Transcript of Virtual museum 2
- 1. Welcome to the Museum of [Battle for Malaya & Singapore]
Room Three Room TwoRoom One Room Four Museum Entrance Room Five
Curators Offices
- 2. Zhen Yang & Yinn Ray Curators Office We are a pair of
students interested to teach other students about the Japanese
Invasion Place your picture of Malaya and Singapore through the use
of here. this virtual museum. Enjoy! Contact me at [Your linked
email address] Return to EntryNote: 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 Museumswebsite for more
information on this instructional technique.
- 3. Invasion of MalayaRoom 1 3 Return to Entry
- 4. Invasion of Malaya Room 2 Return to Entry
- 5. Invasion of Singapore Room 3 Return to Entry
- 6. Invasion of Singapore Room 4 Return to Entry
- 7. [Room 5] RoomRoom 5 Return to Entry
- 8. Landings at Kota BahruOn 8 December 1941, the Japanese 25th
Armylanded at Kota Bharu. While they faced someresistance from the
Indian and British soldiers,the Japanese troops were able to
surround themand forced them to surrender. They thendestroyed
British airfields and command centersin Kota Bharu before heading
south towardsSingapore. At the same time, Japanese troopsfrom the
5th division landed in Singora andPattani and made a deal with
Thailand to landtheir troops and use their airfields there.
Duringthe battle of Malaya, despite the Japanese being Linked
citation goes hereoutnumbered more than 3 to 1 by the British,they
had several advantages, namely the close Return toairfield in
Thailand and also a good supply line. ExhibitThe Japanese also made
use of bicycles traveldown swiftly through the coasts of Malaya
andultimately reach Singapore.
- 9. HMS Repulse and Prince of WalesThe ship that you just saw
was HMS Repulse,one of the heavy battle cruisers sent to
protectSingapore and Malaya in late 1941, togetherwith HMS Prince
of Wales, HMS Electra, HMSExpress, HMS Encounter and HMS
Jupiter.However on 10 December 1941, Prince ofWales and Repulse
were sunk off the coast ofKuantan. These ships did not have
aerialsupport at all and were thus sunk easily byJapanese bombers.
This was one of thegreatest disasters in WW2 and because of
this,the Japanese could enjoy aerial and naval Linked citation goes
heresuperiority over the British. They could alsoestablish a good
and reliable supply line from Return toJapan to send in food,
ammunition and Exhibitreinforcements.
- 10. Battle at JitraThis is one of the first big scale
militaryengagement between the Japanese andBritish. Jitra was
mainly held by the 11th Indiandivision which comprises mainly
Indian troops.These troops were neither well equipped norprepared
and when the Japanese startedattacking on 11 December 1941, they
were stillsetting up traps and communication systems.Despite this,
they still put up a good fightagainst the well trained Japanese
troops. The11th Indian Division was pushed back quicklyby the
Japanese as they did not have heavy Linked citation goes herearmour
or artillery. The Japanese on the otherhand had tanks and thus
managed to overrun Return tothe Indian troops, securing their
victory in Jitra. ExhibitFollowing that they headed south
towardsPenang.
- 11. Capture of PenangPenang was one of Britains first ports in
South EastAsia and during the WW2, it was called FortressPenang.
Despite its name, it only had 4 anti-aircraftguns and 500 untrained
troops. When the Japanesebombed Penang on 10 December 1941
withapproximately 27 bombers, the British could not domuch.
Although the bombing did not result in toomany casualties, there
was chaos throughout the cityemergency services were not of much
use as theChinese manning these were incompetent anduntrained. This
was made worse when the main firedepartment was bombed down and
destroyed in the Linked citation goes heretime it was needed the
most. On the 17 December1941, the Japanese landed on Penang from
small Return toboats. The British soldiers escaped quickly and left
Exhibitbehind many supplies and important buildings suchas the
radio station intact. Their opening words wereHello, Singapore.
This is Penang calling. How doyou like our bombing.
