Malaya What If

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Thursday 14 November;

The BOAC Short Empire flying boat banked, straighten up and began her landing onto the waters at the mouth of the Kallang River, Singapore. A small launch was waiting to guide her to her moorings, where she was quickly secured. On board was Lord Gort, the commander of the newly formed Far East Command, and his two new commanders for Malaya Command and RAF Far East. For all three their appointments brought mixed feelings.

For Gort, ever since he had landed back in England from Dunkirk, he’d felt he’d been made a scapegoat. Churchill hated him, of that he was certain, and this was his fate, exiled to the other side of the world, into some useless command that would only gain notice for the wrong reasons, which was if Japan attacked, and he’d again be left holding the baby. When he first got the invite to meet Dill, he’d expected it wouldn’t be good news but he’d never thought they would send him off to such a backwater. Dill had been decent about it all though, patiently explaining to him the importance of the command, pointing out Gort’s qualities in being able to get on with people, calling him the saviour of the BEF, and if a difficult decision had to be taken, he had the balls to call it. He’d had the good grace to thank Dill, and accepted the position, but at the same time had told him, he expected Dill’s support in changing things there, which Dill had assured him he would get.

For Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, there was still anger at the way he’d been treated, the dirty politics that had seen him removed, mostly at the hands of back stabbing William Sholto Douglas and that obnoxious side kick of his Trafford Leigh-Mallory who would give up his own mother for advancement. When Portal had called him up to his office, he knew something was in the air. Portal had been blunt and straight to the point, the Battle of Britain was over, and it was time to start thinking of going over to the offensive. A new man, with new ideas was what was wanted, they’d seen the future already, the big wing, Park hadn’t really listened to any more, that was it, Leigh Mallory had his job. Portal had then gone on to talk about a new role for him, RAF Far East, his new command, if he chose to accept it, which had few men and fewer aircraft. He’d accepted, said he would be delighted, wasn’t sure if Portal got the sarcasm, the Command was a mess, and it was a banishment! The only good thing was he would be well away from them and their intrigues, but he’d found it hard saying goodbye to Dowding, who, they both now knew, could only have a few weeks left in his own job.

For newly promoted Lt Gen (Acting) Arthur Percival, on reflection, it was a mixed blessing. He had so wanted an active command and had been pleased to be given command of the 44th Infantry Division in July, but on meeting his mentor Dill, he’d been offered this post, Dill telling him he didn’t think there was anyone better suited to the role, and he was confident Percival would make a good show of it all. Percival felt he couldn’t do anything but accept, the promotion to Lieutenant General was exhilarating, as was the responsibility he’d been given. But later, as he appreciated how poor Malaya Command was, came the apprehension. This was more than just a division needing training, this was a Command that needed building from the bottom up

The time travelling in the plane on the long flight legs, and the overnight stop overs, together had been helpful in building a bond between them all. Percival had met Gort a number of times when serving as Dill’s I Corps BGS in France and impressed him, with his knowledge of detail, something Gort loved. Now in discussion he found him courteous, and more importantly despite his unassuming appearance, he was clearly efficient and well organised, and showed a great knowledge of Malaya. And surprisingly enthusiastic, which certainly helped with Gort’s spirits.

All three of them had been at the Somme, and it somehow added to the bond, members of an exclusive club, survivors who were stronger for it. And when Park found out Gort held a Pilot’s Licence, their relationship changed into a friendship, as they spent many hours discussing the joys of flying.

The big fuselage door swung open, and a small ladder fixed, the launch waiting below. Quickly they found themselves quayside, where Admiral Layton was waiting to greet them all. He’d already arranged cars and hotel rooms, and an easy itinerary, including dinner tomorrow night and a round of golf Saturday morning for the four of them. An easy start but all three would want to be in their offices first thing on Monday morning, getting to know their new commands.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Friday 15 November;

They stood there in the slight rain, at attention for inspection, in front of their aircraft, the newly formed Genzan Air Group. They were the third land-based unit the Imperial Japanese Navy had formed with the long-range bomber/torpedo Mitsubishi G3M Nell Type 96 aircraft. The group was organised into four Hikotai or squadrons of nine planes with an immediate reserve of three aircraft each, giving a group total of 48 aircraft. The Admiral and his entourage were being slowly driven past them all, officers with drawn swords saluting as he passed.

The newly built G3M2’s on show were all Model 22’s, which had been in service for nearly two years now, upgraded from the original design with two Mitsubishi Kinsei radial engines, giving 1,075 horse power each. This delivered a top speed of 230 mph, while cruising at 174 mph it had a service range of 2700 miles, and a ceiling of 30,000 feet. This performance was aided by the fact that the plane’s weight was kept as light as possible, consequently no defensive armour was carried, or self-sealing fuel tanks. Designed to carry a single 18-inch Type 91 aerial torpedo, it was provided with 7.7mm machine guns and a 20mm cannon in its tail as defensive armament.

The airfield, located at Genzan (Wonsan, North Korea), a port city and naval base off the Sea of Japan, had seen a steady flow of men and aircraft, some transfers from the Kanoya and Mihoro air groups, and many others newly trained. They weren’t up to full complement at the moment, but did have two dozen A5M4 Claude fighters attached, as rumour had it, they would be moving to Hankou in China, for operations, and the Claude’s would be their integral fighter escort.

The unit had been formed, same as the previous two, due in no small part to the influence of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who had worked hard with the Naval Commission to encourage Mitsubishi to develop the G3M. Her long range, heavy payload and high speed, was directly due to the theories of how to counter the heavily armoured US battleships. She gave up protection and defensive armoury, although the Claude was to be considered part of her defensive equation.

They fitted into the Japanese naval strategy of how to counter the larger US Navy’s fleet, joining submarines and light surface forces in applying a gradual attrition of the US Fleet, as it sailed across the Pacific towards Japan, where on arrival the Japanese main battle fleet would engage in the Kanati Kessen, the decisive battle.

With the Admiral’s car and accompanying entourage gone, the aircrew were quickly off to their quarters, to change and prepare for the forthcoming ceremonial dinner, to honour the creation of the group, and later to get gloriously drunk on sake. For the groundcrews, it was time to pull the aircraft out of their long lines of inspection, and back to their hard stands, or into hangers for routine maintenance, their job made harder by the fact their numbers included a lot of newly trained mechanics, fleshing out the cadre, and the fact the drizzle had turned to rain.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Monday 18 November;

The 5th Auxiliary Battalion, Indian Pioneer Corps had settled down under canvas in the quarters of the recently expanded Batu Caves cantonment. The 4 labour companies were all newly raised and lacking in even basic military skills. Since arriving in Singapore only seven days ago, it had been hectic for the battalion, officers and men disembarking from the ship, two nights in temporary accommodation before being brought up to Kuala Lumpur by train, and then finding nothing readied for them on their arrival.

CRE Malaya Command, Brigadier JAC Pennycuick was painfully aware of the lack of training and skills held by the young Engineers and Pioneers coming into the Command and had gained agreement for the building of a training facility to help improve their development. The only problem was he’d have to build it himself.

A small number of Indian Engineers had been waiting, and now today was the first day the battalion would begin working under their direction. Two companies were quickly detailed to begin the hard labour of providing the basic groundwork of the greatly expanding Army Engineers camp, preparing roads and paths, many building foundations for the various buildings and accommodation blocks required for the training school, a new barracks, as well as store houses and workshops, and perimeter fencing. A third company was employed on providing new railway sidings, while the last was going to be daily marched up to the Batu Caves, where they would begin preparing some of the caves to be used as munition dumps for the RAOC. All companies were learning on the job, and progress would initially be slow.

Some basic training in woodworking, bricklaying and general construction would be given, and as they learnt, those who displayed a good aptitude to learning engineering skills were being marked down for transfer to one of the Indian Engineer Companies in Malaya, who had a great need for new recruits. But for the Auxiliary Pioneers, other than formal discipline, marching and basic parade ground work, no other military training would be given, these were to be non-combatants.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Wednesday 20 November;

He sat in the back of the car, looking out at Government House, a white majestic stately building with large colonnades, as they turned into its drive, his home for the foreseeable future. His terms of office were unlike the previous Governor, being empowered to bring about some changes in how the country was governed. Some of it could be done under the guise of ‘emergencies of war’ but a lot would be about persuasion, deals and agreements, new posts to be created, civil servants to be moved on. There was a rising sense of excitement within him, a keenest to get started.

He was coming from City Hall, where he’d been sworn in as Governor of the Straits Settlements, and had the first of what no doubt what would be a series of banquets, where he would be introduced to local dignitaries. Some were new to him, but some he remembered, all keen to make a good impression on him, and some serious toadying, some of it from people who didn’t have the time of day for him when he was last here. Who would have thought Andrew Caldecott would have been coming back as Governor? He gave a small smile to that thought, everyone would start with a clean slate, but some he remembered from before and he would be watching them with a close eye, and would enjoy making them work hard for any favours.

He also though of his wife Olive and his children, son John and daughter Joan. Olive would have enjoyed tonight; she’d known so many people when they were last here. They would be coming over in a couple of months’ time, there were still a few things to be sorted. Joan was very taken with his former Private Secretary, John O’Regan, and he’d been waiting for O’Regan to find the balls to ask for her hand in marriage, this move to Singapore might well prompt that. Son John was well into his studies, and also might not come, but he thought that less likely. But he missed Olive the most and would be immeasurably happier when she arrived.

