Virtual Museum

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Museum Entrance Room One Room Two R o o m F o u r R o o m T h r e e Welcome to the Museum of [Battle for Malaya & Singapore] Curator’s Offices Room Five

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Transcript of Virtual Museum

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Museum EntranceR

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Welcome to the Museum of[Battle for Malaya & Singapore]

Curator’s Offices

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Curator’s Office

Contact us at [email protected]

We are a pair of students interested to teach other students about the Japanese Invasion of Malaya and Singapore through the use of this virtual museum. Enjoy!

Zhen Yang & Yinn Ray

Place your picture here.

Note: Virtual museums were first introduced by educators at Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, Pennsylvania. This template was designed by Dr. Christy Keeler. View the Educational Virtual Museums website for more information on this instructional technique.

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Room 1

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Artifact 1

Invasion of Malaya

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Room 2

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Invasion of Malaya

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Room 3

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Invasion of Singapore

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Room 4

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Invasion of Singapore

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Room 5

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[Room 5] Room

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Google images

On 8 December 1941, the Japanese 25th Army landed at Kota Bharu. While they faced some resistance from the Indian and British soldiers, the Japanese troops were able to surround them and forced them to surrender. They then destroyed British airfields and command centers in Kota Bharu before heading south towards Singapore. At the same time, Japanese troops from the 5th division landed in Singora and Pattani and made a deal with Thailand to land their troops and use their airfields there. During the battle of Malaya, despite the Japanese being outnumbered more than 3 to 1 by the British, they had several advantages, namely the close airfield in Thailand and also a good supply line. The Japanese also made use of bicycles travel down swiftly through the coasts of Malaya and ultimately reach Singapore.

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Landings at Kota Bahru

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Google Images

The ship that you just saw was HMS Repulse, one of the heavy battle cruisers sent to protect Singapore and Malaya in late 1941, together with HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Electra, HMS Express, HMS Encounter and HMS Jupiter. However on 10 December 1941, Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk off the coast of Kuantan. These ships did not have aerial support at all and were thus sunk easily by Japanese bombers. This was one of the greatest disasters in WW2 and because of this, the Japanese could enjoy aerial and naval superiority over the British. They could also establish a good and reliable supply line from Japan to send in food, ammunition and reinforcements.

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HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales

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Google Images

This is one of the first big scale military engagement between the Japanese and British. Jitra was mainly held by the 11th Indian division which comprises mainly Indian troops. These troops were neither well equipped nor prepared and when the Japanese started attacking on 11 December 1941, they were still setting up traps and communication systems. Despite this, they still put up a good fight against the well trained Japanese troops. The 11th Indian Division was pushed back quickly by the Japanese as they did not have heavy armour or artillery. The Japanese on the other hand had tanks and thus managed to overrun the Indian troops, securing their victory in Jitra. Following that they headed south towards Penang.

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Battle at Jitra

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Google Images

Penang was one of Britain’s first ports in South East Asia and during the WW2, it was called Fortress Penang. Despite its name, it only had 4 anti-aircraft guns and 500 untrained troops. When the Japanese bombed Penang on 10 December 1941 with approximately 27 bombers, the British could not do much. Although the bombing did not result in too many casualties, there was chaos throughout the city emergency services were not of much use as the Chinese manning these were incompetent and untrained. This was made worse when the main fire department was bombed down and destroyed in the time it was needed the most. On the 17 December 1941, the Japanese landed on Penang from small boats. The British soldiers escaped quickly and left behind many supplies and important buildings such as the radio station intact. Their opening words were “Hello, Singapore. This is Penang calling. How do you like our bombing.”

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Capture of Penang

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Google Images

This picture shows pilots of No.453 Squadron RAAF in Ipoh responding to a scramble order. These pilots have to be alert at all times and respond to scramble orders quickly in an event of a Japanese invasion from the air. Despite the bravery and willingness to participate in these scramble orders, they were ultimately not able to stop the Japanese as the Japanese had superior planes as compared to the old and outdated British planes such has the Brewster Buffaloes.

