End of the occupation,1945

On 6 and 9 August 1945, U.S. B-29 bombers dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On 8 August 1945, Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with the entry of Soviet Union into the war ended the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia. By then, the Japanese allowed the Allies to send in forces and food supplies. Prisoners-of-war were checked by medical officers and arrangements were made to send them home.
On 15 August, Japan announced its surrender. The formal signing of the surrender instrument was held at City Hall, Singapore, then known as "Municipal Hall", on 12 September. This was followed by a celebration at the Padang, which included a victory parade. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command, came to Singapore to receive the formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the region from General Seishirō Itagaki on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi. A British military administration utilizing surrendered Japanese troops as security forces was formed to govern the island until March 1946.
On 15 August, Japan announced its surrender. The formal signing of the surrender instrument was held at City Hall, Singapore, then known as "Municipal Hall", on 12 September. This was followed by a celebration at the Padang, which included a victory parade. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command, came to Singapore to receive the formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the region from General Seishirō Itagaki on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi. A British military administration utilizing surrendered Japanese troops as security forces was formed to govern the island until March 1946.
Banana money became worthless after the occupation ended. Many individuals who had acquired their wealth through banana currency were rendered penniless 
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Singapore(DateAccessed:17Feb2013

Aftermath

The Japanese occupation of Singapore started after the British surrender. Japanese newspapers triumphantly declared the victory as deciding the general situation of the war. The city was renamed Syonan-to (Japanese: 昭南島 Shōnan-tō; literally: Southern Island gained in the age of Shōwa). The Japanese sought vengeance against the Chinese and to eliminate anyone who held anti-Japanese sentiment. The Japanese authorities were suspicious of the Chinese because of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and killed many in theSook Ching massacre. The other ethnic groups of Singapore—such as the Malays and Indians—were not spared. The residents would suffer great hardships under Japanese rule over the following three and a half years.

Victorious Japanese troops marching through Fullerton Square.

Many of the British and Australian soldiers taken prisoner remained in Singapore's Changi Prison. Many would never return home. Thousands of others were shipped on prisoner transports known as "hell ships" to other parts of Asia, including Japan, to be used as forced labour on projects such as the Siam–Burma Death Railway and Sandakan airfield in North Borneo. Many of those aboard the ships perished.

An Indian revolutionary Rash Behari Bose formed the Indian National Army with the help of the Japanese, who were highly successful in recruiting Indian soldiers taken prisoners. From a total of about 40,000 Indian personnel in Singapore in February 1942, about 30,000 joined the pro-Indian Independence Indian National Army, which fought Allied forces in the Burma Campaign as well as in North-east Indian regions of Kohima and Imphal. Others became POW camp guards at Changi. An unknown number were taken to Japanese-occupied areas in the South Pacific as forced labour. Many of them suffered severe hardships and brutality similar to that experienced by other prisoners of Japan during the war. About 6,000 of them survived until they were liberated by Australian and US forces in 1943–45.

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Yamashita was tried by a US military commission for war crimes committed by Japanese personnel in the Philippines earlier that year, but not for crimes committed by his troops in Malaya or Singapore. He was convicted and hanged in the Philippines on 23 February 1946.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore(Date Accessed:17Feb2013)

Allied attacks，26 Sep 1943

Singapore was the target of various operations masterminded by Allied forces to disrupt Japanese military activities. On 26 September 1943, an Allied commando unit known as Z Force led by Major Ivan Lyon infiltrated Singapore Harbour and sank or damaged seven Japanese ships comprising over 39,000 long tons (40,000 metric tons). Lyon led another operation, codenamed Rimau, with the same objective almost a year later and sank three ships. Lyon and 13 of his men were killed after the Japanese discovered them. The other 10 who participated in the operation were charged with espionage in a kangaroo court and subsequently executed.

Lim Bo Seng of Force 136 led another operation, code named Gustavus, to establish an espionage network in Malaya and Singapore and gather intelligence about Japanese forces for the Allies. However, Operation Gustavus failed and Lim was captured along with his men. Lim died in prison due to ill-treatment.Force 136 was eventually disbanded after the war.

