Singapore Japanese War Heroes
Memorials
Bukit Batok Memorial Site has now become Bukit Batok Nature Park.
Two memorials, one for Japanese soldiers and the other for Allied
soldiers sat on this hill-top site. The former, Syonan Chureito,
was built by 500 Allied Prisoners-of-War (POWs) while the latter
symbolised by a wooden cross, stood behind. Both were demolished
by the Japanese before the British returned (but some said they
were demolished by the Japanese themselves).
Many people got mixed up with the shrine at McRitchie reservoir
and the shrine on Bukit Batok. They have mistaken them both are
built for the deceased Japanese soldiers died during the war. The
fact is that the memorial shrine at Bukit Batok is for the dead
but the Shinto Shrine in McRitchie reservoir is for honoring the 'kami'
- the superior pure spirits (literally means 'above'). To be more
precise, no one is buried at a Shinto Shrine. (Very few people are
"buried" in Japan at all; they are cremated and the ashes placed
in a family memorial structure on the grounds of a Buddhist
temple). Shinto Shrine houses the spirits of kami or deities.
These can range from the spirits of people to the spirits of trees
or penis-shaped rocks.
Now back to the Bukit Batok Memorial Shrine - The Shrine, called
Victory Hill, is long gone but you can still walk up the 121
steps. It was demolished by the British in 1956 and the material
used as hard core for roadways. As the monument was being created,
the Japanese created a hole down the centre. Once completed the
ashes of all those Japanese soldiers who had been cremated were
systematically placed in this centre cavity. Also placed in the
cavity were the remains of many victims of Japanese torture up to
the end of March 1942. Included were a number of nurses and others
who had fulfilled their duties as comfort women.
This is mostly recorded in the Singapore history department.
The photograph was taken in September 1942 on Bukit Batok Hill,
overlooking the Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, very near to the old
Ford Factory. Using British and Australian POW labour the Japanese
built a shrine to their war dead and the POWs were permitted to
erect a 10 foot wooden cross to commemorate their own dead. This
was something of a propaganda exercise with photographs and a
front page report in the Syonan Times - Japanese controlled
Straits Times - of September 11th 1942. Quote: "Memorial erected
to Fallen Enemy Soldiers: Spirit of Bushido reflected in our
Army's gesture."
A reconstructed model image showing how the memorial shrines look
like
Memorial Shrine for
the Japanese soldiers
Memorial Shrine for
the British soldiers
From the Syonan
Times, 15th April 1942
This photograph was taken during
World War II. The caption reads 'Bataille de Singapour (suite)'.
Bataille de Singapour
(suite)
The photograph is from the Singapore
National Archives, and is entitled "Japanese Soldiers & The
British Prisoners-Of-War (POW) Give Last Salute To British
Soldiers Who Had Died In Burma". Photo CD No:
19980005771-8106-3181-7858, Image No: 0012. Accession No. 127858,
dated 15th June 1942.
Those who were asked were fairly certain that the photo is at the
base of Victory hill. The small slopes at Woodland did not have so
much raw vegetation it was mainly cultivated. It is also supposed
that it could have been Bukit Timah hill where the radio mast was
situated.
LETTER ON NOTICE BOARD AT BUKIT
BATOK at the foot of the steps in 1993.
From: S. Hannam,
PO Box 460,
Hermit Park,
Queensland 4812,
Australia.
8 March 1981
To: The City Administrator, Singapore City Council, City of
Singapore.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you in the hope that what I suggest may come to
pass.
Last year I visited Singapore with my family for the first time
since I was a prisoner of war there in 1945. I was a Captain in
the 2/26 Battalion, 8 Division AIF and I worked in working parties
under Japanese control on the golf links, Adam Park, building a
bridge across the arm of the McRitchie Reservoir, Hindhede quarry
at Bukit Timah breaking rocks for a shrine (so we were told),
lived in deserted houses in Fourth Avenue Bukit Timah, lived in
attap barracks at Great World and Happy World, Havelock Road and
River Valley Road on Godown work parties, and while at Fourth
Avenue, together with many Australians POWs, we constructed a road
straight up a hill called Bukit Batok. Some of us cut the top off
this hill while others were widening the roadway lower down,
others built a broad flight of concrete steps from the level
parking area to the now flattened top of the hill where a tall
electric light pole was erected and concreted in. Before erection
a "V" for victory was carved into the pointed top before being
capped. A small shrine was erected by Japanese soldiers in memory
of their dead and a Christian cross was erected behind it in
memory of our dead. We cut up bitumen drums, heated and spread the
bitumen on the road. It was a regular ritual for the crew of any
Japanese naval vessel to ride up in busses to the parking area,
line up at the foot of the concrete steps and on command, march up
the steps in their immaculate white uniforms and on reaching the
top, bow to the shrine, break off and nonchalantly take
photographs.