He thought of what’s to come, Kuala Lumpur, to be sworn in as High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States, then a tour of all the states both the four Federated and five Unfederated. No doubt he’d meet all the Sultans in Kuala Lumpur, but if he was going to get them all working with him, he needed to be seen to be paying them respect, and a visit to each, with no doubt the formal banquets and all the pomp and ceremony for the occasion, would be a good start along that road.

He’d also briefly met the Military leaders, and had taken an immediate liking to Layton, who’d invited him round to dinner at their house to meet his wife Saturday evening. Lord Gort he’d heard about, well hadn’t everybody, was a lot more standoffish, reserved, but no doubt he’d get to know the man in due course. The others, Percival and Park had been merely introductions, although Percival didn’t look to him as a particularly impressive fellow. Well, it had been his first full day here, the arrival yesterday afternoon by Catalina flying boat had left him tired, and today had been a whirlwind, he’d have a last brandy before retiring to bed, and look forward to a first day in his new office tomorrow.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Friday 22 November;

“Mr Mamoru Shinozaki, having found you guilty of the afore mentioned charges, I hereby sentence you to three years rigorous imprisonment, and a fine of $1,000, or an extra six months’ simple imprisonment, officers, take him away!” Judge Mr Justice Pedlow struck a single blow of his gavel, and the two Sikh police officers flanking Shinozaki, took an arm each, and led him through the court door, and back down into the cell block, to await transport to Changi Prison.

Shinozaki had stood throughout the trial, maintaining an impassive face, trying to generate an aura of dignified respectability, while his defence lawyer, Mr Walters did his best to diminish the seriousness of two of the charges, and had successfully argued the third away, portraying Shinozaki merely as a Japanese journalist, who like to hold a party or two at his home in Wareham Rd, and you couldn’t help but to be in knowledge of something about Singapore’s defences given how numerous they were. Mr Griffith-Jones, the Deputy Public Prosecutor had cleverly countered with “A spy is no less a spy because he is a bad one, and a spy is no less a spy because the information he collects is inaccurate”. And the testimony from the gunner, Frank Gardner RA, who had seen the light, so to speak, and was singing like a canary, no doubt in hope of lessening his own sentence, when he would stand trial, was damming.

Shinozaki had resigned himself to the fact he’d been caught due to the pressure to provide more and more information on the British defences, which had caused him to take risks. Nevertheless, he’d expected to be sentenced and the repatriated back home, not sent to prison. It was just his luck the Britain felt a need to retaliate following the Japanese arrests and treatment of a number of British businessmen in Japan, including the suspicious suicide of Melville Cox, a British Reuters correspondent in Tokyo, following an interrogation, and the imprisonment of others like Ringer and Peters. The three-year sentence hit him hard, he could only hope a deal might be made once pubic interest had quietened.

It had emerged from the trial, that Special Branch had been watching him since July, or more possibly, his home, as well as his contact, Gardner, but they hadn’t effectively monitored all his activities, as he’d spent quite a bit of early September taking a couple of Japanese Army General Staff officers, Lt Col Tankikawa and Capt Kunitake to various locations, not just on Singapore Island but also to Kota Tinggi and Mersing in Johore, as well as Malacca, to study British defensive capability. He thanked his lucky stars Special Branch hadn’t found that out, as the three years would have been considerably more.

What Shinozaki wouldn’t know was the fallout of all this. On the British side, the discomfort of discovering how much Shinozaki knew, along with Japan’s increasing aggressive attitude towards Britain, highlighted their need for a large increase in resources for Special Branch, along with a harder approach to dealing with the Japanese diplomatically.

While for Japan, the discovery of major expansion works relating to the defence of Singapore and Malaya, created a voracious appetite for more information. The current Consular General, Toyoda Kaoru, would soon be replaced by a far more capable espionage operator, Tsurumi Ken, and the work on intelligence gathering would continue at a pace.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Sunday 24 November;

The machine gun team was redeploying, moving to an already scouted alternative position, 100 yards up the inclining path. They had another thirty yards to go, first came the lance corporal, the insignia of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force on the side of his pith helmet, denoting they were part time soldiers. He was carrying the condenser and flexible tube, a band of ammo around his neck, 10 yards back came the gun itself, carried on the shoulder, the gunner, panting as he stumbled along the rough path, closely followed by the third member, with an ammo box in each hand, a big heavy pack on his back, the gritted teeth and bulging veins in the neck below his red face indicating the physical exertion he was under. And lastly further 10 yards back came the tripod, the short portly soldier’s shirt darkened with sweat, struggling to keep up with the others.

The lance corporal was the first to notice the officers watching them, the red cap band and collars causing his eyes to widen. He paused and looked back at his team, and called “come on lads, nearly there, Frobisher old boy, don’t dawdle at the back there”. The others all lifted their heads and noticed the officers. It brought a reaction of redoubled efforts, both the gun and ammo box carriers picking up the pace, but at the back, Frobisher, looking up, caught his boot on a root and over he went, the tripod flying off to his right into some dense bush, his pith helmet rolling forward along the path, his landing marked by a loud cry of obscenities.

The lance corporal hesitated for a moment, indecision etched on his face, “carry on you two”, as they stumbled past him, and placing the condenser on the floor, the ammo belt coiled on top of it, he trotted down the path to Frobisher. Frobisher was picking himself up, a bloody and dirt knee, looking around for the tripod. The lance corporal reached him and they lowered their conversation, muttering to each other, with only a few words to be heard by the officers. Both were trampling through the undergrowth, looking for the tripod, Frobisher limping, complaining he’d sprained his ankle. Another oath, as the lance corporal found the tripod, kicking it with his toe, before pulling it clear onto the path.

At this point Maj Gen Frank Simmons, commander of the Singapore Fortress, felt it was opportune to suggest to Lord Gort that they could continue observing the exercise, from the roadside, back up the small path they had descended, and with Gort’s agreement, led the way. Just as the party of officers reached the road, a ford 3-ton lorry came down the road, the driver controlling his speed by using his gears. It pulled up at a gravel layby 50 yards down the road, and an NCO climbed out of the cab, ran to the back and called to the men in the back to dismount. The back board dropped down and half a dozen SSFV soldiers began to dismount. Gort stood still and watched as the NCO, helped each man out, as they carefully climbed down, passing their rifles to him in turn, being helped out, before taking back their rifle, and waiting for the others to dismount. Gort shook his head in wonder.

Time passed and so the weekend exercise ended, and with early evening came a last parade back at Telok Paku, Changi Camp. Gort had requested to inspect the 1200 odd men of the Singapore SSVF battalions before they stood down and returned to their civilian occupations. They were formed up in companies, in parade dress, some having returned from exercise a couple of hours ago, but some had literally just come from the field, and still had dirty faces. They were tired and hungry but proud of their regiment and pleased to be honoured by an inspection from the newly arrived commander in chief. They had heard about Gort, Dunkirk and all that, but were keen to see what he looked like. And what they saw, they liked, he looked the part, a bit portly, but his bearing and manner carried it off.

Gort sauntered down the lines, with lots of nods, occasionally a “very good” remark, and now and then a quick chat with a soldier that caught his eye. It was the red face of the ammo carrying member of the machine gun party that first caught his eye, and he then quickly recognised the other three, all stood together in the line. He spoke to red face, a tall big set man, “name”, Collins Sir, came back with a soft Irish brogue, Gort nodded back, noticing the grey in his hair, and spider veins on his cheeks. He then spoke to the man next to him, a shorter man, the tunic buttons struggling not to pop open. “Hello Frobisher, how’s the foot?” Frobisher stuttered back an answer, he was fine, Lord Gort, Sir. Gort looked down at the mudded strapping around the ankle, a dressing strapped around his knee, clearly, he had struggled on. Turning to the next man in line he found the gunner, a young thin gangly teenager who anticipating the question, barked quite loudly “Nethercott, Lord Gort Sir” and nervously stood rigidly to attention.

Finally, there was the lance corporal, who on Gort’s nod said “Ridley, Lord Gort Sir” Gort looked at the man, a neatly clipped salt and pepper moustache, wrinkles around the eyes. “What service Ridley” Ridley kept his eyes forward, and spoke in a clear Yorkshire accent, with an air of almost resignation, that part of his private life was to be discussed. “The great war, Lord Gort, signed up with the Sheffield Pals, 10th September 1914, with my three younger brothers. Was offered a commission but joined as a private, promised my mother I’d look after my brothers. We lost George at the Somme and at the same time William lost an arm and a leg. Mother wrote to me telling me he hung himself about a couple of months after being discharged from the army hospital. Thomas went at Arras, in 17, a shell, never found his body, the neighbours told me mum died of a broken heart, after reading my letter. Thomas was always her favourite, the youngest, he was going to be a musician, it was lovely to hear him play on the piano. I was a sergeant then, but with no one left, I took a commission, and finished as a captain. After the war, there really wasn’t anything to go back to so I came out here. Been here ever since”.

