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"The Chinese, with an almost complete lack of modern equipment, have held the greater part of their country against the full strength of the Japanese. it will be disgraceful if we yield our boasted Fortress of Singapore to inferior enemy force... I look to you and to your men to fight to the end and to prove that the fighting spirit that won our Empire still exists to enable us to defend it.
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The Japanese took 100,000 men prisoner in Singapore. Many had just arrived and had never ot fired a bullet in anger. 9,000 of these men died building the Burma-Thailand railway. The people of Singapore fared worse. Many were of Chinese origin and were slaughtered by the Japanese. After the war, Japan admitted that 5000 had been murdered, but the Chinese population in Singapore put the figure at nearer 50,000. With the evidence of what the Japanese could do to a captured civilian population (as seen at Nanking), 5000 is likely to be an underestimate. |
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Chinese guerrilla forces
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Dalforce 'Dalley's Desperadoes'
Dalforce was a mixed group of Koumintang and Communist Chinese, from all walks of life - even tattooed Communist prisoners, pooled together to defend Singapore. A British brigadier to whose formation was allotted a company of irregulars commented: "Actually they were city-bred folk, who had never been nearer swamps than a bus might take them. They proved to be very trigger-happy and were a constant source of alarm and unease." Frank Brewer, a Dalforce trainer, said, "Now, the job they were expected to do was to be positioned in or very close to the mangrove swamp in between the sort of regular forces and act as the eyes and ears of the regular forces. They weren't expected to do big battle as they weren't equipped for that or trained for that.... There weren't enough ordinary rifles to be handed out to them. And all that could be scraped up were sort of sporting rifles that had been pulled in at some stage from civilians... I know one company had as many as three different types of sporting guns... They went off with shotguns, seven rounds of ammunition and two grenades each... They were not even in uniform until it was realised that if they were positioned between the Australians they could be mistaken for Japanese... some of them (Australians) being raw in Malaya didn't know Japanese from a Chinese." Tailors quickly stitched together some blue coloured uniforms so that there would not be any tragedies from friendly fire. Those lucky enough found themselves armed with Enfield service rifles.
Choo Kim Seng, a Dalforce veteran, recalls university students,
teachers, hawkers, storekeepers, drivers, leaders of women’s association,
blue-collar workers and farmers joining Dalforce or as it was
also known to the locals - the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Volunteer
Army. An apprentice, he registered himself in the Volunteer Army
at the age of 18 and because of the urgent need for frontline
forces, received simple military training of 3 - 4 days duration.
Said Choo, “We were sent to the White House Hotel in Bencoolen Street for
military training. To be frank, the military training was very
simple. There were no military uniforms or boots, so we wore normal
shorts and white canvas shoes. We tied a piece of white cloth
round our heads as there were no helmets. We were each given an
old hunting rifle. There were no modern weapons... The British
military told us to hold out with what we had while waiting for
the proper equipment to arrive. Everyone felt the British military
was being unfair to us. British soldiers, Indian soldiers, Australian
soldiers, the Gurkha army and the Malayan people’s Anti-Japanese
Army were better equipped. Did they have any regard for us, the
Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army? We did
not voice our protest but continued our military training as our
primary motive was to fight the Japanese aggressors.”
Choo remembers his squad receiving lessons in using their rifles,
how to avoid being a target, charging and shattering enemy positions
and bayonet fighting. “We were not given hand grenades or hand-held machine guns. Each
of us was given a water bottle, a small mat which we wrapped around
our waist, a bayonet and 24 bullets... Our female members were
only responsible for first aid, cooking, relaying messages and
other simple tasks.”
Being given 24 bullets meant that the men had to be very cautious
when shooting their targets. When all the ammunition was explenished,
they were supposed to return to the rear to collect new bullets.
Said Choo, “The British military did not give us more bullets as they feared
that we would hide the extra bullets. We knew we had to treasure
every bullet and not to fire carelessly as they were the only
means of protecting our lives. But we were not expert marksmen
and 24 bullets were definitely not enough for us to go ont he
battlefield. The British military did not trust us.”
Dalforce fought in Bukit Timah, Woodlands and the coastal area
along the Straits of Johore. Choo and his fellow volunteers were
despatched to the Causeway at the Straits of Johore to ambush
the Japanese. While hiding in the bushes and mangrove swamps,
they would be bombed and harrased by Japanese aircraft which had
control of the skies. Choo recounts, “The British and the Indian soldiers had poured petroleum into
the Straits of Johore to deter Japanese soldiers from advancing
into Singapore. When the Japanese military tried to cross over
in small boats in the middle of the night, we fired at them. Immediately
the petroleum-filled waters leapt up in flames. The Japanese soldiers
screamed and were burnt to death. The Singapore Overseas Chinese
Anti-Volunteer Army followed up thhe victory in hot pursuit of
our enemy and fired at those Japanese soldiers who tried to escape.
As a result of this battle, the Japanese military hated the Singapore
Overseas Chinese Anti-Volunteer Army bitterly... There were more
than 20 people in our squad, but only 3 managed to escape alive
and go back to the rear..."
"I must admit that when I reached the frontline and saw the brutal
and cruel face of war, I was a little scared. I got highly charged
whenever I saw the dismembered bodies of our comrades scattered
everywhere amid the constant wailing of the injured and the loud
chanting of anti-Japanese slogans by our comrades just before
their deaths. Our bullets might be merciless, bu the bayonets
of the Japanese military were far worse. All I could think about
was to charge at the enemy fearlessly and fight to the end...There
were two more occasions when we had heavy crossfire with the Japanese
military, which resulted in high casualties on both sides. Once,
we hid in the bushes at the foot of Bukit Timah Hill and concentrated
our firepower on the Japanese soldiers. To be frank, Japanese
soldiers were very brave and not afraid to die. As their weapons,
military equipment and ammunition were far superior to ours, the
Japanese military had never expected stubborn resistance from
the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Volunteer Army... I heard
that both the British and Japanese militaries spoke highly of
the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Volunteer Army."
One Dalforce company - Richard Company - was almost decimated when it fought the Japanese at Kranji while another became involved in desperate fighting at the Battle of Bukit Timah. The British noted how ferociously the Chinese volunteers in Dalforce fought and nicknamed them "Dalley's Desperadoes."
Eternal Vigilance, the Price of Freedom; compiled by Foong Choon
Hon, translated by Yuen Chen Ching; Asiapac Books, Singapore;
2006
Lee Geok Boi; The Syonan Years - Singapore under Japanese Rule 1942 - 1945; National Archives of Singapore; 2005