In August 1945, two midget submarines of the Royal Navy took part in Operation Struggle, a plan to infiltrate Singapore Harbour and sabotage the Japanese cruisers Takao and Myōkō using limpet mines. They inflicted heavy damage on Takao, earning Lieutenant Ian Edward Fraser the Victoria Cross. From November 1944 to May 1945, Singapore was subjected to bombing raids by British and American long-range bomber units.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Singapore(Date Accessed :17Feb2013)

Scarce basic necessities，1942〜1945

Resources were scarce during the occupation. The prices of basic necessities increased drastically due to hyperinflation. For example, the price of rice increased from $5 per 100catties (about 60 kg or 130 lb) to $5000. The Japanese issued ration cards to limit the amount of resources received by the civilian population. Adults could purchase 4.8 kg (11 lb) of rice per month and 2.4 kg (5.3 lb) for children. The amount of rice for adults was reduced by 25% as the war progressed.

The Japanese issued banana money as their main currency since Straits currency became rare. The Japanese instituted elements of a command economy in which there were restrictions on the demand and supply of resources, thus creating a popular black market. The "banana currency" started to suffer from high inflation and dropped drastically in value because the authorities would simply print more whenever they needed more money; consequently the black market often used Straits currency.

Food quality and availability decreased greatly. Sweet potatoes and yam became the staple food of most diets of Singaporeans because they were considerably cheaper than rice and could also be grown in gardens. They were then turned into a variety of dishes, as both dessert and all three meals of the day. The nutrients helped stave off starvation, and new ways of consuming tapioca with other produce were regularly invented in order to stave off the monotony. Both the British and Japanese authorities encouraged the population to grow their own food if they had even the smallest amount of land, the encouragement and produce were similar to what occurred with victory gardens in the Western nations during World War II. Ipomoea aquatica, which grew relatively easy and flourished relatively well near the water, became a popular crop, as did other vegetables.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Singapore(Date Accessed:17Feb2012)

Fall of Singapore，15Feb1942

By the morning of 15 February, the Japanese had broken through the last line of defence and the Allies were running out of food and ammunition. The anti-aircraft guns had also run out of ammunition and were unable to repel any further Japanese air attacks which threatened to cause heavy casualties in the city centre. Looting and desertion by Allied troops further added to the chaos in the city centre.

At 09:30, Percival held a conference at Fort Canning with his senior commanders. Percival proposed two options: either launch an immediate counter-attack to regain the reservoirs and the military food depots in the Bukit Timah region and drive the enemy's artillery off its commanding heights outside the town; or capitulate. All present agreed that no counterattack was possible. Percival opted for surrender.

A deputation was selected to go to the Japanese headquarters. It consisted of a senior staff officer, the colonial secretary and an interpreter. They set off in a motor car bearing a Union Jack and a white flag of truce toward the enemy lines to discuss a cessation of hostilities.They returned with orders that Percival himself proceed with staff officers to the Ford Motor Factory, where Yamashita would lay down the terms of surrender. A further requirement was that the Japanese Rising Sun Flag be hoisted over the tallest building in Singapore, the Cathay Building, as soon as possible to maximise the psychological impact of the official surrender. Percival formally surrendered shortly after 17:15.

Surrendering troops of the Suffolk Regiment held at gunpoint by Japanese infantry.

The terms of the surrender included:

• The unconditional surrender of all military forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) in Singapore.
• Hostilities to cease at 20:30 that evening.
• All troops to remain in position until further orders.
• All weapons, military equipment, ships, planes and secret documents to be handed over intact.
• To prevent looting, etc., during the temporary withdrawal of all armed forces in Singapore, a force of 1,000 British armed men to take over until relieved by the Japanese.

Earlier that day Percival had issued orders to destroy before 16:00 all secret and technical equipment, ciphers, codes, secret documents and heavy guns. Yamashita accepted his assurance that no ships or planes remained in Singapore. According to Tokyo's Domei News Agency Yamashita also accepted full responsibility for the lives of British and Australian troops, as well as British civilians remaining in Singapore.

Bennett—along with some of his staff officers—caused controversy when he handed command of the 8th Division to a brigadier and commandeered a small boat.They eventually made their way back to Australia.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore(Date Accessed :17Feb 2013)

Sook Ching massacre，15Feb1942

After the fall of Singapore, Masayuki Oishi, commander of No. 2 Field Kempeitai, set up his headquarters in the YMCA Building atStamford Road as the Kempeitai East District Branch. The Kempeitai prison was in Outram with branches in Stamford Road, Chinatownand the Central Police Station. A residence at the intersection of Smith Street and New Bridge Road formed the Kempeitai West District Branch.

