From Singapore to Syonan-to: 1941 - 1945 - Resource Guides at

From Singapore to Syonan-to: 1941 - 1945 - Resource Guides at National Library, Singapore

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From Singapore to Syonan-to: 1941 - 1945

Guide InformationLastUpdated:

Jun 14, 2013

Guide URL: http://libguides.nl.sg/syonantoDescription: This resource guide aims to provide anyone interested in the

Japanese Occupation of Singapore, a list of materials available fromthe Lee Kong Chian Reference Library.

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Guide IndexIntroductionOutbreak of warFall of SingaporeLife during the OccupationNewspapers during the warAftermath of the warWar memoriesWar fictionAudio-visual materialsDo you know?Accessing the library's resources

Introduction

Welcome

This resource guide aims to provide anyone interested in the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, a list of materials available from the Lee Kong Chian ReferenceLibrary.

Contents:

Outbreak of war

Fall of Singapore

Life during the Occupation

Newspapers during the war

Aftermath of the war

War memories

War fiction

Audio-visual materials

Do you know?

Accessing the library's resources

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's speech at the unveiling ceremony of memorial to civilian victims of Japanese Occupationon 15 February 1967

"We meet not to rekindle old fires of hatred, nor to seek settlements for blood debts. We meet to remember the men and women who were the hapless victims ofone of the fires of history. …

This piece of concrete commemorates an experience which, in spite of its horrors, served as catalyst in building a nation out of the young and unestablishedcommunity of diverse immigrants. We suffered together. It told us that we share a common destiny. And it is through sharing such common experiences that thefeeling of living and being one community is established.

If today as we remember these lessons of the past, we strengthen our resolve and determination to make our future more secure then these men and women forwhom we mourn would not have died in vain." 1

[1] National Archives of Singapore. (1967). Prime Minister's speech at the unveiling ceremony of memorial to civilian victims of Japanese Occupation on 15thFebruary, 1967. Retrieved January 27, 2012 from http://stars.nhb.gov.sg/stars/tmp/lky19670215.pdf

Introduction

Originally compiled by the National Library in 1992 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Singapore, From Singapore to Syonan-to: 1941 - 19451 is

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a select bibliography of titles available at the National Library. Since 1992, new titles have been published on this tragic phase of Singapore's history, and hence,this resource guide aims to provide an updated bibliography.

Besides books, newspapers and audio-visual materials have also been included. The titles have been selected and arranged to cover the different phases of thewar in Singapore - from the outbreak of hostilities in December 1941 and the fall of Singapore, followed by the period of the Japanese Occupation, to the suddenend of World War II (WWII) in August 1945 and its aftermath.

It has been more than six decades since the end of WWII. Memories have faded, and there are few living survivors in relentlessly progressive Singapore.However, the Japanese Occupation is a pivotal part of Singapore’s history. The younger generation needs to know that their ancestors once suffered the brutalityand whims of the enemy, that Singaporeans have starved and fought and died, that all we enjoy now are built on the ruins of a once devastated country. TheJapanese Occupation was also a time of political awakening, which eventually led to the notion of independence and nationhood.

This guide not only aims to provide an immersive list of resources on the Japanese Occupation, it also aims to show how war impacts upon every single person.By doing our utmost to preserve such precious memories, it is hoped that Singaporeans will always remember that modern Singapore is built on the blood andcourage of our forefathers.

[1] From Singapore to Syonan-to 1941-1945 : a select bibliography / [compilers & editors, V. Perumbulavil, Wong Heng] ; introduction by Ernest ChewCall Number: RSING 016.95957023 PER -[LIB]ISBN: 9971760363http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6284661Singapore : Reference Services Division, National Library, 1992

Editorial Notes

This annotated bibliography arranges the entries alphabetically by title, followed by the author’s name. The call number is also included for each entry to indicate where the title isto be found. To view the library catalogue record, click on the title of the book.