Gort looked at the military medal ribbon on his chest, “thank you Ridley, I’m sorry to hear of your losses, what’s your first name?” Francis, Lord Gort, but everyone calls me Frank”, “Thank you Frank, and what do you all do in civilian life?”. “I’m a civil engineer, with John Aird & Sons, Collins works for an import/export trader, deals in rice, speaks Chinese and Thai fluently, rose from the ranks and finished the last war as a sergeant major in the Connaught Rangers, Frobisher is an agent for a Dutch shipping line, married to a Dutch girl, Nethercott has just got a job with a Chinese Insurance company, came out here just over 10 years with his family, when he was 7, speaks Chinese like a Chinaman. I know we’re unfit, poorly trained, and many of us are past our prime Sir, but we do want to do our bit”. Gort looked him in the eye, and liked what he saw, “I understand Frank, thank you for that” and moved on down the line.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Thursday 28 November;

Lord Gort turned to his adjutant, who was the minute taker and said, “Please note that John”. He looked around the big oblong table at the others seated there, the two Dutch observers, with another three behind, the various Dominion delegates, the two Australians, with again another three seated behind them, the New Zealander, another two behind him, the two Canadians, a couple of South Africans, the three from India, Layton, Percival, Park, again with others behind them all. And lastly the two Americans, also sitting purely as observers.

“I declare this conference closed, I’ll remind you all that these meetings have been held in the strictness confidence, and remember careless talk costs lives. I thank you for your participation, and I wish you all a Bon Voyage. The Governor is holding a dinner tonight and you are all cordially invited to attend, thank you Gentlemen.”

Gort sat back, satisfied that it was over, and all that could be done had been. They had started on Tuesday, and the three days had been full on, with some frank discourse, especially from the Australians, and painful though it sometimes was, it had helped focused everyone on what was needed. If Malaya was to be the shield that protected them all from the Japanese threat, then it needed serious reinforcing. And not just in troops, equipment levels were poor, and many of the sundry materials required were in short supply.

The conference had originally been planned with the Americans fully attending, but despite Roosevelt’s re-election, the Americans were very wary of making any commitment, and so had only attended as observers. That meant the Dutch, who were extremely nervous about a lack of public commitment to their security, would only attend as observers as well, holding back, awaiting a commitment to safeguard their security from Britain and the USA.

But Churchill and the COS had been good on their word, and the Dominions attended, and were wanting to help where they could. Britain’s Far East strategy was one of letting the Americans take the lead with Japan, but it had become increasingly clear not to expect them to come and defend Singapore. Therefore, they had to build a defence themselves. In the conference commitments had been made, promises given and decisions agreed.

Australia agreed to provide one brigade of the 8th Australian Division, until the air forces had been built up to a level sufficient for its redeployment. This also included all the associated units. She agreed to raise four Article XV RAAF Sqns and additional air and ground crews, along with deploying two of her own RAAF Sqns. She would re-equip the two Vildebeest Sqns with newly build Bristol Beaufort’s, once the factory had started production. The RAN would provide some escorts for convoying.

New Zealand promised to raise two Article XV RNZAF Sqns, additional air and ground crews, and provide an Airfield Construction company minus earth moving equipment. It would also provide pilots for the FAA Training Wing being formed in Singapore.

Canada would provide four Article XV RCAF Sqns and additional air and ground crews, an Airfield Construction company and enough earth moving equipment for it and the NZ unit. Additional trained operators and technicians for the Radar Network would be sent. She would also send small arms and associated munitions, assorted railway equipment and parts, steelwork and cement, and a lot of motor transport, all convoyed by the RCN, where required.

South Africa would be providing their Marmon Herrington armoured cars, 3-inch mortars and mortar bombs, a lot of .303 rounds, and would take any trainee pilots into the Joint Air Training Scheme (JATS) that Singapore care to send them. She would also send newly manufactured small military items, steelwork and supplies.

India would provide additional troops from her vastly expanding army, but these would take time to train. Ultimately, it was planned that she would provide the entire garrison for Malaya, with British Army units attached. Also, she would send munitions, supplies and stores for the Army, some small arms and foodstuffs. The RIN would be able to provide some escorts for convoying.

While the Dutch, with some agreements for arms supplies made, would exchange liaison officers, agreed to the mutual use of military airfields, with refuelling and rearming arrangements and information exchanges, including Naval ship deployments.

Help was coming, initially just a trickle, but in time that could turn to a steady stream.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Monday 02 December;

Colonel Francis Reginald Grimwood sat at the table, his note book in front of him and reflected on all that had happened in the council meeting. He’d been called in to see Lord Gort on Friday, sworn to secrecy, and was told was to attend the meeting of Malaya’s War Council on Monday, where it would be proposed that he take over the role of Secretary, replacing Charles Archibald Vlieland.

The new chair, Governor Caldecott, had begun the meeting, expressing his concerns over how the War Council was configured and operated. He began quietly explaining the problems of the makeup of the Council. He proposed (pretty much ordered) changes to its constitution, suggesting an Executive War Council, made of himself as chair, Lord Gort, Admiral Layton, Lt General Percival and Air Vice Marshal Park and below that, a General War Council, with the above but with many others attending, covering a variety of roles.

He said he needed to reorganise some services, an example was that all the Straits Settlements, FMS and UMS Civilian Police would report to a newly created Chief Inspector General of Police, which would be the former Singapore Inspector General, Arthur Dickinson. Another was the creation of a Director General of Posts and Telegraphs, currently all telephone and telegraph systems were owned by the various states, he needed someone to at first co-ordinate, but hopefully control the different networks, ensuring commonality, and cooperation between the different depts. He’d given that job to Archibald Wilson, an administrator he knew from his previous time here in Singapore, and a man he trusted.

The Council was to meet every Monday, here at Government House, the Executive Council at 9am, and the General War Council from 10am to 12.30pm. From that there were to be sub committees formed as required, reporting back to the Executive and Council.

He then moved onto the role of the Secretary of War Council, and turned, pointedly looking directly at Charles Vlieland. He was disparaging of the fact that previously there were no agenda’s, records of discussion, no minutes of decisions taken. He thought the way the Council had acted had been amateurish, had previously been an inconvenience to their protected normal life, and it wasn’t even capable of organising a drink in a bar!

Well, he intended to start again, with a clean broom. Consequently, there would be a new secretary …. Old starchy Archie’s face had been a wonderment of disbelief, and public humiliation, while a few of the others had looked very sheepish. Caldecott had presented to them a new constitution, which he then read out, listing who had right to attend what, with dates and venues, roles and responsibilities, requirements and expectations. It was detailed, hard hitting, no nonsense. Caldecott paused from talking, and slowly looked around the room, at each face, almost daring anyone to object. Silence, while they waited for him, OK he said, I move the motion, is there a seconder, yes said Gort, any opposition, another silence, good then, that’s carried.

Now he went on to explain how he had taken the liberty of expecting the changes and had written individual letters to each of them, asking for them to make themselves aware of their roles and responsibilities, and to be prepared for questions at the following meeting, next Monday. He then turned and asked Grimwood, who had been sitting behind him, to step forward, and he introduced him as the new secretary, telling them Grimwood’s contact details were in their letters, and they should correspond through him. And with that he closed the meeting.

Yes, Francis Grimwood thought, a lot of changes, and clearly a lot more to come. The request to take up the role of secretary had come as a complete surprise, worry even, it had been suggested he was going to command the Strait Settlements Volunteer Force, which, at 49, was clearly an ending to his career. He’d not said anything to anyone, that wasn’t his way, but he had written that in his diary, resigned to the fates of life. But now, after this morning, it looked like fate had chosen a different path for him, a very busy one, with a ringside seat on history in the making.

The War Council
Made up of the Executive Committee and General Council

Executive War Council
Chair – Sir Andrew Caldecott
CinC Far East – Lord Gort
CinC China Station – Vice Adm Geoffrey Layton, later Sir Tom Phillips
GOC Malaya Command – Lt Gen Arthur Percival
AOC Far East Air Force – Air Vice Mar Keith Park
Secretary of War Council – Col Francis Grimwood

General War Council
Propaganda and Press Control – Sir George Sansom
Australian Government – Vivian Bowden
Australian Army – Maj Gen Gordon Bennett, later Maj Gen Sydney Rowell
Colonial Secretary – Stanley Jones, (later Hugh Fraser)
Chief Justice - Sir Harry Herbert Trusted
Chief Inspector General of Police – Arthur Dickinson
FMSR General manager - Leslie M Smart
Harbours – GM Singapore Harbour Board, Henry Knight Rodgers
Food Controller - Norman Rowlstone Jarrett
Public Works Department, Director – Reginald Lewis Nunn
Director General of Posts & Telegraphs, Malaya – Archibald Wilson

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Thursday 05 December;

The oil tanker, British Governor eased into the Johore Straits, the boon gates opened, welcoming her arrival, with 10,000 tons of Bunker Fuel Oil for the Royal Navy’s oil storage farm at the Senoko Fuel Depot, within the Naval Base perimeter. The tanker was one of nearly 150 owned or managed by the British Tanker Company, whose entire fleet had been chartered by the British Government to transport fuel for its armed forces, including bunker fuel to all their strategic ports around the world. These ships were slow, 10kts a typical speed, and had no fleet refuelling facilities, that was the domain of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, and they plied a continuous path of oil refinery to storage tanks and back, carrying either crude or refined oils as required.

