Sime Road - A golf course, a British Airbase, a WW2 battlefield and a British internment camp. The change of its use took place within the periods of 1942 to 1945.
Once again, I had the privilege of having Jon Cooper as my guide. As we stood on the overhead bridge, Jon started his story with the modern day traffic running below us. Getting into the mood of things was important and Jon started off by reading J. S. Cosford's Line of Lost Lives. His very clear and descriptive anecdotes helped me draw a mental picture of what happened in the February 1942.
The Big Battle
The Suffolk Regiment was tasked to defend Sime Road and the surrounding MacRitchie Reservoir. The latter was of great importance as the British knew that if the reservoirs were to fall to their enemies, the battle of Singapore would be as good as finished.
The Suffolk Regiment arrived in Singapore on 29 January 1942, just about three weeks before its fall. Private Thomas Marks was one of those from the Regiment who were moved to shore up the defence of Sime Road. Pte Marks barely knew who he was fighting against and exactly where he was fighting and sooner than he had expected, he became a Prisoner-of-War. (1)
Jon started us off at the overhead bridge. He pointed to the crossroad called "Hellfire Corner". It was a point that saw much activity both from the British and Japanese. There were British truck movements on the ground and that made it a wonderful playground for the Japanese fighter pilots as they had a choice of gunning down the soldiers or tearing into the metal mobile columns.
Other than from the air, the Japanese Army pushed from the West of Singapore. In a normal circumstance, the golf course should have proved to be a difficult ground to take over. But without the support of tanks and fighter planes, the vast open grounds made the British fighter sitting ducks for the Japanese tanks. The troops pulled back to Hill 130 where they made their last stand.
By then, the Japanese were dead tired and making it to Hill 130 was indeed an uphill task. The Japanese troops must have felt that it would most probably be their last battle and at dusk, the Japanese soldiers launched an attack on the hill, supported by their tanks led by Hotsaku Shimada. (5) Hill 130 soon fell. More information can be found in a post seen in the Bukit Brown website. (6)
Pre-War Presence
Prior to the Battle of Singapore, the Sime Road area was a British military enclave that saw the presence of its Army and Royal Air Force headquarters there. This enclave was also where General Arthur Percival and his officers put together their battle plan for the Malaya and Singapore. (2)
There was also a golf course ran by the Race Course Golf Club that was opened in 1932 within the MacRitchie catchment area. (3)
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| The Green House |
After the fall of the British, the building became the headquarters of the Japanese Camp Commander in Singapore.
Coming up, Part 2 about the POW Camp at Sime Road.
References
1. BBC History. December 28, 2005. My Service Life in the Suffolk Regiment Part Two - Far East. Retrieved on: February 15, 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/43/a8080643.shtml
2. bte Zakaria, F. Sime Road Camp. Retrieved on: February 15, 2015. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1769_2011-02-14.html
3. Tan, K. 2001.Singapore Island Country Club (SICC). Retrieved on: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_540_2005-01-05.html
4. Maree, V. May 19, 2014. Guide to Sime Road, Singapore: All about the former WW2 camp. Expat Living Singapore. Retrieved on: February 15, 2015. http://www.expatliving.sg/Living_In_Singapore/settling_in/Guide-to-Sime-Road-Singapore-All-about-the-former-WW2-camp-49230.ece
5. 'White flag came up in the thick of battle'. October 18, 1981. The Straits Times. P8.
6. Missing Amongst the dead. February 17, 2013. All Things Bukit Brown. Retrieved on: February 15, 2015.
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