If you have any questions related to the topic, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We will try our best to provide answers or point you to relevant resources whereapplicable.

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Outbreak of war

Introduction

This section is further divided into:

Outbreak of war in East Asia: World War II began on 1 Sep 1939, but East Asia was only drawn into the fray in Dec 1941, when Japan attacked PearlHarbour and commenced its invasion of East Asia.

The Malayan Campaign: As Japan advanced down East Asia, the fighting between Allied and Japanese troops in Malaya and Singapore was referred to asthe "Malayan Campaign". This campaign raged from 2 Dec 1941 to 15 Feb 1942, and resulted in the surrender of Britain to Japan.

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Web Resource

Check out the history snippets by MINDEF on World War II. The time period is from 1941 to 1945, and includes significant events such as Sook Ching and the Double TenthMassacre.

Outbreak of war in East Asia

Bloody shambles. Volume 1, The drift to war to the fall of Singapore / Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Yasuho IzawaCall Number: RSING 940.53 SHO -[WAR]ISBN: 094881750X (v.1)http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6297913London : Grub Street, 1992

Tells the story of the disastrous Allied air campaign across Singapore, Malaya, Burma, Ceylon and the Philippines during WWII.

East Asia in turmoil / K. R. MenonCall Number: RSING 940.54815957 MEN -[WAR]ISBN: 997100125Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4082276Singapore : Educational Publications Bureau, 1981

Describes Japan's military victories and eventual defeat, and the author's wartime experiences in Singapore.

Japan's Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere in World War II : selected readings and documents / edited and introduced by Joyce C. Lebra.Call Number: RSING 940.5352 LEB -[WAR]ISBN: 0196382653http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=272346Kuala Lumpur ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1975

Contains thirty-three selected excerpts from scholarly, official and journalistic writings on Japan's approach to the occupation of East and Southeast Asia during the war period.

The Japanese file : pre-war Japanese penetration in Southeast Asia / Eric RobertsonCall Number: RSING 301.295209595 ROBISBN: 9971641097http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4452183Singapore : Heinemann Asia, 1986

Mainly covers the Japanese pre-war activities in Malaya, with passing references on other parts of Southeast Asia, which were used by the author to illustrate the "Japanesesystem of penetration."

Japanese offensive / Gurcharan SinghCall Number: RSING 940.5425 GUR -[WAR]ISBN: 8170720354http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6147673Jalandhar : ABS Publications, 1990

Describes the Japanese military's preparations and plans to conquer East Asia, based on official sources and personal points of views.

The landward defence of Singapore (1919-1938) / Ong Chit ChungCall Number: RSING 355.03355957 ONGISBN: 9971641720http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4728766Singapore : Heinemann Asia for Centre for Advanced Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NationalUniversity of Singapore, 1988

Argues that contrary to widespread belief, the British had anticipated an overland attack but could not activate their plans on time and were hampered by a total lack of supportfrom the Churchill government.

Operation Matador : World War II : Britain's attempt to foil the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore / Ong Chit ChungCall Number: RSING 940.542595 ONG -[WAR]ISBN: 9789814328470http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13704990Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011

Provides an account of Operation Matador - the British plan to counter an expected Japanese landward invasion of Malaya and Singapore, and why it did not come into effect.

A sudden rampage : the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia, 1941-1945 / Nicholas TarlingCall Number: RSING 940.5359 TARISBN: 9810443412http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10399529Singapore : Horizon Books, 2001

Describes how the Japanese invaded Southeast Asia, the impact of the war, and the economics of the Japanese Occupation.

The Malayan Campaign

A bibliography of literature relating to the Malayan campaign and the Japanese period in Malaya, Singapore, and northern Borneo / compiled and edited by Justin J. CorfieldCall Number: RSING 016.9405425 COR -[LIB]ISBN: 0859585573http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4886448Hull : University of Hull, Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, 1988

Compilation of works that describe events that caused the start of the war by the Japanese and the consequent fall of Singapore.