Under Oishi's command were 200 regular Kempeitai officers and another 1000 auxiliaries who were mostly young and rough peasant soldiers. Singapore was divided into sectors with each sector under the control of an officer. The Japanese set up designated "screening centers" all over Singapore to gather and "screen" all Chinese males between the ages of 18 and 50. Those who were thought to be "anti-Japanese" would be eliminated. Sometimes, women and children were also sent for inspection as well.

The following passage is from an article from the National Heritage Board:

The inspection methods were indiscriminate and non-standardised. Sometimes, hooded informants identified suspected anti-Japanese Chinese; other times, Japanese officers singled out "suspicious" characters at their whim and fancy. Those who survived the inspection walked with "examined" stamped on their faces, arms or clothing; others were issued a certificate. The unfortunate ones were taken to remote places like Changi and Punggol, and unceremoniously killed in batches.

According to the A Country Study: Singapore published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress:

All Chinese males from ages eighteen to fifty were required to report to registration camps for screening. The Japanese or military police arrested those alleged to be anti-Japanese, meaning those who were singled out by informers or who were teachers, journalists, intellectuals, or even former servants of the British. Some were imprisoned, but most were executed.

The ones who passed the "screening" would receive a piece of paper bearing the word "examined" or have a square ink mark stamped on their arms or shirts. Those who failed would be stamped with triangular marks instead. They would be separated from the others and packed into trucks near the centers and sent to the killing sites.

There were several sites for the killings, the most notable ones being Changi Beach, Punggol Beach and Sentosa (or Pulau Blakang Mati). The Punggol Beach Massacre saw about 300 to 400 Chinese shot at Punggol Beach on 28 February 1942 by the Hojo Kempeifiring squad. The victims were some of the 1,000 Chinese males detained by the Japanese after a door-to-door search along Upper Serangoon Road. Several of these men had tattoos, a sign that they could be triad members.

The current Changi Beach Park was the site of one of the most brutal killings in Singaporean history. On 20 February 1942, 66 Chinese males were lined up along the edge of the sea and shot by the military police. The beach was the first of the killing sites of the Sook Ching massacre, with another one at Tanah Merah. Another site was Berhala Reping at Sentosa Beach (now Serapong Golf Courseafter land reclamation). Surrendered British gunners awaiting Japanese internment buried some 300 bullet-ridden corpses washed up on the shore of Sentosa. They were civilians who were transported from the docks at Tanjong Pagar to be killed at sea nearby.

In a quarterly newsletter, the National Heritage Board published the account of the life story of a survivor named Chia Chew Soo whose father, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters were bayoneted one by one by Japanese soldiers in Simpang Village.3)
  
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_Singapore(Date Accessed:11Feb 2013)

Alexandra Hospital massacre,14feb1942

At about 13:00 on 14 February, Japanese soldiers advanced towards the Alexandra Barracks Hospital.A British lieutenant—acting as an envoy with a white flag—approached the Japanese forces but wasbayoneted and killed. After the Japanese troops entered the hospital, a number of patients, including those undergoing surgery at the time, were killed along with doctors and members of nursing staff. The following day about 200 male staff members and patients who had been assembled and bound the previous day, many of them walking wounded, were ordered to walk about 400 m (440 yd) to an industrial area. Anyone who fell on the way was bayoneted. The men were forced into a series of small, badly ventilated rooms and were imprisoned overnight without water. Some died during the night as a result of their treatment. The remainder were bayoneted the following morning.

Private Haines of the Wiltshire Regiment—another survivor—had been in the hospital suffering from malaria. He wrote a four-page account of the massacre, that was sold by his daughter by private auction in 2008;Haines describes how the Japanese did not consider those who were weak, wounded or who had surrendered to be worthy of life. After surrendering, staff were ordered to proceed down a corridor, where Sergeant Rogers was bayoneted twice in the back and another officer, Captain Parkinson, was bayoneted through the throat. Others killed included Captain Heevers and Private Lewis. Captain Smiley and Private Sutton were bayoneted but survived by playing dead. Many who had not been imprisoned in the tiny rooms in the industrial area were systematically taken away in small groups and bayoneted or macheted to death. This continued for 24 hours, leaving 320 men and one woman dead. Those who lost their lives included a corporal from the Loyal Regiment, who was impaled on the operating table, and even a Japanese prisoner who was perhaps mistaken for a Gurkha.