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Scramble Order

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Google Images

Despite the dense jungles and the British troops’ attempt to slow them down, the Japanese were surprisingly still able to move down Malaya extremely quickly with the use of bicycles and tanks. Just after a month since the landings, the Japanese troops made it all the way to Kuala Lumpur. On 11 January 1942, Yamashita’s army move into Kuala Lumpur and took over it with relatively little resistance. Yamashita also managed to find a lot resources left behind by British soldiers retreating into Singapore solving his problems of low supplies. Yamashita wasted no time and continued travelling south to Johor Bahru and finally Singapore.

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Capture of Kuala Lumpur

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Google Images

Force 136 was a secret organization set up by the British in the 1940s and comprised manly senior British officers trained in jungle warfare. However, they could not move around Malaya dressed like locals or lead sabotages easily, hence they needed to find suitable Asians. One of them was Lim Bo Seng. Despite his wealthy background, he was totally against the Japanese and wanted to stop them. He became the leader of the Malayan Chinese section and under his leadership, they carried out sabotages against the Japanese which slowed them down, although not by much. Sadly in 1944, the Japanese captured him and he was tortured before he eventually died of dysentery.

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Force 136

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Google Images

Most of the batteries pointing towards the sea were placed in Singapore in places such as Changi and Sentosa. However some of the batteries were also placed at places such as Pengerang, Malaysia. These batteries, however, were not very useful because instead of landing from the south of Singapore, the Japanese landed from the north, catching the British by surprise. Although these huge guns could be turned inland, they were not effective as these guns are meant for destroying ships and not soldiers. Thus the fall of Singapore was partially the British’s fault as they only prepared for a sea invasion from the south but not an invasion form the north in Malaya.

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Johor Battery

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Image from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singapore_causeway_blown_up.jpg

This picture of the blown up Johor-Singapore causeway was an effort by the British to delay the Japanese invasion while they retreated from Malaya into Singapore. It did: but only for 9 days, as the Japanese had other methods of crossing into Singapore, such as inflatable boats. The Japanese also quickly repaired the bombed section of the Causeway by using civilians from Johor Bahru. As such, it was not very effective in delaying the Japanese landfall, and they were able to quickly continue their invasion of Singapore. This futile effort is prove of the British weakness and unpreparedness for war. Return to

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Bombing of the Causeway

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese_air_raid_on_singapore_-_February_8_1942.jpg

This picture of firefighters putting out the fire, results of the Japanese air raids on 8 February 1941, depicts the Bombing of Singapore. These air raids happened shortly after the Japanese landings at Kota Bahru, and it was the first knowledge the Singaporean population had that they were now involved in World War II. There were many casualties, including 61 deaths and more than 700 injured. The air raids successfully damaged airfields at Seletar and Tengah, and also affected the morale of the British defense, as they did not expect the Japanese to have any long-range aircraft capable of striking Singapore from far. Return to

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8 Feb 1941 Air Raids

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bukit_Timah

The is the picture of the battle at Bukit Timah Hill, one of the major victories of the Japanese that was instrumental to their capture of Singapore. This victory was mainly because the tanks used by the Japanese were able to overwhelm the British, who were poorly equipped. This is, once again, prove of the British weakness and unpreparedness for war in contrast to the Japanese. However, the Japanese also suffered one of their heaviest casualties in their invasion of Singapore here. The Battle at Bukit Timah Hill was also important to the Japanese, as they were able to capture vital supplies left behind by the British, such as food and ammunition, and also a reservoir.

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Battle at Bukit Timah

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Google Images

This is the picture of the Fall of Pasir Panjang, one of the most famous battles in the Japanese invasion. The Malay Regiment were valiantly defending Bukit Chandu, which included a major Allied ammunition store that held vital resources. The Malay Regiment fought to the death under the encouragement and leadership of Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi, who was extremely brave and patriotic. Eventually, the Japanese outnumbered the defenders and overran them, torturing Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi as he inflicted many casualties on the Japanese army. After this loss, most of the British commanders reported that the soldiers were demoralised and exhausted, and thus a surrender was considered.