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/about_us/history/world_war2.html












A brief study of the Malayan campaign, 1941-42/ S.G. ChaphekarCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 CHAhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3811506Poona, Maharashtra militarisation board, 1960

Presents an account of the Malayan Campaign and the lessons to be learnt from it.

Guns of February : ordinary Japanese soldiers' views of Malayan campaign and the fall of Singapore 1941-42 / Henry FreiCall Number: RSING 940.5425 FRE -[WAR]ISBN: 9971692732http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=11919202Singapore : Singapore University Press, 2004

Offers insights into the minds and experiences of Japanese soldiers involved in the Malayan Campaign and the fall of Singapore.

A history of modern Singapore, 1819-2005 / C.M. TurnbullCall Number: RSING 959.57 TUR -[HIS]ISBN: 9789971694302http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13206047Singapore : NUS Press, 2009

Chapters 5 - 7 cover the Malayan Campaign, the Japanese Occupation and the aftermath of the war.

In 70 days : the story of the Japanese campaign in British MalayaCall Number: RCLOS 940.53595 GLOhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5014436London : F. Muller, 1949

Contains an autobiographical record of the Malayan Campaign by the former Managing Editor of the newspaper, Malaya Tribune.

Japanese invasion of Malaya & Singapore : memoirs of a doctor / T.J. DanarajCall Number: RSING 959.5105 DANISBN: 9839968203http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5629633Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia : T.J. Danaraj , 1990

Contains the memories of Dr T.J. Danaraj, who used to serve as a health officer in Malaya under Japanese rule.

The Japanese thrust / Lionel WigmoreCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 WIGhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3826844Canberra, Australian War Memorial, 1957

The Australian official war history relates mainly to the operations in Malaya during the first ten weeks of the war against Japan.

Malaya 1941-42 / E.G. Keogh ; maps by G.M. CapperCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 KEOhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4597460Melbourne : Printmaster, 1962

Attempts to present a comprehensive view, on how the war in Malaya developed from 1941 to 1942.

Malayan campaign 1941-42 : lessons for ONE SAF / Brian P. Farrell ... [et al.]Call Number: RSING 940.54259 MAL -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13109829Singapore : Pointer, Journal of the Singapore Armed Forces, 2008

Examines the Malayan Campaign from the perspective of the SAF, in terms of national decision-making as well as coalition and joint operations.

Malayan postscript / Ian MorrisonCall Number: RSING 940.5425 MOR -[WAR]ISBN: 9838992062http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6484253Kuala Lumpur : S. Abdul Majeed, 1993

Contains a short personal record of the Malayan Campaign.

Retreat in the East / O'Dowd GallagherCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 GALhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4126108London : G.G. Harrap, 1942

An account of Allied military ineptitude in the Malaya and Burma Campaigns by a South African War Correspondent of the London Daily Express who was rescued from thesinking Repulse.

Secrets of the battlebox / Romen BoseCall Number: RSING 940.5425 BOS -[WAR]ISBN: 9789814328548http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13699415Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011

Explains the history, use and role of the Battlebox, which was Britain’s Command HQ in the Malayan Campaign.

Seventy days to Singapore : the Malayan Campaign, 1941-1942 / Stanley L. FalkCall Number: RSING 940.5425 FAL -[WAR]ISBN: 070914928Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=187408London : Hale, 1975

An account of why Singapore fell and the military operations of the Malayan Campaign by the Chief Historian, United States Air Force.

Singapore, 1941-1942 / Louis Allen















Call Number: RSING 940.5425 ALL -[WAR]ISBN: 0714634735http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6703022London ; Portland, Or.: Frank Cass, 1993

Examines the Malayan Campaign against the economic, political and social background.

Singapore: too little, too late : some aspects of the Malayan disaster in 1942 / Ivan SimsonCall Number: RSING 940.5425 SIM -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4635581Kuala Lumpur : UMCB Publications, 1981

An account of Malayan defence and a warning on the dangers of such unpreparedness.

