many, as they did not have construction or farming experience. They had to be resourceful and learned to make necessity items such as soap, coconut oil, and condensed milk.
However, the settlement began to develop. Restaurants and schools were set up, a branch of Overseas Chinese Banking Cooperation was opened, streets were named after officials and shops sold vegetables grown by the settlers.
However, life at the settlement was disturbed by activities of Chinese anti-Japanese guerillas, which claimed the lives of several settlement officials and civilians. Peace was only restored after Shinozaki entered into a secret pact with the guerillas, offering rice in exchange for peace.
Byt the end of 1943, there were more than 12,000 people living in Endau.
Another settlement was also set up in Bahau, Negri Sembilan. Called Fuji Village, the place was populated with namely Eurasians. However, poor land and disease doomed the project.
The Sook Ching Operation on 21 February 1942
A startling decree was issued to the population that morning, that all Chinese males in Syonan-To between the ages of 18 and 50 years of age were to report to the registration centres for screening.
However, these people did not know what the Kempeitai, the japanese secret police, were doing. They were dragging people out of their homes at bayonet point =. The men who voluntarily went to the registration centres thought they were going to get jobs. Jalang Besar, Arab Street, Tanjong Pagar, the junction of Kallang and Geylang Road, the junction of river Valley and Clemenceau Avenue and Paya Lebar rubber estate were the main areas. The men were separated into groups: civil servants, students, hawkers and merchants. The centres had no toilets, food or shade. In Geylang, the people were made to stay in the open field under the tropical sun for the whole day. A minor reporting located at the corner of upper Cross Street and South Bridge Road. The ends of the streets were cordoned off to serve as a garrison.
The men were questioned about their jobs, asked to write their names and checked for tattoo marks. English-speaking Chinese men were considered dangerous, tattoo marks meant one was a secret society member. Those who could not write their names in Chinese were ridiculed and in danger of being shot.
The idea of the Sook Ching operation was actually to weed out anti-Japanese elements, but the order was carried out by subordinates who were discriminate. Masked informers picked out those were thought to be anti-Japanese. Those who "failed" the questioning were taken away in truckloads to the beaches in Changi and Punggol to be shot. Those who satisfied the interrogators were given a chop with the word "examined" in Japanese on their arms or hands. However, it was not guaranteed that they were safe from them on, as some were rearrested and shot.
The killings were kept a secret and many families actually thought their lost relatives had been taken to jail or sent away as labourers. Only after the war did the truth about the killings were known to the people off Singapore.
However, these people did not know what the Kempeitai, the japanese secret police, were doing. They were dragging people out of their homes at bayonet point =. The men who voluntarily went to the registration centres thought they were going to get jobs. Jalang Besar, Arab Street, Tanjong Pagar, the junction of Kallang and Geylang Road, the junction of river Valley and Clemenceau Avenue and Paya Lebar rubber estate were the main areas. The men were separated into groups: civil servants, students, hawkers and merchants. The centres had no toilets, food or shade. In Geylang, the people were made to stay in the open field under the tropical sun for the whole day. A minor reporting located at the corner of upper Cross Street and South Bridge Road. The ends of the streets were cordoned off to serve as a garrison.
The men were questioned about their jobs, asked to write their names and checked for tattoo marks. English-speaking Chinese men were considered dangerous, tattoo marks meant one was a secret society member. Those who could not write their names in Chinese were ridiculed and in danger of being shot.
The idea of the Sook Ching operation was actually to weed out anti-Japanese elements, but the order was carried out by subordinates who were discriminate. Masked informers picked out those were thought to be anti-Japanese. Those who "failed" the questioning were taken away in truckloads to the beaches in Changi and Punggol to be shot. Those who satisfied the interrogators were given a chop with the word "examined" in Japanese on their arms or hands. However, it was not guaranteed that they were safe from them on, as some were rearrested and shot.
The killings were kept a secret and many families actually thought their lost relatives had been taken to jail or sent away as labourers. Only after the war did the truth about the killings were known to the people off Singapore.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Defeat of the British
The Imperial Guards started to move down to their target. On 11th February was Kigensetsu, the anniversary celebration of the coronation of Emperor Jimmu, the day Yamashita had hoped to capture Singapore. Ammunition supplies were running low for the Japanese forces. he had letters dropped over HQ Malaya Command areas, urging Percival to give up his desperate fight, thus hoping for an early surrender.
With the rapid Japanese approach, Percival moved his HQ to the underground Fort Canning Bunker, also known as the Battlebox. It was here he made the decision to surrender four days later.
The defending troops were badly shaken. Thousands of exhausted and frightened stragglers keft the fighting to seek shelter in large commercial buildings.
On 13th February, Yamamashita moved his HQ to the Fort Motor Factory, apparently bomb-damaged. He feared a prolonged war once Percival had dug in at his last defensive position and wait for reinforcements. he had not enough men and ammunition for a long war.
Thus, he tasked the 18th Division to capture the Alexandra Barracks and the Imperial Guards to capture Macritchie before Percival had settled in his lst stand.
14 February dawned bitterly on the defending forces. The 18th Divison started their assault on the hapless Malay Regiment and the Imperial Guards swarmed out of MacRitchie to fight the British.
15th February was the day the British surrendered. Percival had a choice - a counterattack to wrest back MacRitchie Reservior to restore the water supply and retake food depots or surrender. Due to the massive depletion of supplies, his commanders opted for surrender.