Singapore was having her strategic fuel storage increased, the tanker British Resolution having visited a few days ago, while both British Justice and British Grenadier were due in the next few weeks. The Naval Fuel Dumps at Normanton, just west of the British Alexandria Military Hospital, at Kranji, southwest of the Causeway, and Senoko, within the Naval Base, could hold over 800,000 tons of bunkerage fuel oil between them, enough to service the Fleet, if it ever came, indeed it was planned to have storage for 1,250,000 tons of oil but these plans weren’t expected to be completed until 1943. The oil farms were all interconnected by underground pipes and pumps, as well as several refuelling jetties, allowing the quick and efficient transfer of oil around the island.

Near Woodlands, was a jetty, connected to the underground oil pipe network, with the big old RFA tanker Ruthenia, no longer capable of any sea voyage, at its life’s end, to be used as a pumping station for refuelling Royal Navy ships, although increasingly they were refuelled by the port tanker, RFA War Sirdar, or a lighter.

Both the Army and RAF also had significant storage of petrol and aviation in their own fuel depots on the island, although nowhere near the capacity of the Navy. For civilian use there was another fuel deport at Woodlands, which sat between the Naval Base, to the east, and the causeway, to the west, with a further depot behind the wharfs of Keppel harbour.

And in addition to all this, there were the enormous oil farms on the islands laying off the southern coast of Singapore. Four miles west of Keppel harbour, on Pulau Bukum island, the Asiatic Petroleum Company had built 49 oil tanks to hold either crude oil or refined products, from the oil fields in Borneo and Sumatra, to be distributed onwards. They also had five wharfs to refuel ships. Close by, on Pulau Sebarok island, the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company also had an oil farm, and a long concrete jetty for bunkerage, while Anglo-Saxon Petroleum had three tankers, SS Pleioden, SS Solen and SS Spirila moored off Pulau Blakang Mati, in use as storage fuel hulks. Nine miles southeast of Keppel Harbour, on the Dutch island of Pulau Sambu, the Royal Dutch Shell company had their storage tanks, again also offering bunkering facilities.

So, it wasn’t just Japan that had a thirst, a need for oil, and Singapore was the distribution centre for the British in the Far East, serving Australia & New Zealand, Singapore & Malaya, Thailand, China & Japan, Ceylon & Eastern India. If the oil fields of Sumatra and Borneo were lost, the British would have to look for Abadan, at the end of the Persian Gulf, for alternative supplies. But much of her output was for the British forces fighting in North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, there wouldn’t be enough for all, alternative supplies from the Caribbean or the USA would be required.

And while we mention the good old USA, they also had something of a problem. Oil, they had plenty of it, and all its refined products, but the oil farms at Hawaii were critical to the US Pacific Fleet, holding 4.5 million barrels of oil, there was nowhere else, other that the western coast of mainland America, nearly 2,400 miles away. Without the oil on Hawaii, they would have to retreat back to the mainland. Furthermore, projecting power forward was also a problem for them, the war plan against Japan demanded they cross the Pacific, but the shortage of fleet tankers meant the march across would be more of a shuffle. The Pacific Fleet crossing the ocean and fighting in defence of the Philippines could only be done with access to the British and Dutch oil, coming from Singapore

Yes, Japan was facing the bleak prospects of being without oil in about 18 months, but the US and Britain were not without their own conundrums. All navies need oil.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Friday 06 December;

Rear Admiral Paul Wenneker sat back in his chair with the great satisfaction of a job well done. He had poured himself a scotch, he had a full case of Glenlivet given to him as a present from the Ole Jacob, which had docked at Kobe a couple of days ago. He looked at the amber liquid in his glass and reflected on his achievements.

Within a couple of hours of docking, his man had been on Ole Jacob to welcome Lt Cmdr Kamenz, make arrangements for the prize crew’s accommodation, supervise the transfer of a large diplomatic bag of materials for the embassy back in Tokyo, and taken charge of some ‘documents’, which he’d returned with on the train, arriving the next morning.

Kamenz had sailed into Kobe with a captured Norwegian tanker, carrying 10,000 tons of aviation fuel, with 6 men and a compliant crew of Norwegians, promised release on arrival in Japan. Wenneker had just completed a deal with the Japanese Imperial Navy to exchange the fuel for 11,000 tons of diesel oil, and had started gathering a prize crew of Germans and Central Europeans in Tokyo to man her for a run through the blockade to France.

But that was business as usual, as it were. What excited him was the ‘documents’. In the ‘top secret’ marked mail bags were a large quantity of decoding tables, fleet orders, charts, gunnery instructions, and naval intelligence reports. And the jewel in the crown, so to speak, was a small green bag containing a British Chief of Staff’s appraisal of the Far East detailing their forces, shortfalls and strategies.

He remembered the growing excitement as he read through the appreciation detailing Britain’s military weaknesses and stances on what if scenarios. Basically, Britain couldn’t send a fleet, being fully committed at home and in the Med. Defence was reliant on the Army and Air Force, but neither was able to provide adequate forces. This led Britain to having to try and avoid an ‘open clash’ with Japan. The stance on Hong Kong was an understandable one, not really unexpected, but the revelations about not reacting if Japan occupied Indo-China, only an invasion of the Dutch East Indies would bring about a British reaction, outside of a direct attack on a British territory, was breathtaking.

How important this information was for Japan wasn’t lost on him, but nevertheless it wasn’t within his remit to share it with them. He sent a detailed four-part coded telegram to the German Naval HQ in Berlin almost straight away, then made a number of copies before, today sending Kamenz with the original to Berlin via the Trans-Siberian railway through Russia. He had no doubt Japan would be told and wondered what impact this would have on the war.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Monday 16 December;

The Halifax shipyard manager looked at the new plans just in from Ottawa, Commander William Barclay Armit RCN sitting expectantly in anticipation, across the desk from him. The manager sighed and creased his brow in frustration and annoyance as he spoke. “Why can’t they make their bloody minds up, you do realise this will put the completion date back six weeks or more, maybe you can have her in early February. And I’m going to need a priority on steel plating to do this. You’re only getting just over 300 bunks for trooping, just what kind of a ship do the lordships want, an AMC and a trooper, or what?”

The RCN officer shrugged his shoulders and gave a small smile. “Ottawa changed its mind, rumour has it, Mackenzie King agreed something with Churchill. Anyway, Chief of the Naval Staff, Nelles, no less, has given it his blessings, so I think you’ll get what you want. As to why, I’m as in the dark as much as you are. But if it’s any comfort to you, the same thing is happening over at Canadian Vickers in Montreal with the Prince Henry”

The manager shook his head “Well it’s their money, but she was in a poor state of neglect when we took her in, rotten deck planks, a badly fouled hull, replacement of numerous valves as well as the auxiliary engines, and now these changes, it’s all coming to a pretty penny”

Outside the yard was busy, the Canadian National steamship Prince David had already had substantial work done, with her top two decks cut away, and the work to provide a new light cruiser superstructure, with a new naval bridge, the two forward funnels being raked into a single shorter one, with the third funnel being cut down as well, and the strengthening and fittings for the guns well in hand. New davits were to be provided, able to handle much larger boats.

Like her two sisters, she would be armed with a total of four six-inch guns, two three-inch AA guns, some light machine guns, and two depth charge racks, but the ASDIC wouldn’t be fitted until later, and fire control was only local. However, although they were looking more like warships, they still had the inherent basic weakness of large cargo and accommodation compartments extending across their hulls. That notwithstanding, their speed of 22 knots made them far too attractive to be ignored, and AMC Cruisers F89, HMCS Prince David and F70, HMCS Prince Henry would be joining the fleet soon, along with the already completed F56, HMCS Prince Robert.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Friday 27 December;

Sepoy Bachittar Singh, of the 1/8 Punjab Regt, was nervous, he hadn’t slept last night with worry of what today would bring. The marching and parading didn’t worry him, and he enjoyed working with the weapons, the rifle and bayonet, the light machine gun, the grenade. The physical effort had been tough at the beginning, but he was hardened to it now, proud of how fit he was, how strong. And the new lands he had seen since leaving the village, less than a year ago, the new experiences, such things to tell when he was older, had help shaped him into a man now, no longer the boy.

But this really worried him. His Havildar was convinced he’d be fine, his company commander positively assuring him, and even Sahib Bates seemed to expect it. He felt dread he would let them down, he would fall flat on his face, the fool, simpleton of the battalion. “Sepoy Singh, Bachittar”, the calling of his name broke his thoughts, they were ready for him. He stood straight, gathered his thoughts and marched into the room.

The first day passed slowly, almost agonisingly, but he gradually began to feel better, more confident. He slept well that night, although he still awoke early, and again had a worrying couple of hours, but once called into the room again, the second day flew by.

Late afternoon, he walked out of the room, stood there with the paper in his hand, and looked at it again. The words smiled up at him, Indian Army, Certificate of Education – English, second class. He’d done it, done so well that the examining officer had just told him to apply for the First-Class Examination, the next one being run in three months’ time and with a bit more work, he could pass that too. The officer had even told him what the exam was, writing an essay on a subject he would know a lot about over two hours, an hour of written answers to questions on a set passage, reading and a following discussion on a narrative, and finally a discussion on a topic, again on something he’d know about.

