The fall of Singapore

The Advocate in October 1945 recorded the homecoming of several Forbes men who were prisoners of the Japanese from the fall of Singapore.

They were Cpl  AG Wright, Lieut Ralph Sanderson and Pte Lax Sparkes. 

For a description of those times, we share the memoirs of long-time Forbes resident the late Don Tweedie, now published in Don Tweedie Fighting Bandsman’s Last Stand by his son Terry. Some of these memories were published in the Advocate in 2002.

Pvt DK Tweedie was with the 2/20th battalion, 8^th Division, that had, with all other British Empire forces, withdrawn to Singapore island before the advancing Japanese in February 1942. 

“After trying to locate our unit, or what remained of it, we were assembled and taken to Holland Hill just outside the Tanglin Botanical Gardens to make our final stand against the Japanese,” Mr Tweedie wrote later in life.

“We took up our positions on the lawns of a stately home overlooking a small valley …

“Saturday, 14 February, we saw a contingent of Japanese riding bicycles up the road leading past our position. Our chaps opened fire on them, and shortly afterwards just on dusk, they opened up a barrage of mortar fire on our position ...

“The first salvo landed on the tennis court, and the next one across the road. The third one landed a shell just above our heads on a balcony and five of us were hit.

“… I received wounds by shrapnel in the head, thigh, left arm and above the right eye. The concussion left me dazed and bewildered, as a long piece of shrapnel was embedded in my thigh and another piece had penetrated partially through my steel helmet and my head and thigh had no feeling now.”

Pvt Tweedie describes the shells as “falling like hail” as he and a wounded mate found their way towards the ambulance and stretcher bearers ran towards them. 

He was taken to St Andrews Cathedral in Singapore City, then to Cathay Theatre Hospital for surgery.

On Sunday, February 15 the Cathay Theatre Hospital was shelled by the Japanese and 60 Australians in the ward above Mr Tweedie were killed. 

By 8pm that night, the survivors were prisoners of war. 

“The silence, after a full week of action, seemed unreal, and our spirits and feeling at rock bottom knowing all we had endured and experienced was all for nothing,” Pvte Tweedie wrote. 

Pvte Tweedie was in the A Force, taken to Burma and “the railway of death”. 

“The work consisted of removing earth in the cutting by pick, shovel, and running almost at the double to empty the crates and baskets,” he wrote.

“Our work also was to carry out clearing of the dense undergrowth and large trees in very steep country on a gradient around the hills ...

“As time went on, we were subjected to inhumane work periods from 9am to 4am the following morning. After a period of very hard work, little food and disease in the form of dysentry, malnutrition and beriberi, men started to become very ill and the deaths started to mount day by day. The heat was also very extreme …

“As the railway progressed, the conditions got harder, and disease increased to a state where men were being buried in large numbers daily. To some, death was a welcome haven from this living hell.”

Pvte Tweedie became horribly ill but did survive – he was returned to Thailand and eventually to Japan as a prisoner of war.

Mr Tweedie’s book tells of the suffering of prisoners throughout the war - to its end with the bombing of Nagasaki. The story of their welcome home and his life after the war is all in his son’s book.

Editor’s note – You can purchase a copy of Mr Tweedie’s book at News on Rankin or through Amazon as an ebook. 

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Dan Tehan said on the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore, Australians would pause and reflect on the lives lost and more than 15,000 Australian soldiers who were taken prisoner.

A public National Service will be held at the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat, Victoria and will be attended by the Governor-General, His Excellency, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) and Her Excellency Lady Cosgrove, His Excellency Mr Fook Seng Kwok, High Commissioner for Singapore, and Mrs Pearl Kwok, Mr Tehan, Shadow Veterans’ Affairs Minister Amanda Rishworth as well as veterans of World War II and former prisoners of war.

A service to unveil the Garden of the Grieving Mother, a new memorial dedicated to the families of servicemen and women who have lost their lives in war will take place at the Arch of Victory in Sturt Street, Ballarat hosted by the Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee.

The Malayan Campaign, which ended with the Fall of Singapore, lasted from 8 December 1941 to 15 February 1942. On 15 February 1942, Allied forces on Singapore laid down their arms. Some 1,800 Australians lost their lives or were listed as missing in action in the fighting for Malaya and Singapore, more than 1,300 were wounded and more than 15,000 became prisoners of war.

Those who surrendered on Singapore were held captive, firstly at Changi and, as the war continued, in locations across South East and East Asia, including Japan.

Mr Tehan said he was very pleased that a group of Australian veterans of the Fall of Singapore had been able to travel to Ballarat to join the National commemorations, organised by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in association with the Trustees of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial.

"Today we remember and commemorate the courage and sacrifice of Australians during the Second World War, and we take this opportunity, on the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore, to reflect on that time in our history and to thank our veterans for their service," Mr Tehan said.

"It is vital we continue to honour the memory of those who served and to use these occasions to reflect on our experience of war, the values our service men and women fight to protect and the cost we pay for doing so.

"The Garden of the Grieving Mother will be an important memorial because it recognises and honours that loss felt by the family and friends when they lose a loved one in defence of our nation."