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Fall of Pasir Panjang

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_Box

This picture of the modern Battle Box, an underground command centre constructed under Fort Canning before WWII, was the headquarters of the British Army during the later stages of the war, since the Japanese were moving towards the central area of Singapore. It served as headquarters of the British defense by housing many defense operations rooms such as the Naval Extended Defences office. Important decisions were made in the Battle Box. For example, Lieutenant-General Percival and his commanders decided to surrender to the Japanese here in the Battle Box as their soldiers were demoralised and exhausted, and they wanted to minimise civilian casualties.

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The Battle Box

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffolk_Regiment#Defence_of_Singapore

This is a picture of the Suffolk Regiment being held at gunpoint by the Japanese soldiers. Two battalions of the Suffolk Regiment helped to defend Singapore briefly during the Japanese invasion, but the Japanese army was simply too strong, and they had no choice but to surrender. This was typical of the situation at that time, in the sense that most of the battles in Singapore ended up with the Japanese defeating the British as they were better equipped and had experience fighting in Malaya and China. Most of the Suffolk Regiment would die while captured as prisoners of war, and only few survived the war. Return to

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Suffolk Regiment’s Surrender

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Google Images

This picture is a reconstructed scene showing Lieutenant-General Percival having the final conference with his men before the surrender in the Battle Box. Lieutenant-General Percival wanted to discuss ways to counter-attack, but the other commanders were against the idea as they felt that the soldiers were exhausted and instead advocated surrender to prevent further bloodshed. This is an example of Lieutenant-General Percival’s weak leadership. He was not decisive enough and often simply agreed with his commanders, jumping on the bandwagon rather than leading. This decision made here turned out to be extremely important, as it put the people under three-and-a-half years of hardship under the Japanese Occupation.

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Final Conference

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore

This is the picture of the negotiations between Lieutenant-General Percival and General Tomoyuki Yamashita during surrender negotiations. It was arguably the most important event during the Japanese invasion of Singapore. It was here that Lieutenant-General Percival agreed to an unconditional surrender because he buckled under General Yamashita’s forceful and insistent tone. Later on, General Yamashita admitted that the attack on Singapore was a bluff, as the Japanese troops were outnumbered by more than 3 to 1, and they would be defeated by the British given their lack of supplies. Therefore, this surrender was a sign of the British weakness, as they gave in to the Japanese without finding out the exact situation.

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Surrender Negotiations

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Google Images

This is a letter by Lim Bo Seng written to his wife Gan Choo Neo in 1944 before he died. He said “I fully realised the risks involved, but once the job was started, it must be pushed to a successful end. My duty and my honour would not permit me to look back. Every day tens of thousands are dying for their countries. It is very painful for me to put the whole burden on your shoulders, but I am confident you are capable of bearing it and bearing it well. If there is a God in Heaven, there should be a drop of dew for each blade of grass. Who am I to doubt his existence? You must not grieve for me. On the other hand you should take pride in my sacrifice and devote yourself to the upbringing of the children. Tell them what has happened to me and direct them along my footsteps.” He also wrote in his letter “What a pity I could not live to realise my dreams. But I have no doubts you will do your best for them.”

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Lim Bo Seng’s Letter to his Wife

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http://uncledicko.blogspot.sg/2009/09/ww2genuine-front-page-of-9-feb-1942.html

This is a picture of The Oregonian, a daily paper found in the USA West Coast back in the 1940s, publishing the Japanese landings on Singapore. This primary source describes how the Japanese landed on Pulau Ubin on the night of 7th February 1942, where the British did not defend strongly as they had fell for the Japanese trick and moved all their artillery and soldiers to the northeast. Thus, by early morning the next day, the Japanese had easily captured Pulau Ubin and landed on the main island of Singapore at Sarimbun. This primary source is one of the few newspapers available that describes the capture of Singapore by the Japanese.

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Newspaper Article on Japanese Landing

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_Sun_Flag

This is the war flag used by the Japanese Imperial Army in between 1870 (After Meiji Restoration) to the end of World War 2. It has 16 rays and this symbolizes Land of the Rising Sun. This was solely used by the imperial Japanese Army, although the navy had a similar design, with the center red circle skewed to the left. After the Japanese were defeated in WW2, the flag was disused but it has now become the flag for the Maritime Self-Defense Force. It is a symbol that represents the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia.

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Rising Sun Flag