He was on top of the world. He could hope for a promotion to Naik now, the battalion was short of NCO’s. He could even earn a little money by providing some tutoring himself to the British ECO’s that continually arrived in dribbles, who were desperate to learn Urdu, the Lingua Franca of the Indian Army. They were given a mere 3 months to pass the elementary Urdu qualification, the learning of which was incrementally financially beneficial to them, as they progressed with learning the language and just as importantly the customs, traditions and faith of the men they would command. And if they didn’t pass the elementary, they went on report. Yes, thought Bachittar, volunteering for this man’s army was undoubtedly the best thing he’d ever done.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1940, Monday 30 December;

They had been on the road, so to speak, for three days, not just visiting units stationed in Northern Malaya, but looking at the terrain they might fight on. They were back in Penang now, at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, in a private room. Dinner was finished and it was just the three of them, Lord Gort, his CoS, Maj Gen Richard Dewing and Lt Gen Arthur Percival. Comfortably seated in rattan chairs they began discussing the Army’s plans for the defence of Malaya.

“So, Arthur, you know Malaya well, having served here for three years, what were your thoughts?”
“Uh well Lord Gort sir, from a purely military point of view, and putting aside our clear lack of forces, going on the offensive, with a pre-emptive invasion of the Kra Isthmus, would be the most advantageous. It’s so much more preferable to fight on Thai soil than our own. Capturing the port of Songkhla would be most important, as it’s the only port south of Bangkok that significant amounts of supplies could be landed through. With that taken, an attacker would have to use the single line rail track, and a poor road network back to Bangkok, that must be well over 500 miles. The small port south of that, Pattani, should also be taken at the same time.”

“Arthur, old boy, in private conversation you may address me as Tiger. And what about the defensive option”
“The defensive option? er, Tiger, the best position in the northwest is Gurun, around Peak Kedah. The central mountains come down quite close to the sea, on your right, leaving a narrow stretch of land, partly covered in plantations, which the main road north and the railway run through. To the left is Peak Kedah and the sea. A very good defensive position could be built here, and with observation posts on the Peak, artillery would dominate the wide-open paddy fields that lay in front.

It has a back door we must defend, namely what is locally called ‘The Ledge’ it’s a small road running from Pattani, down through Yala and into the mountain range, crossing the border near a place called Kroh, before turning west and coming out of the mountains south of Sungei Petani.

In the Northeast, the problem holding the Kelantan province is that we rely on a single line railway for 300 miles, making our forces stationed there very vulnerable, however the RAF airfields being built there will be able to interdict any seaborne invasion force. If an invasion force is defeated all well and good, however if it was to be successful, we could quickly lose the entire North Eastern forces.”

“Dickie, your thoughts please”
“Yes Tiger, not wanting to pour cold water onto Arthur’s ideas but, regarding the offensive option, I’m afraid Her Majesty’s Government wouldn’t entertain any pre-emptive invasion of Thailand. The Colonial Office has been making great efforts to get the Thais into our camp, any rumour that we are considering invading them would truly destroy those efforts. With regard to the defensive option, apart from giving up the Alor Star airfield, the Governor, Sir Andrew Caldecott, would have an absolute fit if we suggested we intended to just give up the state of Perlis and most of Kedah, it would be politically totally unacceptable.”

“Umm yes Dickie, your quite right about both options, I’m afraid Arthur old boy, we’re going to have to defend, and a lot closer to the border. Any ideas?”

“Umm I see, ah, the Jitra position is probably the best we could do, I had thought of it as a forward position, and not the main line of defence. It still means losing Perlis, but it’s in front of the Alor Star airfield. And I suppose we would place the forward positions up close to the border, so Perlis and its capital Kangar are initially covered. It would mean a lot of defensive works, and still wouldn’t be particularly strong, I guess it depends on how strong the opposition is as too how well the line would fare. And we would still have Gurun as our back stop if all else fails.

But Tiger, we do need a lot more troops to effectively defend Malaya, at the moment we’d be hard pushed to stop anything more than a troop of boy scouts coming down the main highway”

“Yes, yes Arthur, I quite get the point, but London do know this, and I’m assured their doing everything they can. We’ll continue with what we’re doing, but I do like the idea of the Gurun backstop, and occupying the Kra Isthmus is a capital idea, if only eh!

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1941, Thursday 02 January;

It was more of an administrative role than anything else, but the workload and the importance of the location called for its creation, and Layton was happy to authorise it. Called the Western Squadron, it was based at Penang, with a secondary base at Port Swettenham, and was responsible for the west Malayan coastline. He was less satisfied with who he had to command it, Capt JG Fraser, the SNO for Penang, who had been called out of retirement in 1939 was the man for now, but Layton was concerned that as the command grew, so Fraser would struggle more. Part of that was due to the fact that the staff Fraser had was too small and very inexperienced, and part due to Fraser’s age and health.

And as to the ships that made up the Squadron, well again that also was a matter of concern. The fact was after 16 months of war, with the Empire standing alone, and the large losses the Royal Navy had sustained, there simply wasn’t the numbers and quality of ships to be had, so “make do” was very much the watchword of the day. The threat was the merchant raider, sowing mines, and preying on lone merchant ships. The mines would be countered by auxiliary minesweepers, while local patrols, although no match, one on one, with a raider, would be able to raise the alarm, and in the Straits of Malacca, the betting was the Navy would quickly hunt the raider down.

Four requisitioned small coastal steamers provided the patrol element, HMS Kampar, Larut, Mata Hari and Pangkor, while also working as armed traders, with the obligatory 4-inch gun and a couple of Lewis Machine Guns, supported by the RFA Tien Kwang, a requisitioned coastal tanker. While five requisitioned small whalers made up the Penang Minesweeping Group, HMS Hua Tong, Jeram, Malacca, Sin Aik Lee and Trang. Further forces were promised, but what and when was left unsaid, while assistance from the RAF was also talked about.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1941, Monday 6 January

It had started as an offer from a car salesman in Singapore, while having a drink with a Major in the RASC. The Major had been complaining of the shortage of drivers, and their quality of driving, regaling tales of misfortune. The car salesman, a private in the SSVF, had little work, and benevolently offered to tutor a couple of drivers, using his Austin 7, which was accepted. Taking three learners, one at the wheel and two in the back, and rotating them hourly at the wheel, he taught all three to drive in a week. The Major was impressed and it quickly became a working relationship.

Using his Singapore model as the example, following the massive changes to the Volunteers in March, the Major was given the authority to recruit more of these middle-aged drivers from the motor trade, as driving instruction corporals in the RASC, using requisitioned small Austin and Morris cars. The course also taught basic car maintenance, which was included in the weeks training program.

The initiative was a great success, and driver training courses began to be rolled out in all the major towns, as both Malay and Chinese drivers joined Europeans in signing up to the RASC. Learner drivers came from British, Australian, Indian, Malay and Chinese units in the Army, as no one had enough drivers, and units were hard pushed to train new drivers themselves.

At the end of April, the RASC introduced further courses for lorry driving, and the art of towing, now using a number of Army vehicles, having to take some drivers from their own ranks to deepen the pool of experienced instructors. Not everyone was taught by the RASC, some learnt within their units, but having the certificate, and being able to say ‘I learnt to drive the RASC way’ was an opening to new employment after the war.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1941, Monday 06 January;

They sat around a highly polished rosewood table, decorated in inlayed Chinese carvings of different woods, in the first-floor room, at the end of a wing of Flagstaff House, an opened door leading to the big veranda at one end, the windows on either side were opened, although the blinds were pulled, in an effort to allow a draft of wind to draw through without the heat of the sun coming in. Two big electric fans lazily swirled around, helping create an impression of cooler air.

They had been here since 2pm, both Lord Gort and Lt Gen Percival fresh after lunch, following another Monday morning, General War Council meeting at Government House. Present with them was Gort’s GSO1, Colonel Fawcett, and the senior staff officers of Percival’s Malaya Command, Brigadier General Staff (BGS), Brigadier Kenneth Torrance, Deputy Adjutant General, Brigadier Thomas Newbigging, Assistant Quartermaster General, Brigadier Hubert Lucas, each with an aide. On the table in front of each of them, was a copy of a large typed report, detailing their various inputs, to discuss the way forward.

Late last week they had received a cable from London authorising the expansion of local recruitment for the Army, taking Malays, Chinese and Indians in Malaya, as well as the Chinese in Hong Kong. It was a positive answer to the report Gort had sent the War Office detailing the good reports he’d had over the latest recruitment intakes, along with the growing needs of the Forces out here in the Far East for yet more men. The authorisation for additional funds didn’t go as far as he would have liked, but nevertheless it allowed for a generous expansion.

Like the RAF and Royal Navy, the Army had recruited locally before, but those initiatives had always been limited, small additions, for specific units. They had never had a permanent dedicated unit for training them. But now they did and as a result, they intended to quickly move away from just recruiting for the three infantry regiments, the Malay, Singapore (Chinese) and Hong Kong (Chinese) Regiments, to pretty much all arms and services in the Army, with sections created in the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and support services, i.e., the RAOC and RASC. There were limitations on what they could do owing to the language barrier, people able to speak English and either Malay or Chinese were in much demand.