- 12. Scramble OrderThis picture shows pilots of No.453
SquadronRAAF in Ipoh responding to a scramble order.These pilots
have to be alert at all times andrespond to scramble orders quickly
in an eventof a Japanese invasion from the air. Despitethe bravery
and willingness to participate inthese scramble orders, they were
ultimately notable to stop the Japanese as the Japanesehad superior
planes as compared to the oldand outdated British planes such has
theBrewster Buffaloes. Linked citation goes here Return to
Exhibit
- 13. Capture of Kuala LumpurDespite the dense jungles and the
Britishtroops attempt to slow them down, theJapanese were
surprisingly still able to movedown Malaya extremely quickly with
the use ofbicycles and tanks. Just after a month since thelandings,
the Japanese troops made it all theway to Kuala Lumpur. On 11
January 1942,Yamashitas army move into Kuala Lumpur andtook over it
with relatively little resistance.Yamashita also managed to find a
lotresources left behind by British soldiersretreating into
Singapore solving his problems Linked citation goes hereof low
supplies. Yamashita wasted no time andcontinued travelling south to
Johor Bahru and Return tofinally Singapore. Exhibit
- 14. Force 136Force 136 was a secret organization set up bythe
British in the 1940s and comprised manlysenior British officers
trained in jungle warfare.However, they could not move around
Malayadressed like locals or lead sabotages easily,hence they
needed to find suitable Asians. Oneof them was Lim Bo Seng. Despite
his wealthybackground, he was totally against theJapanese and
wanted to stop them. Hebecame the leader of the Malayan
Chinesesection and under his leadership, they carriedout sabotages
against the Japanese which Linked citation goes hereslowed them
down, although not by much.Sadly in 1944, the Japanese captured him
and Return tohe was tortured before he eventually died of
Exhibitdysentery.
- 15. Johor BatteryMost of the batteries pointing towards the
seawere placed in Singapore in places such asChangi and Sentosa.
However some of thebatteries were also placed at places such
asPengerang, Malaysia. These batteries,however, were not very
useful because insteadof landing from the south of Singapore,
theJapanese landed from the north, catching theBritish by surprise.
Although these huge gunscould be turned inland, they were not
effectiveas these guns are meant for destroying shipsand not
soldiers. Thus the fall of Singapore Linked citation goes herewas
partially the Britishs fault as they onlyprepared for a sea
invasion from the south but Return tonot an invasion form the north
in Malaya. Exhibit
- 16. Bombing of the CausewayThis picture of the blown up
Johor-Singaporecauseway was an effort by the British to delaythe
Japanese invasion while they retreatedfrom Malaya into Singapore.
It did: but only for9 days, as the Japanese had other methods
ofcrossing into Singapore, such as inflatableboats. The Japanese
also quickly repaired thebombed section of the Causeway by
usingcivilians from Johor Bahru. As such, it was notvery effective
in delaying the Japanese landfall,and they were able to quickly
continue their Image from :invasion of Singapore. This futile
effort is prove
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singapore_causeway_bloof the
British weakness and unpreparedness wn_up.jpgfor war. Return to
Exhibit
- 17. 8 Feb 1941 Air RaidsThis picture of firefighters putting
out the fire,results of the Japanese air raids on 8 February1941,
depicts the Bombing of Singapore.These air raids happened shortly
after theJapanese landings at Kota Bahru, and it wasthe first
knowledge the Singaporean populationhad that they were now involved
in World WarII. There were many casualties, including 61deaths and
more than 700 injured. The airraids successfully damaged airfields
at Seletarand Tengah, and also affected the morale ofthe British
defense, as they did not expect the Linked citation goes
hereJapanese to have any long-range aircraftcapable of striking
Singapore from far. Return to Exhibit
- 18. Battle at Bukit TimahThe is the picture of the battle at
Bukit TimahHill, one of the major victories of the Japanesethat was
instrumental to their capture ofSingapore. This victory was mainly
because thetanks used by the Japanese were able tooverwhelm the
British, who were poorlyequipped. This is, once again, prove of
theBritish weakness and unpreparedness for war incontrast to the
Japanese. However, theJapanese also suffered one of their
heaviestcasualties in their invasion of Singapore here.The Battle
at Bukit Timah Hill was also important Linked citation goes hereto
the Japanese, as they were able to capturevital supplies left
behind by the British, such as Return tofood and ammunition, and
also a reservoir. Exhibit
- 19. Fall of Pasir PanjangThis is the picture of the Fall of
Pasir Panjang,one of the most famous battles in the
Japaneseinvasion. The Malay Regiment were valiantlydefending Bukit
Chandu, which included amajor Allied ammunition store that held
vitalresources. The Malay Regiment fought to thedeath under the
encouragement andleadership of Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi, whowas
extremely brave and patriotic. Eventually,the Japanese outnumbered
the defenders andoverran them, torturing Lieutenant Adnan binSaidi
as he inflicted many casualties on the Linked citation goes
hereJapanese army. After this loss, most of theBritish commanders
reported that the soldiers Return towere demoralised and exhausted,
and thus a Exhibitsurrender was considered.
