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A photograph of the executed General
Fukuei Shimbei from the Selarang Camp Repository.
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A view from above of a square crowded with
prisoners-of-war surrounded by the buildings of a military barracks. There is
one building to the left and one to the right, with another building in the
background with trees and vegetation either side of it. Within the square are
thousands of prisoners, some visible at work in the foreground, and a large
number of tents, some with a red cross symbol painted on them.
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The
Selarang Barracks Incident also known as the Barrack Square Incident
or the Selarang Square Squeeze, was an event during the Second World War
started on 30 August 1942. The barracks was sited in Changi, Singapore and were
used by the Japanese to hold 17,000 British and Australian prisoners-of-war
(POWs). After the Japanese recaptured four escaped Allied POWs, the Selarang
Barracks POWs refused to sign a pledge not to escape, and were forced to crowd
in the areas around the barracks square for nearly five days with little water
and no sanitation. The executions of the recaptured POWs failed to break the
men. The commanders however finally capitulated on 5 September when their men
started to fall ill and die from dysentery. Upon signing the pledge, the men
were allowed to return to the barracks buildings.
History
Changi
Built
in 1938, the Selarang Barracks was part of the Changi Garrison, a heavily
fortified coastal defence where most of the British forces were based during
the Battle of Singapore. The Selarang Barracks housed the 2nd Battalion Gordon
Highlanders, a British Army infantry regiment which recruited its soldiers
mainly from North East Scotland. The Royal Engineers and the 9th Coastal
Artillery Regiment of the Royal Artillery were based in nearby Kitchener
Barracks and Roberts Barracks respectively. After the British surrender of
Singapore on 15 February 1942, Allied POWs were ordered by the Japanese to
march to Changi for internment. As the British-built Changi Prison was already
crowded with Allied POWs and civilians, the surrounding barracks including
Selarang Barracks were used by the Japanese as a holding area for Australian
and British POWs.
On
30 August 1942, as a pre-emptive measure, the newly arrived Japanese Commander
General Shimpei Fukuye wanted the wholly British and Australian POWs interned
at Selarang Barracks in Changi to sign a "No Escape Pledge" after the
recapture of four escaped prisoners from Changi Prison earlier. The four
escapees were Australian Corporal Rodney Breavington and Private Victor Gale,
and English soldiers, Private Harold Waters and Private Eric Fletcher. The
pledge reads: "I the undersigned, hereby solemnly swear on my honour that
I will not, under any circumstances, attempt to escape." With three
exceptions, everyone refused to sign, because the prisoners saw it as their
duty to escape if they could. Under the Geneva Convention, POWs had the right
to attempt to escape and they were not supposed to be punished if they were
recaptured. However, at that time, Japan was not a signatory to the Geneva
Convention. General Fukuye was furious at the mass display of insubordination
and the following day he ordered all prisoners, except the three who had agreed
to sign, to congregate at the parade square in Selarang Barracks. What ensued
was to become known as the "Selarang Barracks Incident".
The
Selarang Barracks, originally built to accommodate 800 men, consisted of a
parade ground surrounded on three sides by three-storey buildings. A number of
smaller houses for officers and married couples were spread out in the spacious
grounds. Nearly 17,000 me crammed into a parade ground of about 128 by 210 metres
and in the surrounding areas. An Australian POW, George Aspinall documented the
situation:
The first and most urgent problem we had to face up to was the lack
of toilet facilities. Each barracks building had about four to six toilets,
which were flushed from small cisterns on the roofs. But the Japanese cut the
water off, and these toilets couldn't be used. The Japanese only allowed one
water tap to be used, and people used to line up in the early hours of the
morning and that queue would go on all day. You were allowed one water bottle
of water per man per day, just one quart for your drinking, washing, and
everything else. Not that there was much washing done under the circumstances.
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A display of POW artefacts at the Changi
Chapel and Museum. The picture in the background shows Changi Prison during World
War II
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The
Executions
When
there were no signs of the POWs backing down on the third day, General Fukuye
ordered the Commander of the British and Australian troops in Changi, Lt-Gen E.
B. Holmes, and his deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Galleghan, to attend
the execution of the four recent escapees — Breavington, Gale, Waters and
Fletcher. One of the Australians, Breavington, pleaded to no avail that he was
solely responsible for the escape attempt and should be the only one executed.
Their executions were carried out by the Indian National Army guards with
rifles on 2 September. The initial volley was non-fatal, and the wounded men
had to plead to be finished off.
Despite
the executions, the prisoners remained firm as the days ensued. Without food
and little water available and coupled with latrine pits, kitchens and hospital
beds crowded into an area of about a square kilometre, dysentery broke out
quickly and the sick began to die. Realising that more would die needlessly,
the prisoners’ commanders decided that they and their men would sign the pledge
"under duress". On 4 September, Lt-Gen Holmes issued a written order
to his men:
The requirement by the Imperial Japanese Army, issued under their
Order No.17 dated 31 August '42 that all ranks of the POW Camp Changi, should
be given the opportuntiy to sign a certificate of promise not to escape, has
now been amended in a revised Imperial Japanese Army Order No.17 dated 2
September '42 to a definite order that all officers, NCOs, and Men of the POW
Camp shall sign this undertaking.
I therefore now order that these certificates will be signed by all
ranks, and handed by Area Commanders to Command Headquarters by 1100 hrs on 5
September '42. The circumstances in which I have been compelled to issue this
order will be made the subject of Selarang Special Order No. 3 which will be
issued later.
As
the Japanese weren't familiar with British names, the POWs signed using false
or meaningless names. One of the most common signatures among the Australians
was Ned Kelly, a famous Australian folk hero. After the signing was completed,
the Japanese allowed the prisoners back to their former areas on 5 September,
thus ending the incident.
During
the Singapore War Crimes Trial in 1946, General Fukuye was sentenced to death
and executed by firing squad at the spot where the four POWs had been shot
three years earlier. The four shot POWs were later honoured and buried at the Kranji
War Memorial after the war.
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The main entrance leading to the Changi
Chapel and Museum at Upper Changi Road North, Singapore. In the background lies
the replica of the Changi Chapel
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Selarang
Barracks today
After
the war, the Selarang Barracks became the home for most of the Australian Army
units of ANZUK, a tripartite force formed by Australia, New Zealand and the
United Kingdom to defend the Asia-Pacific region, until its disbandment in
1974. Today, Selarang Barracks is the headquarters for the 9th Division of the Singapore
Armed Forces (SAF), and access to the camp is restricted.
Remembrance
In
order to honour the deeds and inspirational stories that unfolded in Changi
during the war, the Changi Chapel and Museum was built in 1988 as a dedication
to all those who lived and died in Singapore during the years of World War II.
It also serves as an important educational institution and resource centre with
documentation of significant events of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore.
The Selarang Barracks Incident, Double Tenth Incident and other
similar stories that were mentioned by the survivors of Changi Prison are
retold on the storyboard displays for posterity. There are also showcases
containing tools, materials and personal belongings of POWs and other artefacts
related or used during World War II. The items displayed in the showcases were
donated from organizations, POWs and their families, as well as other visitors.
On
19 April 1996, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his wife,
Nicky, made a personal pilgrimage to Changi Prison, to see the cell his father
was kept in as a prisoner-of-war during World War II. His father, Sir Alexander
Downer, was interned in Selarang Barracks from 1942 to 1943 and then in Changi
Prison from 1943 to 1944. Downer also visited the Changi Memorial Chapel, where
Sir Alexander had worshipped during his internment, the Selarang Barracks, and
the camp parade square, where 17,000 Allied POWs were ordered to assemble in
1942.
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