As always, Hong Kong was the priority, indeed here the restriction on recruitment was only really governed by the need for more trainers, clothing, equipment, and the ability of existing units or newly forming ones to absorb the large numbers of newly trained. Indeed, the very units that needed more personnel, were largely having to train them themselves, either within the unit or detaching Officers and NCO to training schools.

In addition, many more Officers and NCOs were required, and this wasn’t easy, the few ECO’s from the UK and Dominions were snapped up, but young and not so young gentlemen from the Colony itself were being given a three-month course at the OTCU in Singapore, and with a crisp new uniform presented as the answer. That might had worked if they had the backing of an experience NCO, but these were all too often recently promoted from the ranks, having been identified as a seasoned soldier well versed in the ways of the Army, with some leadership qualities. That was fundamentally the brake on the recruitment expansion in Hong Kong.

For Malaya, things were a little easier, the Malay Regiment, already in existence, was able, admittedly by using the Indian Army’s practice of ‘milking’ the existing battalion of an experienced cadre, to build the new companies for the second battalion. Secondly there was much more room to develop training camps around the country, as opposed to cramming everything into Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island. That wasn’t to say things were easy, but here expansion was held back by budgets as much as by the shortages of experienced Officers and NCO’s.

Recruitment had originally been set at six platoons of 40 men each, in basic training for 6 weeks, for each of the three regiments, but initially, only Hong Kong was able to do this, the other two started with four platoons. But now things had settled down a bit, issues on training within the courses had been ironed out. Now, set before them was a plan to expand recruitment to 16 basic training platoons in each Regiment, 18 for Hong Kong, increasing training platoon numbers on a stepped progress. On completion of basic training, a selection processes would draw considerable numbers out, identified by some particular characteristic or civilian skills, for transfer into the other corps, leaving the rest to continue into infantry training with their respective regiments.

Brigadier Lucas was speaking, “The Public Works Department has nearly completed the expansion and construction of the training camp at Port Dickson, just the last three sections of the camp, which should be done by May. This means we will be able to house just over 1200 instructors and recruits here. I would suggest we continue to conduct all basic training for Malay’s at this camp, but we now have the capacity to increase recruitment significantly. And this with continuing the infantry training for the Malay Regt on the same site”. He paused to sip water from the glass in front of him, before continuing.

“Camp Fuyong, the training camp for the Singapore (Chinese) Regt just outside Seremban is still progressing, but is not expected to be complete until August, again able to accommodate 1200, however that is not hampering the training. The reason is we have had to give priority to the completion of the big RASC camp with its numerous workshops, which is on the other side of the branch railway sidings. Again, all basic training as well as infantry training can be at Camp Fuyong. The extra recruits from any expansion of the recruitment program can be accommodated under canvas for now”.

Brigadier Newbigging picked up the discussion, “Staffing the Port Dickson camp has been relatively trouble free, and as you can see we can manage the expansion quite well, however, at Camp Fuyong we don’t enjoy the existence of a unit to milk, and here we are having to use cadre from the Federal Malay State Volunteers, as well as a few from the Straits Settlements units, but in the main these need training too, so in many cases we have British instructors giving training through the use of interpreters, a less than satisfactory arrangement”.

Brigadier Torrance came in now, “because of the aforementioned problems, although we will be creating new fully manned companies, they will require a lot more training, as well as a need of being issued better equipment than they currently have, and so will not be ready for full operational duties for the foreseeable future”.

Brigadier Lucas quickly jumped in “we are able to equip these new companies with sufficient rifles, bayonets and side arms, but other than a few grenades and one Lewis machine gun per platoon, I have nothing else to give them. Unfortunately, all current planned shipments of arms to arrive are already allocated firstly to the Australians, and then the Indian regiments”.

There was a silenced pause, clearly all had been said about these camps, Lord Gort gave a nod of approval and then Percival cleared his throat, “moving onto the other arms, the engineers first”

Brigadier Torrance replied, “I’ve had discussions with the Chief Engineer, Brigadier Pennycuick, and he is confident he will be able to accommodate the four Engineer training platoons, despite also providing training for battalions of the Indian Pioneer Corps. He has some more building additions required for the Batu Cave cantonment, just needs authorisation for the material, and will construct them with the new recruits, a learning on the job process, so to speak”.

Percival interrupted “I’d just like to add, Lord Gort, if I may, that will in no way impact on the additional training schools he is running for both Indian Sappers and the Indian Pioneer Corps, both of who will continue to send men for further training courses, in total, Batu Caves will be able to accommodate 700 men in constructed barracks, any more will have to be in tents”.

Gort nodded, and looked over at Lucas, who continued the discussion, “Brigadier Pennycuick has already given me a detailed list of materials, which I will begin sourcing and providing this week, the only thing I will struggle with is the cement, as you know the RAF have a very significant portion of whats shipped in, but almost everything else I can provide quite quickly”. Lucas looked up at Percival who took the cue, “thank you Hubert, moving onto artillery, Thomas, if you please”

Newbigging began again “currently we have a camp at Port Swettenham that has an artillery range across the marshes, that with tentage, can hold two regiments of Artillery. We have identified a new site at Rawang, just north of Kuala Lumpur, over ground that had previously been used for tin mining. It has the potential to give us an excellent camp with several artillery ranges. We have a basic camp there at the moment, but are gradually developing the area. I would suggest, for now that the proposed new light batteries of the Malay and Singapore Regts are founded at Port Swettenham, allowing already formed formations to exercise at Rawang”. He stopped talking, allowing Lucas to come in.

“The light batteries will be equipped with 18 pounders, four to a battery, possibly later we could issue 4.5-inch Hows, depending on other unit upgrades. They will be allocated Canadian built artillery tractors, but again are not high priority, so perhaps by the end of the year, but no promises”. Lucas stopped and looked around, ready to answer any questions. Maybe his information was sufficient, or maybe the heat in the room was draining people of enthusiasm, but no questions came.

Percival cleared his throat, “hem, thank you Gentlemen, that leaves us the RAOC and RASC, Thomas, if you may”. Newbigging began again. “Both the RAOC and RASC would greatly benefit from recruitment from both Malay’s and Chinese. We are suggesting they take four platoons each intake, two Malay, two Chinese, selected after their basic training is completed. That’s the most they can absorb, initially they may struggle a bit, but I’m sure the Corps become comfortable with training and absorbing them”. Again, Newbigging turned to Lucas to comment.

“Yes, we have looked at their organisations, and the RAOC will be able to accommodate a training facility at its Taiping Camp, while the RASC can do the same at its Ipoh camp. Both camps will need further development, but I am confident, using tentage initially, they can start as soon as they first recruits finish their basic training”.

Percival now spoke “Lord Gort, with these increases in native recruitment, by the end of the year we will have recruited over 3500 Malays and 3000 Chinese into service, together with an additional of over 1200 of each in training. Given the newly increased budget, this is the most we will be able to expand by, it is a significant improvement on what we had, and will go a long way to improving our forces.”

“Thank you, Arthur, gentlemen, the plan is excellent, well thought out and soundly based, no doubt a lot of work has gone into it. I’m please to say I accept it, by all means implement it at once.”
“Err Lord Gort, Sir, there is one matter I’d like to press you on, on behalf of myself and my officers present” Percival paused, awaiting Gort’s reply, “Go on Arthur”.

“As you said, ‘a lot of work has gone into it’ and at a time when Malaya Command HQ has never been so stretched as of now, we simply don’t have enough trained and experienced men within it, the officers here have worked right through the weekend, they’ve had to do a lot of the junior grade work, simply because their junior officers don’t know how, or worse, they don’t have a junior officer covering those particular roles. Lord Gort, Sir, we must have more trained staff officers added to the Command, as, I fear, in a time of crisis, the few trained officers we have would collapse under the pressure of it all.”

“Yes, Arthur, and for the record, you have continually advised me on that poor state of affairs, the War Office recognises the need for more trained staff. Unfortunately, trained staff officers are in short supply everywhere, we are still recovering from our losses in France. Formations need to be rebuilt, and new ones raised, the lion’s share of trained staff officers will be going to those I’m afraid. However, the War Office assures me there will be a steady trickle of officers coming our way, and by the end of summer, you will have seen an easement of your predicament. Again, gentlemen, I commend you all on your good work, thank you.”

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1941, Friday, 10 January;

The single ship, SS Egra, having met convoy WS 4B, heading for the Suez, in Mombasa, and transferred over personal destined for the Far East, slipped into Singapore. Despite the Home Forces, and North Africa having priority, this was the beginning of the promised steady trickle that was coming to the Far East. They’d left back in mid-November, too short a time to really reflect the small change in strategy that Churchill and the CoS had agreed, but it would be a start.

On board were a number of specialists, about 30 staff officers for the newly forming GHQ Far East, AHQ and Malaya Command staffs. They were mostly recently promoted, but fully trained in the more senior roles they would hold. These HQs would need a lot more staff than these, but the plan was to run a lot of short-term courses and fill a number of lower-level positions from locally recruited or Australians, older men with good civilian experience in administrative roles in logistics, coming in as ECO’s. The more technical and military roles would be more difficult to fill.