There were only five known survivors, including George Britton (1922–2009) of the East Surrey Regiment, and Private Haines, also Hugo Hughes, who lost his right leg, and George Wort, who lost an arm, both of the Malay Regiment. There may have been others. Haines' account came to light only after his death. Survivors were so traumatised that they rarely spoke of their ordeal.

After three days with no food or drink, those unable to walk were taken to Changi on wheelbarrows and carts, no motorised vehicles being available.



Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore(Date Accessed:17Feb2013)

Battle of Bukit Timah and Battle of Pasir Panjang,11 to 14 Feb 1942

The opening at Kranji made it possible for Imperial Guards armoured units to land unopposed there. Tanks with flotation equipment attached were towed across the strait and advanced rapidly south, along Woodlands Road. This allowed Yamashita to outflank the 22nd Brigade on the Jurong Line, as well as bypassing the 11th Indian Division at the naval base. However, the Imperial Guards failed to seize an opportunity to advance into the city centre itself.

On the evening of 10 February, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, cabled Wavell, saying:

I think you ought to realise the way we view the situation in Singapore. It was reported to Cabinet by the C.I.G.S. [Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke] that Percival has over 100,000 [sic] men, of whom 33,000 are British and 17,000 Australian. It is doubtful whether the Japanese have as many in the whole Malay Peninsula... In these circumstances the defenders must greatly outnumber Japanese forces who have crossed the straits, and in a well-contested battle they should destroy them. There must at this stage be no thought of saving the troops or sparing the population. The battle must be fought to the bitter end at all costs. The 18th Division has a chance to make its name in history. Commanders and senior officers should die with their troops. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. I rely on you to show no mercy to weakness in any form. With the Russians fighting as they are and the Americans so stubborn at Luzon, the whole reputation of our country and our race is involved. It is expected that every unit will be brought into close contact with the enemy and fight it out ... 

Wavell subsequently told Percival that the ground forces were to fight on to the end, and that there should not be a general surrender in Singapore.

On 11 February, knowing that Japanese supplies were running perilously low, Yamashita decided to bluff and he called on Percival to "give up this meaningless and desperate resistance". By this stage, the fighting strength of the 22nd Brigade—which had borne the brunt of the Japanese attacks—had been reduced to a few hundred men. The Japanese had captured the Bukit Timah area, including most of the allied ammunition and fuel and giving them control of the main water supplies.

The next day, the Allied lines stabilised around a small area in the south-east of the island and fought off determined Japanese assaults. Other units—including the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade—had joined in. A Malayan platoon—led by 2nd LieutenantAdnan bin Saidi—held the Japanese for two days at the Battle of Pasir Panjang. His unit defended Bukit Chandu, an area which included a major Allied ammunition store. Adnan was executed by the Japanese after his unit was overrun.

On 13 February, with the Allies still losing ground, senior officers advised Percival to surrender in the interests of minimising civilian casualties. Percival refused, but unsuccessfully sought authority to surrender from his superiors.

That same day, military police executed a convicted British traitor, Captain Patrick Heenan, who had been an Air Liaison Officer with theBritish Indian Army. Japanese military intelligence had recruited Heenan before the war, and he had used a radio to assist them in targeting Allied airfields in northern Malaya. He had been arrested on 10 December and court-martialled in January. Heenan was shot at Keppel Harbour, on the south side of Singapore, and his body was thrown into the sea.

The following day, the remaining Allied units fought on; civilian casualties mounted as one million people crowded into the area still held by the Allies, and bombing and artillery fire intensified. Civilian authorities began to fear that the water supply would give out.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore(Date Accessed:17Feb2013)

Air war,8 to 10 Dec 1941

Air cover was provided by only ten Hawker Hurricane fighters of RAF No. 232 Squadron, based at Kallang Airfield. This was because Tengah, Seletar and Sembawang were in range of Japanese artillery at Johor Bahru. Kallang Airfield was the only operational airstrip left; the surviving squadrons and aircraft were withdrawn by January to reinforce the Dutch East Indies.