The War in Malaya and Indonesia 1941-1945 / edited by Philip CockrillCall Number: RSING 940.5425 WAR -[WAR]ISBN: 0947628533http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5041648Newbury : P. Cockrill, 1987

Includes a lecture by Lt.-General Louis Heath, Commander 3rd Army Corps, Malaya, to fellow officer prisoners-of-war in Changi Camp, April 1942, on the Malayan Campaign.

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Fall of Singapore

Introduction


Defence, siege and battle: Many fierce battles took place between the Japanese and Allied troops, before the eventual fall of Singapore on 15 Feb 1942.

Naval battles: Force Z (comprising of two battleships and four destroyers) was supposed to thwart the Japanese landings in Malaysia. Instead, Japanmanaged to sink both the battleships "Prince of Wales" and "Repulse", and obtained control of the surrounding seas.

Special Operations Executive / Force 136: The British secret operation unit was sent to Singapore in Nov 1940, and helped to provide resistance andsabotage throughout the Japanese Occupation.

Profiles of military leaders: Profiles of Japanese and Allied military leaders involved in the battle of Singapore.

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Search for information on the Japanese Occupation in NLB's Singapore Digitized Books.


Japanese occupation site:sgebooks.nl.sg

Or, browse the Digitized Books microsite. Our collection has a number of digitized books from the 1800s.

Defence, siege and battle

Battalion at war : Singapore 1942 / Michael MooreCall Number: RSING 940.5425 MOO -[WAR]ISBN: 0947893113http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5145404Norwich : Gliddon Books, 1988




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Describes how the Cambridgeshire Regiment was sent from England to face the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore. Based on the diary of the author's father.

The battle for Singapore : the true story of the greatest catastrophe of World War Two / Peter ThompsonCall Number: RSING 940.5425 THO -[WAR]ISBN: 0749950854http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12596390London : Portrait, 2005

Argues that Britain’s defeat in Singapore during WWII was due to poor military strategy and execution.

A Battle to be remembered : oral history extracts of war-time SingaporeCall Number: RSING 940.54861 BAT -[WAR]ISBN: 98180350http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4693352Singapore : Oral History Dept., 1988

Tells the story of the battle for Singapore, from the perspectives of ordinary soldiers and citizens. Accompanied by an audiocassette tape.

The bitter end / Richard Holmes and Anthony KempCall Number: RSING 940.5425 HOL -[WAR]ISBN: 0907319033http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2394482Chichester : Antony Bird, 1982

Describes the tactical and strategic miscalculations leading to the fall of Singapore, and eyewitness accounts of fighting in the Malay Peninsula.

The civil defence of Malaya : a narrative of the part taken in it by the civilian population of the country in the Japanese invasion/ Sir William George MaxwellCall Number: RCLOS 355.23 MAXhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4309450London : Published under the auspices of the Association of British Malaya by Hutchinson, 1948?

The Civil Defence included a corps of Air Raid Wardens, Medical Auxiliary Services, Auxiliary Fire Services, and a number of complementary services.

Microfilm: NL 16343

Decisive battles of the twentieth century : land, sea, air / edited by Noble Frankland and Christopher DowlingCall Number: RUR 940.42 DECISBN: 0283981644http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=783892London : Sidgwick & Jackson, 1976

Pages 155 - 170 describe the battle for Singapore and Malaya.

Defeat in Malaya : the fall of Singapore / Arthur SwinsonCall Number: RSING 940.5425 SWI -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4228535London : Macdonald, 1970

Provides the background of the war, and describes how the Allied forces were defeated in Malaya and Singapore. The author served in the British army during the war.