And as part of this upskilling of locally recruited talent, the OCTU in Singapore was taking on a significant expansion. A small cadre of Officers and NCO’s taken from UK OCTU’s had arrived to expand Singapore’s OCTU unit. Roberts Barracks, Singapore was releasing more buildings for this as well as the staff training that would be held there.

But there was also a take, as for every give there always had seemed to be a take. The majority of personnel carried on board were replacement drafts for the Army, RAF and Royal Navy. Those they replaced were time served experienced men, who would return back to the UK to help provide cadres around which new units would form. This weakened the forces out here in the short run, but promotions among those left helped to fill the gaps along with the back filling of newly trained who would learn the ropes.

And the real commitment that was made, was this would be the last time significant numbers of men would be sent back to the UK, from now on they would just expand. And the CoS had Churchill’s word on that!

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1941, Monday 13 January;

It was the seventh weekly meeting of the General War Council, they’d met the Monday between Christmas and New Year, for a short meeting, but were back to the full morning, the Monday afterwards. It was the same format, an executive first then the full council later in the morning. Caldecott had settled back into Singapore life, almost as if he’d never been away, he had such an easy manner with everyone, but still managed to get things done. Layton was the old hand now, five months into it, while Gort, Park and Percival were still trying to get use to the climate. Nevertheless, this format of governance seemed to work well. The Executive meeting just between the five of them and the Secretary, meeting earlier, helped smooth over conflicts of interest within the services and with civil government.

Today, after quite a few minor items of mundane business earlier on the agenda, the War Council had moved to the main item of business, discussing the FMSR (Federated Malay States Railways), and agreeing some changes to be put in place. This was due to it becoming a prominent concern, following the closure of the main line for two days in December, south of Ipoh, caused by a landslide brought on by heavy rains. It had help focus their minds on the vulnerability of the railway as both Gort and Park had been on a train stuck for several hours waiting for the FMSR to back the trains into stations, allowing them to get off, and journey on by car. A previous council had been discussing this, and a couple of sub committees, one headed by the General Manager of the FMSR, and a second by a Colonel of Royal Engineers, had been formed to discuss requirements and capabilities, they had reported back, and there were a number of points that they had agreed could be improved.

Chairman Andrew Caldecott sat in middle of the table, Grimwood to his left. “So, to summarise, One, I will work on providing laws allowing the militarisation of the FMSR to happen quickly in time of war. Two, provide additional funding for the FMSR, partly by directing more monies into their Railways Renewal Fund and Capital account, and secondly directly paying for FMSR rail related imports from Canada from the main Malaya War Fund Account, this will effectively more than double the annual budget. Three, through this council the Food Controller, Director of Public Works Dept and the Director of the Harbours Board Council will provide details of what expansions and improvements they would most desire.

Caldecott looked down the table at the FMSR GM, Leslie Smart, who took a great swallow and continued the summary in a somewhat hesitant voice. “Firstly, the err, FMSR will work with both the military and civilian authorities on planning and implementing the upgrading and developing some parts of the network for things like passing loops, extra sidings, expansion of the rail yards, and increased storage both in warehousing and open yards. This will include sites identified for significant military expansion, or key strategic sites”. He stopped and sipped from a glass of water, before carrying on.

“Secondly, the current rail track maintenance company will be expanded into three, based at Sentul (Kuala Lumpur), Prai (Province Wellesley), and Gemas (Negeri Sembilan), equipped to make major improvements and repair to rail lines, bridges and other rail infrastructure.
Thirdly, at the Sentul Railway Works, to construct new rail stock for military use, especially more flatbed wagons for vehicles, some extra-long flatbed wagons for aircraft. Also more carriages with be adapted for troop transportation, and the conversation of two steam engines into armored trains for specific military use.”
And lastly, all orders placed from Canada for rails, wheels and axles, rail cranes, and numerous other steel items required for new rail stock, will be done via the Governor’s Office”. Smart stopped talking, relief that his part was over, excited about what was being agreed for his FMSR, but still somewhat in awe of some of his fellow councilors.

Lord Gort cleared his voice, and began “I will ensure a coordinated military command to manage rail transportation and upkeep of rail network, in time of war, for all three services is formed. In addition, I will provide funds for the raising of a Volunteer Railway Regt RE, from the rail workers in Malaya”.

Eyes now turned to Vice Admiral Layton. “My office will detail what improvements we would desire to the rail network in relation to the Naval Base at Singapore, as well as other stations at Port Swettenham and Penang. I will also provide appropriate guns to be fitted to rolling stock attached to armoured trains”.

Air Vice Marshal Keith Park was next “My command will provide details on wanted expansion of railways to service both current and planned airfields, we will also provide advice and guidance on transportation of aircraft by rail”.

The eyes now turned-on Lt Gen Arthur Percival, “My command will firstly, provide detachments of troops to work with the armoured trains when they are converted. And secondly, provide troops to guard strategic points of the rail network in times of war, we also will provide details of wanted railway expansion to service enlarged or new army camps”.

Andrew looked around at the rest of the council, and satisfied that all were in agreement, said “That’s agreed then, my secretary will have copies typed up and sent out to each of you by close of play today. OK there are no other items left on the agenda, and I’ve had no notice of any other business, so I shall call a closure to the meeting, apologies we have run over, but I’m sure you all agreed the business had to be concluded. Now gentlemen, as I promised at the start of the meeting, and partly in anticipation that we would run over, I have a luncheon laid on for everybody, if you just follow my steward through the main doors, he’ll lead you all to the dining room. Ah Leslie, might I have a moment of your time please”

The GM of the FMSR stood by his chair, concern on his face, and nodded worryingly to Caldicott, as the others filed out of the room. Caldicott put an arm round his shoulder, “Well done Leslie old boy, piece of cake wasn’t it, just like I said it would be. Now let me give you a piece of advice. When we are talking about the FMSR, its capability, network, workshops, engines or whatever, don’t be afraid to say what you think, you are the expert here, and if you disagree with some staff officer from so and so’s command say so. Don’t allow yourself to be, excuse the pun, railroaded into an agreement that you can’t fulfill. And if asked a question, and you don’t know, don’t bullshit these people, be honest and say so, but make sure you know next time, and in good detail. I think in the coming months and indeed the next couple of years, you and your railway are going to be a vital piece in the jigsaw of Malaya’s defence”.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1941, Tuesday 14 January;

After arriving back in November, Air Vice Marshal Keith Park had toured his command and quickly realised how big a job he had. He decided that air defence of Singapore and Johore was his first priority, followed by a need to develop a maritime strike capability, and a tactical force able to support land forces in Northern Malaya. This would call for three groups, each tailored to its appointed task. However, resources were pitifully few, and his command would have to develop gradually, with a requirement that assets would be interchangeable where possible.

In part, this meant getting a better grip on airfield development. He knew all too well about airfield vulnerabilities, and the need to have an integrated system. Some of the locations chosen frankly alarmed him, and he was going to restrict the building plan to be more in keeping with what could be defended, and what air assets he was going to get. The trouble was airfields took a lot longer to build than squadrons being sent out from the UK to arrive did. He also had problems with the resources allocated to building and developing the airfields but was being assured this would be addressed.

So, with air defence his first priority, he had to have a ring of fighter airfields in Johore. His eye for detail insisted on protected munition and fuel dumps, dispersal areas with aircraft pens, AA guns, huts and maintenance sheds. And this was at the expense other airfields, especially some northern ones, where building progress was being delayed, indeed stopped in some cases, as the building resources were re-allocated. However, he still needed to develop airfields for the future plan of expanding the force for Army Co-Operation in Northern Malaya, and provision for airfields for the Maritime Strike Force.

Hand in hand with all of this came the need for air control and especially radar. His experiences in the Battle of Britain had taught him how crucial radar was. He planned an extensive network providing an air defence of Singapore and Johore. He would also have smaller areas of air defence around Northern Malaya, based at Penang, Central Malaya at Kuala Lumpur and Kota Bharu covering the North Eastern sector. He planned that they would, possibly in 1942, become one united air defence system, but resources wouldn’t allow that at the moment.

Given that his command was half way round the world, reinforcements, replacements, aircraft and spares, would have a long way to come, and take time. With this firmly in mind, Park drew from some salient points he’d taken from the Battle of Britain. Timely use of advanced radar warning was critical to giving fighters time to gain the height and positional advantage. Always target the bombers first, if possible. And a new tactic he’d come to view as essential was operating in finger four formations, which made it easier for new pilots to remain in formation. Given he was building a command from the ground up, the majority of pilots would be extremely green, with little experience scattered about them, so anything that help, had to be looked at.

After review current airfield development was as below with planned works for 1941

Singapore Island
Kallang – civil airfield complete, ovoid grass runway, 1941, provide protected munition and fuel dumps, dispersal areas with aircraft pens, accommodation for two fighter sqns, a dedicated fighter control bunker with filter and control rooms, linked by telephone to all Singapore and Johore airfields and AMES units. All work by PWD and contractors.

Seletar – military airfield complete, 2 grass runways, extensive hangers and buildings, seaplane slip, major RAF maintenance unit, 1941, runways being converted to hard. All work by PWD and contractors

Sembawang – military airfield incomplete, 2 grass runways, few buildings, 1941, expansive works ongoing, including extension and conversion of both runways to hard, accommodation for two bomber sqns. All work by PWD and contractors.