- 20. The Battle BoxThis picture of the modern Battle Box,
anunderground command centre constructedunder Fort Canning before
WWII, was theheadquarters of the British Army during thelater
stages of the war, since the Japanesewere moving towards the
central area ofSingapore. It served as headquarters of theBritish
defense by housing many defenseoperations rooms such as the Naval
ExtendedDefences office. Important decisions weremade in the Battle
Box. For example,Lieutenant-General Percival and his Linked
citation goes herecommanders decided to surrender to theJapanese
here in the Battle Box as their Return tosoldiers were demoralised
and exhausted, and Exhibitthey wanted to minimise civilian
casualties.
- 21. Suffolk Regiments SurrenderThis is a picture of the Suffolk
Regiment beingheld at gunpoint by the Japanese soldiers.
Twobattalions of the Suffolk Regiment helped todefend Singapore
briefly during the Japaneseinvasion, but the Japanese army was
simplytoo strong, and they had no choice but tosurrender. This was
typical of the situation atthat time, in the sense that most of the
battlesin Singapore ended up with the Japanesedefeating the British
as they were betterequipped and had experience fighting inMalaya
and China. Most of the Suffolk Linked citation goes hereRegiment
would die while captured asprisoners of war, and only few survived
the war. Return to Exhibit
- 22. Final ConferenceThis picture is a reconstructed scene
showingLieutenant-General Percival having the finalconference with
his men before the surrenderin the Battle Box. Lieutenant-General
Percivalwanted to discuss ways to counter-attack, butthe other
commanders were against the ideaas they felt that the soldiers were
exhaustedand instead advocated surrender to preventfurther
bloodshed. This is an example ofLieutenant-General Percivals weak
leadership.He was not decisive enough and often simplyagreed with
his commanders, jumping on the Linked citation goes herebandwagon
rather than leading. This decisionmade here turned out to be
extremely Return toimportant, as it put the people under three-and-
Exhibita-half years of hardship under the JapaneseOccupation.
- 23. Surrender NegotiationsThis is the picture of the
negotiations betweenLieutenant-General Percival and GeneralTomoyuki
Yamashita during surrendernegotiations. It was arguably the
mostimportant event during the Japanese invasionof Singapore. It
was here that Lieutenant-General Percival agreed to an
unconditionalsurrender because he buckled under GeneralYamashitas
forceful and insistent tone. Lateron, General Yamashita admitted
that the attackon Singapore was a bluff, as the Japanesetroops were
outnumbered by more than 3 to 1, Linked citation goes hereand they
would be defeated by the British giventheir lack of supplies.
Therefore, this surrender Return towas a sign of the British
weakness, as they Exhibitgave in to the Japanese without finding
out theexact situation.
- 24. Lim Bo Sengs Letter to his WifeThis is a letter by Lim Bo
Seng written to his wifeGan Choo Neo in 1944 before he died. He
said Ifully realised the risks involved, but once the jobwas
started, it must be pushed to a successful end.My duty and my
honour would not permit me tolook back. Every day tens of thousands
are dyingfor their countries. It is very painful for me to put
thewhole burden on your shoulders, but I am confidentyou are
capable of bearing it and bearing it well. Ifthere is a God in
Heaven, there should be a drop ofdew for each blade of grass. Who
am I to doubt hisexistence? You must not grieve for me. On the
Linked citation goes hereother hand you should take pride in my
sacrificeand devote yourself to the upbringing of the Return
tochildren. Tell them what has happened to me and Exhibitdirect
them along my footsteps. He also wrote inhis letter What a pity I
could not live to realise mydreams. But I have no doubts you will
do your bestfor them.
- 25. Newspaper Article on Japanese LandingThis is a picture of
The Oregonian, a dailypaper found in the USA West Coast back in
the1940s, publishing the Japanese landings onSingapore. This
primary source describes howthe Japanese landed on Pulau Ubin on
thenight of 7th February 1942, where the Britishdid not defend
strongly as they had fell for theJapanese trick and moved all their
artillery andsoldiers to the northeast. Thus, by earlymorning the
next day, the Japanese had easilycaptured Pulau Ubin and landed on
the mainisland of Singapore at Sarimbun. This primary Linked
citation goes heresource is one of the few newspapers availablethat
describes the capture of Singapore by the Return toJapanese.
Exhibit
- 26. War Flag of the Imperial Japanese ArmyThis is the war flag
used by the JapaneseImperial Army in between 1870 (After
MeijiRestoration) to the end of World War 2. It has16 rays and this
symbolizes Land of the RisingSun. This was solely used by the
imperialJapanese Army, although the navy had asimilar design, with
the center red circleskewed to the left. After the Japanese
weredefeated in WW2, the flag was disused but ithas now become the
flag for the Maritime Self-Defense Force. It is a symbol that
representsthe Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia. Linked citation
goes here Return to Exhibit