During December, 51 Hurricane Mk II fighters were sent to Singapore, with 24 pilots, the nuclei of five squadrons. They arrived on 3 January 1942, by which stage the F2A Buffalosquadrons had been overwhelmed. No. 232 Squadron was formed and No. 488 Squadron RNZAF, a Buffalo squadron converted to Hurricanes. 232 Squadron became operational on 20 January and destroyed three Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscars" that day,for the loss of three Hurricanes. However, like the Buffalos before them, the Hurricanes began to suffer severe losses in intense dogfights.

During the period 27 January–30 January, another 48 Hurricanes (Mk IIA) arrived with No. 226 Group (four squadrons) on the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, from which they flew to airfields code-named P1 and P2, near Palembang, Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies. The staggered arrival of the Hurricanes — along with inadequate early warning systems — meant that Japanese air raids were able to destroy a large proportion of the Hurricanes on the ground in Sumatra and Singapore.

n the morning of 8 February, a number of aerial dogfights took place over Sarimbun Beach and other western areas. In the first encounter, the last ten Hurricanes were scrambled from Kallang Airfield to intercept a Japanese formation of about 84 planes, flying from Johor to provide air cover for their invasion force. In two sorties, the Hurricanes shot down six Japanese planes for the loss of one of their own; they flew back to Kallang halfway through the battle, hurriedly re-fuelled, then returned to it. Air battles went on for the rest of the day, and by nightfall it was clear that with the few machines Percival had left, Kallang could no longer be used as a base. With his assent the remaining eight flyable Hurricanes were withdrawn to Palembang, Sumatra, and Kallang became merely an advanced landing ground. No allied aircraft were seen again over Singapore, and the Japanese had achieved complete air supremacy.

On the evening of 10 February, General Archibald Wavell ordered the transfer of all remaining Allied air force personnel to the Dutch East Indies. By this time, Kallang Airfield was so pitted with bomb craters that it was no longer usable.

Brewster F2A Buffalo fighters 

Hawker Hurricane 
No. 232 Squadron RAF

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore(Date Accessed:17Feb2013)

Northern Landing,8Feb1941

Blowing up the causeway had delayed the Japanese attack for over a week. At 20:30 on 8 February, Australian machine gunners opened fire on vessels carrying a first wave of 4,000 troops from the 5th and 18th Divisions toward Singapore island. The Japanese assaulted Sarimbun Beach, in the sector controlled by the Australian 22nd Brigade under Brigadier Harold Taylor.
Fierce fighting raged all day, but eventually the increasing Japanese numbers—and the superiority of their artillery, aircraft and military intelligence—began to take their toll. In the northwest of the island they exploited gaps in the thinly spread Allied lines such as rivers and creeks. By midnight, the two Australian brigades had lost communications with each other, and the 22nd Brigade was forced to retreat. At 01:00, further Japanese troops were landed in the northwest of the island and the last Australian reserves went in. Near dawn on 9 February, elements of the 22nd Brigade were overrun or surrounded, and the 2/18th Australian Infantry Battalion had lost more than half of its personnel.

One of Singapore's 15-inch coastal 

defence guns elevated for firing.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore(Date Accessed:17Feb2013)

Start of fall,7 Dec 1941

On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War began in earnest. One of Japan's objectives was to capture Southeast Asia and secure the rich supply of natural resources to feed its military and industry needs. Singapore, the main Allied base in the region, was an obvious military target. The British military commanders in Singapore had believed that the Japanese attack would come by sea from the south, since the dense Malayan jungle in the north would serve as a natural barrier against invasion. Although they had drawn up a plan for dealing with an attack on northern Malaya, preparations were never completed. The military was confident that "Fortress Singapore" would withstand any Japanese attack and this confidence was further reinforced by the arrival of Force Z, a squadron of British warships dispatched to the defense of Singapore, including the battleshipHMS Prince of Wales, and cruiser HMS Repulse. The squadron was to have been accompanied by a third capital ship, the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, but it ran aground en route, leaving the squadron without air cover.


Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Singapore(Date accessed:17 Feb 2013