The defence and fall of Singapore 1940-1942 / Brian P. FarrellCall Number: RSING 940.5425 FAR -[WAR]ISBN: 0752423118http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12519274Stroud, Gloucestershire : Tempus, 2005

Shows how and why Singapore fell, by using primary documents, including the records of high policy held at the Australian War Memorial, the India Office Records (BritishLibrary), The National Archives (Kew) and the US Army Centre for Military History, as well as private papers of Air Chief Marshal Brooke-Popham and Generals Heath andPercival.

Did Singapore have to fall? : Churchill and the impregnable fortress / Karl Hack and Kevin BlackburnCall Number: RSING 940.5425 HAC -[WAR]ISBN: 0415308038http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12060408London ; New York, N.Y. : RoutledgeCurzon, 2004

Examines the factors that led to the fall of Singapore and Churchill's relations with his commanders.

The escape from Singapore / Richard GoughCall Number: RSING 940.5425 GOU -[WAR]ISBN: 9814032883http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9765499Singapore : Raffles, 2000

Provides accounts of both successful and unsuccessful evacuations of civilians and the military before the fall of Singapore.

The fall of Singapore / Frank OwenCall Number: RSING 940.5425 OWE -[WAR]ISBN: 0141391332http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10823519London : Penguin Books, 2001

Contains eyewitness accounts of the fighting in Southeast Asia and the British ineptitude in dealing with the Japanese, which led to the fall of Singapore.

The fall of Singapore / Timothy HallCall Number: RUR 940.5425957 HAL -[WAR]ISBN: 1863300430http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5598225Port Melbourne, Vic. : Mandarin Australia, 1990

Narrates the fall of Singapore, based on information from books, interviews, personal diaries and letters of people who served in the Malayan Campaign.














A great betrayal? : the fall of Singapore revisited / edited by Brian Farrell and Sandy HunterCall Number: RSING 940.5425 GRE -[WAR]ISBN: 9789814276269http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13234147Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2010

Analyses the fall of Singapore, with reference to the problems and events during the pre-war period as well as the activities of the Malayan campaign.

Hurricanes over Singapore : RAF, RNZAF and NEI fighters in action against the Japanese over the island and the Netherlands East Indies, 1942 / Brian Cull with PaulSortehaugCall Number: RSING 940.544941 CUL -[WAR]ISBN: 1904010806http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12355236London : Grub Street, 2004

Describes the bravery and sacrifices made by the Hurricane pilots and ground crew, made up of British, New Zealanders, Australians, Canadians, Dutch and Americans.

Japan's greatest victory, Britain's worst defeat / Masanobu Tsuji ; edited by H.V. Howe ; translated by Margaret E. LakeCall Number: RSING 940.5425 TSU -[WAR]ISBN: 1873376758http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8135977Staplehurst, Kent : Spellmount, 1997

Provides details on how Tsuji commanded the small group of officers, who formulated the plans and tactics for Japan's conquest of Malaya and Singapore. First published asSingapore: the Japanese Version in 1961.

The Japanese conquest of Malaya and Singapore December 1941-February 1942 / Ian Ward and Ralph ModderCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 WARISBN: 981001256Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5407471Singapore : Media Masters, 1989

Contains an illustrated chronology of the war with two detailed maps of the battles in Malaya and Singapore.

Last flight from Singapore / Arthur Gerald DonahueCall Number: RDTYS 940.535951 DONhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4345943London : Macmillan, 1944

Describes the air battles in the final days before the fall of Singapore. The author served as an American RAF pilot during the war.

Microfilm: NL 15401

The Malay regiment 1933-47 / Tan Sri Datuk Mubin Sheppard, with Foreword by Lt. General A. E. PercivalCall Number: RCLOS 355.31 SHE -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5012927Kuala Lumpur : Dept. of Public Relations, 1947?

Relates the history of the Malay Regiment which fought in the Malayan Campaign and participated actively in the defence of Singapore.

The matter of a massacre : Alexandra Hospital Singapore 14th/15th February 1942 / Peter BrutonCall Number: RSING q940.5425 BRU -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=126855741989

Contains an account of the Alexandra Hospital Massacre, where the Japanese extracted their revenge for the bitter battle at Pasir Panjang by bayoneting staff and patients.Based on official records and testimonies of survivors.