Tengah – military airfield incomplete, 2 hard runways incomplete, 1941, completion of the two hard runways, buildings and new pens, dispersal areas etc also being added to accommodate two bomber sqns. All work by PWD and contractors.


Johore
Kluang – incomplete military airfield, 1 grass runway, 1941, two hard runways and extensive building work to be completed for two fighter sqns, in addition, a large RAF maintenance facility to be provided

Kahang – military airfield, site surveyed, small grass runway, 1941, single grass runway with protected munition and fuel dumps, dispersal areas with aircraft pens, hutted accommodation to be provided for one fighter sqn.

Batu Pahat – civil landing ground, small grass runway, few buildings, 1941, extension of single grass runway with protected munition and fuel dumps, dispersal areas with aircraft pens, hutted accommodation to be provided for one fighter sqn.

Skudai – civil grass landing ground for light a/c, no buildings, 1941, no development planned, to be used as emergency landing site only.

Tebrau (Johore Bharu) – did not exist, 1941, site surveyed for development as bomber airfield for two sqns, no further work planned as yet.

Labis – civil grass landing ground for light a/c, no buildings, 1941, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns, very low priority.


Central Malaya
Batu Berendam, Malacca – did not exist, 1941, Aug/Sep begin development, one grass runway, for one fighter sqn.

Gemas – did not exist, 1941, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns, very low priority.

Port Swettenham – civil airfield complete, 2 grass runways, few buildings, 1941, planned protected munition and fuel dumps, dispersal areas with aircraft pens, hutted accommodation to be provided for two fighter sqns, low priority.

Kuala Lumpur – civil airfield complete, small grass runway, combined engine repair depot incomplete, 1941, completion of engine repair depot, further development of site, hangers, pens etc, runway to be expanded and converted to hard

Taiping – civil airfield complete, small grass runway, very few buildings, 1941, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns, with major expansion and 2 hard runways.

Ipoh – civil airfield complete, 2 small grass runways, very few buildings, 1941, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns, with major expansion and 2 hard runways.

Sitiawan, near Lumut – civil airfield complete, grass runway, no buildings, 1941, no plans to develop

Jendarata near Teluk Anson – civil grass landing ground for light a/c, no buildings, 1941, no plans to develop

Kerling, 30 miles north of Kuala Lumpur – civil grass landing ground for light a/c, no buildings, 1941, no plans to develop


North West Malaya
Alor Star – civil airfield complete, hard runway, very poor disposition of buildings, needs major changes, no current work progressing

Sungei Patani – grass landing ground for light a/c, few buildings, needs major works, 1941, runway being extended in grass, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns.

Kuala Ketil - site located, nothing else, 1941 planned single grass runway, protected munition and fuel dumps, dispersal areas with aircraft pens, hutted accommodation to be provided for one fighter sqn.

Bayan Lepas (Penang) – civil airfield complete, part grass part hard runway, few buildings, 1941, convert all runway to hard, planned protected munition and fuel dumps, dispersal areas with aircraft pens, hutted accommodation to be provided for two fighter sqns.

Butterworth – airfield construction had begun, ground clearance completed, awaiting grading work, 1941 planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns.


North East Malaya
Kota Bharu – airfield complete, grass runway, few buildings, 1941, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns, pens and dispersal areas required.

Gong Kedak – airfield incomplete, ground clearance complete, awaiting grading work, 1941, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns.

Machang – site located, nothing else, 1941, no development planned.

Kuantan – airfield incomplete, grass runway, few buildings, 1941, planned to develop as bomber airfield for two sqns, work progressing slowly

Many of these airfields needed major development, but with limited earth working plant, and concrete in short supply, this would have to be staged. The work on the runway at Tengah was already in progress, While at Seletar, the work would have to be carefully managed alongside an existing grass strip. Both Kluang and Kahang were new sites, with no restrictions other than resources, again some work had already been done, like ground clearance, and a lot of levelling. Kuala Lumpur was having a major expansion of facilities, as well as the runway being extended and hardened.

Looking at the development of a radar network, here they were sadly lacking, with few units allocated and none yet installed and working. Expressing concerns Park, had found support from Portal, who had agreed a diversion of units from West Africa, namely two COL units, 513 and 514 and a MRU, 244, to Singapore, being temporary backfilled by a unit promised to the Middle East, with Singapore giving up the same number of units later on in its allocation. These units should arrive in March.

 

[Fatboy Coxy]

1941, Friday 17 January;

Dawn broke over a calm sea as the sleek lines of the grey painted cruiser glided by the small jungle clad island, her guns traversing northwards, waiting for a glimpse of her prey, who’s rising smoke told of ship’s crews trying to raise steam. And as the island slide by port side, so the first of two torpedo boats emerged, anchored close to the shoreline. Gun fire breaks out, a number of shots, 76mm guns firing from the torpedo boat, water splashes well short of the cruiser.

The captain on the bridge listened, an officer reporting “range 8,000 metres”, “open fire” he replied, and first two and then a second later another two 155mm guns roared out. The shells crashed into the land behind, the gunnery officer noted and adjusted the range, and as the cruiser fully cleared the island so the aft two twin turrets fired, followed about five seconds later by the front guns. Hits! Flashes of explosions, debris flung in the air, smoke beginning to rise.

And now sight of a second torpedo boat emerges, anchored in line, further along the coastline. More gunnery adjustments, as the first two turrets reacquire their new target, the aft guns continuing to play fire on the first boat. More fire from single 76mm guns is coming in, inaccurate, sporadic. Further hits on the first torpedo boat, men now jumping off the ship, she’s well ablaze now, listing, in a sorry state.

A hit now on the second boat, a further two hits, smoke, fire. The first boat is listing badly now, going down, the sea rushing in to extinguish the fires, as she fills and sinks.
More hits on the second boat, no returning fire, men leaping off her too, swimming, trying to head for shore, 200 yards away, a sandy beach. Another salvo, hit after hit, explosions, debris in the air, the ship begins to roll over. “Cease Fire” and in the following silence, the noise of a ship breaking apart can be heard, escaping air bubbling up, as she too descends beneath the waves.

Another island begins to slide by, the last moments of the sinking boat lost behind the jungle foliage. They sail on, still at action stations, searching. The waters begin to shallow, and the captain orders a 180-degree turn. As she turns, her starboard side swinging northwards, a shout goes up, “Ship bearing 320, battleship, range 10,000 metres, open fire,” pauses in between as the information is processed.

The guns begin to fire, the fall of shot being observed, range adjusted. The “battleship” fires back, 8-inch shells whistling in. A small tall isle slides by, target lost, five, ten, fifteen seconds pass, she’s in sight again, gunfire begins, turret by turret. A hit, the bridge of the battleship, a large gunboat in reality, but another isle, slightly bigger, longer, sliding by, target lost, count the seconds, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, target back in sight.

The “Battleship has shifted her fire onto the two French sloops, who were offering support for the cruiser, sailing through another channel, salvoes falling all around the leading sloop. The cruiser resumes fire, as she turns about, rounding another of the small islands, port side swinging round again. A full salvo, the turn continuing, broadside on now, another full salvo, another hit, the battleship’s aft turret stops returning fire, belching smoke and fire, but she’s saved as another island slides by, the cruiser can’t use the channel to close with the “battleship”, due to the shallow waters. They count the seconds, awaiting the next gap between the islands, the “battleship” remaining in the shallower waters, in some safety.

The island passes, the “battleship in sight” again, looking in a bad way, burning fiercely, creeping northwards, away to safety. The guns resume, no returning fire, a straddle, a hit, the ship listing over to starboard, but still creeping north. Another island coming up and she’ll be out of sight, and out of range when they next acquire her again. A change of tactics, range 15,000 metres, launch torpedoes, four 22-inch fish dive in and surge forward, (maximum range at about 30 knots) as they near the next island. The fish swim by the island, heading for the “battleship” and the island obstructs their view again. The waters shallowing again, mustn’t ground, time to turn, orders given, and the bows swing round. Back pass the island, guns ready again, but no “battleship” in sight, she’s either sunk or beached further up the channel, but it’s too shallow to go look.

Time to break off the action, head back out into open sea. The sloops come into sight, and then two smaller gunboats, who had been covering a third channel, everybody happy. Semaphores flashing, formation set, and they begin the journey home.

Three hours after dawn now, and the warning cry “aircraft bearing…” the 3-inch AA guns swivelling round to acquire their targets. The planes begin their bombing run, the guns firing as fast as they could. Bombs fall, miss, near miss, hit, but it fails to explode, near miss, and then it’s over, the aircraft flowing home, the damage being assessed being minor, but a small price for what they had done.

The initial border skirmishes between France and Thailand had begun in late 1940, but had quickly developed in a full-scale war in the new year. Thai troops quickly overran Laos, the French were able to slow the advance down in Cambodia, but a counter attack failed. At best a stalemate for now. And in the air, Thailand had the better of it too.

But now France was fighting back, a major portion of the Thai navy was destroyed at the battle of Ko Chang, leaving Captain Regis Berenger, and his light cruiser Lamotte-Picquet as heroes of Vichy France.