Percival went to the Japanese HQ at Ford Motor Factory and originally requested for a stall of time. However, Yamashita demanded an immediate unconditional surrender, or a massive assualt on Singapore. Percival eventually gave in and signed the surrender document.
With the rapid Japanese approach, Percival moved his HQ to the underground Fort Canning Bunker, also known as the Battlebox. It was here he made the decision to surrender four days later.
The defending troops were badly shaken. Thousands of exhausted and frightened stragglers keft the fighting to seek shelter in large commercial buildings.
On 13th February, Yamamashita moved his HQ to the Fort Motor Factory, apparently bomb-damaged. He feared a prolonged war once Percival had dug in at his last defensive position and wait for reinforcements. he had not enough men and ammunition for a long war.
Thus, he tasked the 18th Division to capture the Alexandra Barracks and the Imperial Guards to capture Macritchie before Percival had settled in his lst stand.
14 February dawned bitterly on the defending forces. The 18th Divison started their assault on the hapless Malay Regiment and the Imperial Guards swarmed out of MacRitchie to fight the British.
15th February was the day the British surrendered. Percival had a choice - a counterattack to wrest back MacRitchie Reservior to restore the water supply and retake food depots or surrender. Due to the massive depletion of supplies, his commanders opted for surrender.
Percival went to the Japanese HQ at Ford Motor Factory and originally requested for a stall of time. However, Yamashita demanded an immediate unconditional surrender, or a massive assualt on Singapore. Percival eventually gave in and signed the surrender document.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Japanese Invasion of Singapore - How it all started
From 7 February to 9 February of 1942, the Japanese managed to invade Singapore, despite the watchful eyes of the...
Australians
Soon after nightfall on 7 February, 400 men of the imperial Guards Division landed and took Pulau Ubin in a feint attack. they encountered minimum resistance. Through large troop movements in the rubber plantations across Johore had been sighted earlier, no action was taken as Percival received the news only hours before the attack.
The Japanese artillery began intensive firing the next day and Japanese pilots began bombing military headquarters within the western sector. Telegraph and telephone communications were destroyed in the bombardment. By nightfall, communications throughout the northwest defence areas were in shambles and communications between the frontline and command headquarters were broken.
On the night of 8 February, Japanese troops of the 5th and 18th Division began to cross the water using sea craft hidden near the water's edge. These were launched in the backwaters of Skudai, Danga, Perpet and Melayu rivers. This first assault was repelled by Australian machine-gunners, but other sea craft were able to seek and infiltrate gaps of the defence line.
By the third wave, the Australians were outnumbered as machine-gunners soon ran out of ammunition and the troops were crippled by the breakdown of communication with their command headquarters.
At midnight, a red starshell burst over the Straits, indicating the 5th Division's successful landing on Singapore soil. A white starshell burst later, confirming the 18th Division's success.
British
On 7 Feb, 400 Japanese soldiers took Pulau Ubin in the Straits of Johore as a manoeuvre to draw British attention to the eastern part of Singapore. Japanese planes and artillery then proceeded to bombard Singapore before troops charged down from the northwest, away from the 18th Division, the largest defending British force stationed in the northeast. British defensive positions along the northwestern coastline were swiftly overrun and by 9 February 1942, the 5th and 18th Japanese Divisions had landed north of Pasir Laba, and had taken the Tengah airfield. British forces fought to hold the Kranji-Jurong Defence Line while Japanese forces continued to push inland and succeeded in breaching British defence in northwestern Singapore.
Australians
Soon after nightfall on 7 February, 400 men of the imperial Guards Division landed and took Pulau Ubin in a feint attack. they encountered minimum resistance. Through large troop movements in the rubber plantations across Johore had been sighted earlier, no action was taken as Percival received the news only hours before the attack.
The Japanese artillery began intensive firing the next day and Japanese pilots began bombing military headquarters within the western sector. Telegraph and telephone communications were destroyed in the bombardment. By nightfall, communications throughout the northwest defence areas were in shambles and communications between the frontline and command headquarters were broken.
On the night of 8 February, Japanese troops of the 5th and 18th Division began to cross the water using sea craft hidden near the water's edge. These were launched in the backwaters of Skudai, Danga, Perpet and Melayu rivers. This first assault was repelled by Australian machine-gunners, but other sea craft were able to seek and infiltrate gaps of the defence line.
By the third wave, the Australians were outnumbered as machine-gunners soon ran out of ammunition and the troops were crippled by the breakdown of communication with their command headquarters.
At midnight, a red starshell burst over the Straits, indicating the 5th Division's successful landing on Singapore soil. A white starshell burst later, confirming the 18th Division's success.
British
On 7 Feb, 400 Japanese soldiers took Pulau Ubin in the Straits of Johore as a manoeuvre to draw British attention to the eastern part of Singapore. Japanese planes and artillery then proceeded to bombard Singapore before troops charged down from the northwest, away from the 18th Division, the largest defending British force stationed in the northeast. British defensive positions along the northwestern coastline were swiftly overrun and by 9 February 1942, the 5th and 18th Japanese Divisions had landed north of Pasir Laba, and had taken the Tengah airfield. British forces fought to hold the Kranji-Jurong Defence Line while Japanese forces continued to push inland and succeeded in breaching British defence in northwestern Singapore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)