Medical students during the Japanese invasion of Singapore, 1941-1942 / Abdul Wahab ; edited by Cheah Jin SengCall Number: RSING 959.57022 ABD -[HIS]ISBN: 9971849534http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4679314Singapore : Academy of Medicine, 1987

Contains the author's account of the tragic deaths of eleven of his medical colleagues from enemy shelling, on 14 February 1942.

Official history of the Indian Armed Forces in the Second World War, 1939-45 : [campaigns in the Eastern theatre] / edited by Bisheshwar PrasadCall Number: RUR 940.5425 OFF -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4411504Delhi : Combined Inter-Services Historical Section, India & Pakistan, 1958-60

Chapters V-XI cover the battles for Malaya and Singapore in which nearly half of the Allied troops who fought were soldiers of the British Indian Army.

100 years of the Singapore Fire Service / Joan HonCall Number: RSING 363.378095957 HONISBN: 9971655136http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4985914Singapore : Produced & published for Singapore Fire Service by Times Books International, 1988

Includes an account of the role of the Singapore Fire Service during the siege of Singapore and under Japanese rule.

Operations of Malaya command, from 8th December, 1941 to 15th February, 1942 / Arthur Ernest PercivalCall Number: RRARE 940.53595 PERhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4194538London : H.M.S.O., 1948

Contains the despatch submitted to the Secretary of State for War on 25th April 1946, by Lt.- General A.E. Percival who was General Officer Commanding Malaya when warbroke out.

Out in the midday sun : Singapore 1941-45 / Kate CaffreyCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 CAF














ISBN: 0233964606http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4162267London : Deutsch, 1973

Describes a series of events that led to the fall of Singapore, with particular reference to the 5th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment.

Rage in Singapore : the cauldron of Asia boils over / David George PlotkinCall Number: RCLOS 940.548173 PLOhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4347964New York : Wisdom House, 1942

Contains an American's account of life in Singapore and Malaya and of his flight from Singapore just three days before it fell.

Microfilm: NL 0036/093-096

The sacrifice of Singapore : Churchill's biggest blunder / Michael ArnoldCall Number: RSING 940.5425957 ARN -[WAR]ISBN: 9789814302944http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13714457Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011

Gives an account of events leading up to WWII, as well as a detailed study of the troops on the ground attacking and defending Singapore. There is a focus on Prime MinisterWinston Churchill, whose actions and decisions are criticised.

Singapore & beyond : the story of the men of the 2/20 Battalion told by the survivors / compiled and edited by Don WallCall Number: RSING 940.541294 SIN -[WAR]ISBN: 0958984301http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3542276East Hills [W.S.W.] : 2/20 Battalion Association Secretary, 1985

Describes how the 2/20 Battalion took the brunt of the Japanese assault on Singapore on 8/ 9 February 1942 and suffered more than 400 casualties.

Singapore 1942 : Britain's greatest defeat / Alan WarrenCall Number: RSING 940.5425 WAR -[WAR]ISBN: 9810453205http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=11014741Singapore : Talisman, 2002

Explains what went wrong and how an outnumbered and poorly equipped Japanese force emerged victorious, through the use of original records and documents.

Singapore : the pregnable fortress : a study in deception, discord and desertion / Peter ElphickCall Number: RSING 940.5425 ELP -[WAR]ISBN: 0340649909http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8802861London : Coronet, 1995

Describes the fall of Singapore, by using official documents and interviewing survivors on both sides of the war.

The Singapore Artillery 100th year commemorative bookCall Number: RSING 358.12095957 SINISBN: 9971881764http://libguides.nl.sg/aecontent.php?pid=242835&sid=2073171Singapore : Headquarters Singapore Artillery, 1988

Chapters 2 & 3: The impregnable fortress and the fall of Singapore.