When Japan finally capitulated the relieving troops arrived with
Lord Louis Mountbatten (we affectionately called him "Louis the
Laggard" because he took so long to come), I had the opportunity
to show one of the relieving officers what we had done and on
visiting Bukit Batok, was surprised to see that the pole had been
chopped down and the shrine burnt. Just who would have done that,
I have no idea.
With all these memories, imagine my surprise to see the road we
built all those years ago now named Lorong Sesuai, and to find a
telecom installation command at the top and an access road cut
through the concrete steps. We walked up the remaining steps, One
hundred and twenty one in number, for memories sake. I could not
help feeling that there was a little piece of history that
probably half the population of Singapore knows nothing about -
not having been born.
With respect I suggest a weatherproof notice board be erected at
the foot of the steps to commemorate this little bit of history
created during the occupation of Singapore 1942 to 1945 and the
work done some its Australian POWs.
I must say, I was greatly heartened when I visited Selarang
Barracks at Changi to find such a notice board commemorating the
infamous "Selarang Square Incident" when seventeen thousand POWs
were forced to vacate their buildings and be exposed for four to
five days on the square without water or sanitation for refusing
to sign "I PROMISE NOT TO ESCAPE" form which the Japanese captors
demanded. To my mind this incident ranks only to the "Black Hole
of Calcutta".
Trusting my suggestion meets with your approval, I would be very
happy to learn that such a board with suitable explanation would
be erected and maintained by the city or other willing
organisation.
I congratulate the city and people responsible for the care and
maintenance of the Kranji War Memorial Cemetery. Such a beautiful
place for all those wasted lives.
A copy of this letter is being sent to the Singapore Tourist
Promotion Board. I remain,
Yours faithfully,
S.HannamON NOTICE
BOARD AT BUKIT BATOK
THE BATTLE FOR SINGAPORE - BUKIT BATOK
After the Japanese victory,
General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Commander in Chief of the Japanese
armed forces, ordered the construction of a memorial to the
Japanese soldiers who died in the battle for Singapore.
Bukit Batok, a four hundred foot high hill opposite Bukit Timah
was chosen as the site for the monument. This was the very area
where the fiercest fighting in Singapore took place resulting in
many deaths for both the Japanese and Allied forces. Nearby is the
Ford Motor Company factory where General Arthur Percival signed
the unconditional surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942.
Five hundred Australian prisoners of war encamped at Sime Road and
Adam Park were marched back and forth each day between the job
site and the camp and worked tirelessly until the job was
completed. A bitumen surfaced road was first built leading up to
the hill, followed by the construction of a parking lot and
concrete steps. Finally the simple but dignified memorial and
Shinto shrine were erected.
The memorial rose from two tiers of earth and cement on which
stood a forty foot high wooden pylon capped with a brass cone. A
plain, stout, wooden fence surrounded the memorial, and a short
distance towards the back a simple cross was erected as a memorial
to the Allied forces soldiers who died during the battle for
Singapore.
The idea of building a monument for the British dead was first
suggested by a Japanese commander, Colonel Yasuji Tamura who
convinced General Yamashita to build the monument for humane
reasons. General Yamashita agreed at a later stage to include the
cross as a monument for the allied soldiers.
The allied soldiers received the monument with a mixed reaction.
On one hand, they were pleased to have a place for the ashes of
their fellow allied soldiers. However the allied soldiers felt
resentment and those working in the area used to drop a matchbox
of white ants at the base of the monument.
Today, nothing remains of the memorial or the shrine except for
these 125 concrete steps and an access road now renamed Lorong
Sesuai. On the site of the monument now stands a television
transmitting mast.
The following units of the Royal Australian Artillery Regiments
were responsible for the construction of the memorial:
Artillery - 2/10 Field Regiment 2/15 Field Regiment 4th Anti Tank
Regiment
Infantry - 2/26 Battalion AASC
Japanese Engineering Company.
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