Singapore goes off the air / Giles PlayfairCall Number: RCLOS 940.548142 PLAhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2502179New York: E.P. Dutton & company, 1943

Provides an account of civilian life in Singapore during the nine weeks before its fall. The author previously worked in the Malaya Broadcasting Corporation.

Microfilm: NL0036/127-129

Singapore is silent / George WellerCall Number: RDET English 940.5425 WELhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=1727715New York: Harcourt, Brace and company, 1943

Contains reports of the fall of Singapore, from a former Chicago Daily News journalist.

Singapore nightmare : a story of the evacuation and an escape to Australia/ Outpost (pseud)Call Number: RCLOS 940.5425 OUThttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5017486London : J. Crowther, 1942

Describes an Englishman's attempt to escape from Singapore, the obstacles he faced and the help he received to finally reach Australia safely.

The Singapore story / Kenneth AttiwillCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 ATThttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3361296London, Muller, 1959

Reconstructs the siege and fall of Singapore in detail, from official despatches and reminiscences of people who experienced the ordeal.

The Singapore surrender / Gilbert MantCall Number: RSING 940.548194 MAN -[WAR]ISBN: 0864174179http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6272423Kenthurst [N.S.W.] : Kangaroo Press, 1992















Comprises the revised and expanded edition of two books: “Grim glory” (published in 1942) and “You’ll be sorry” (published in 1944). “Grim glory” addressed the Battle of Muar,while “You’ll be sorry” detailed the fall of Singapore.

Singapore tragedy / Stanley E FieldCall Number: RRARE 959.57 FIEhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4384806Sydney : Angus & Robertson, 1943

Describes life in Malaya and the Japanese blitz on Singapore, as experienced by a New Zealander who escaped on a Dutch liner before Singapore fell.

Singapore's Dunkirk / Geoffrey BrookeCall Number: RSING 940.5425 BRO -[WAR]ISBN: 0850529719http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=11914959Barnsley : Leo Cooper, 2003

Relates the harrowing ordeals of those who sought to escape after the fall of Singapore and the courage displayed by many men and women.

Singapore: the chain of disaster / S. Woodburn Kirby ; with a foreword by Earl Mountbatten of BurmaCall Number: RSING 940.535957 KIR -[WAR]ISBN: 0304936847http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4130248London : Cassell, 1971

Contains an unofficial history written by General Woodburn Kirby, who was the British Official Historian of the war against Japan. He argued that the blame should be placed onsuccessive British governments whose decisions from as early as 1919 built up the chain which eventually led to disaster.

Staff Wallah : at the fall of Singapore / John WyettCall Number: RSING 940.5425092 WYE -[WAR]ISBN: 1863739211http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8856031North Sydney : Allen & Unwin, 1996

Contains an eyewitness account of the fall of Singapore by an Australian soldier during WWII. It also tells of his encounter with the Japanese Kempeitai.

The strategic illusion : the Singapore strategy and the defence of Australia and New Zealand, 1919-1942 / Ian HamillCall Number: RSING 359.43 HAMISBN: 9971690241http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4082347Singapore : Singapore University Press, 1981

Explains the evolution of the Singapore strategy and the construction of the Singapore Naval Base in the context of British imperial defence policy, with particular reference tothe defence of Australia and New Zealand.

Sunset of the Raj : fall of Singapore, 1942 / Cecil LeeCall Number: RSING 940.5425 LEE -[WAR]ISBN: 1858211344http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7375261Edinburgh : Pentland Press, 1994

Examines how the British lost Malaya and Singapore to the Japanese, and the principal personalities involved in the conflict, together with personal anecdotes from the author.

Thailand and the fall of Singapore : a frustrated Asian revolution / Nigel J. BraileyCall Number: RSING 959.304 BRAISBN: 081330301Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3659512Boulder : Westview Press, 1986

Examines how the fall of Singapore led to Thailand's involvement in the war.

The war against Japan (Vol. 1) / S. Woodburn Kirby with C.T. Addis ... [et al.]Call Number: RCLOS 940.542 KIR v. 1http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2397429London : H.M. Stationery Off., 1957-69

Contains Britain's official history of the war.

The war in Malaya / Arthur Ernest PercivalCall Number: RRARE 940.53595 PERhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2531248London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1949

Contains a detailed account of the war by General Percival, the General Officer Commanding Malaya, who surrendered to the Japanese after the fall of Singapore.

We built and destroyed / Douglas BaileyCall Number: RSING 959.5035 BAIhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4117380London : Hurst & Blackett, [19--?]

Chapter X: Under the scorched earth policy, an engineer in the Malayan Public Works Service and his men destroyed stores of liquor, petrol and machinery in Singapore beforethe British surrender.

When Singapore fell : evacuations and escapes, 1941-42 / Joseph KennedyCall Number: RSING 940.5316 KEN -[WAR]ISBN: 0333459458http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4790483Basingstoke : Macmillan, 1989

Narrates desperate efforts to escape during the fall of Singapore, by ships, boats or on foot through the jungle.

Why Singapore fell / Henry Gordon Bennett














Call Number: RCLOS 940.5425 BENhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4368383Bombay : Thacker, 1945

Contains an account of the war by Gordon Bennett, who was General Officer commanding the Australian Imperial Forces during the Japanese invasion in WWII.

Why we lost Singapore/ Dorothy CrispCall Number: RDTYS 940.5425 CRIhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4096300London : The Author, 1944

Explains the reasons behind the fall of Singapore, using information from interviews with diplomats, soldiers and civilians.

Microfilm: NL 15070

The worst disaster : the fall of Singapore / Raymond CallahanCall Number: RSING 940.5425 CAL -[WAR]ISBN: 9810436777http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10401645Singapore : Cultured Lotus, 2001

Focuses on the high-level decisions made well before December 1941 that made the war in Malaya "hopeless from the beginning".

Naval battles

The loss of the 'Prince of Wales' and 'Repulse' / Geoffrey BennettCall Number: RUR 940.5425 BENISBN: 0711004358http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4134481Shepperton : Allan, 1973

Recounts the sea battles that led to the sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse.

Main fleet to Singapore / Russell GrenfellCall Number: RSING 940.545 GRE -[WAR]ISBN: 0195826957http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4182314Singapore : Oxford University Press, 1987

Provides details of the naval actions in WWII, including the sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse by the Japanese and the loss of Malaya.

The rise and fall of the Singapore Naval Base, 1919-1942 / W. David McIntyreCall Number: RSING 359.7 MACISBN: 0333248678http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4163560London : Macmillan, 1979

Explores the strategic significance of Singapore and the symbolic impact of the fall of Singapore.

The Singapore Naval Base and the defence of Britain's eastern empire, 1919-1941 / James NeidpathCall Number: RSING 359.7 NEIISBN: 0198224745http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2207044Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1981

Analyses British naval strategy in the Far East to explain the fall of Malaya and Singapore.

Someone has blundered : the story of the 'Repulse'and the 'Prince of Wales'/ Bernard AshCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 ASHhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4086383London: Joseph, 1960

Describes how Japan sank the British warships and controlled the entire South China Sea and the Pacific during the war.

Strategy at Singapore : a study of the American Council on Public Affairs / Eugene H. Miller ; with an introduction by W.D. PulestonCall Number: RRARE 355.03325957 MILhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4117174New York : Macmillan, 1942

Narrates the conception, construction and destruction of the naval base at Singapore.

Special Operations Executive / Force 136

Force 136 : story of a WWII resistance fighter / Tan Chong Tee ; translated by Lee Watt Sim & Clara ShowCall Number: RSING 940.54865951 TAN -[WAR]ISBN: 9813029900http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7543392Singapore : Asiapac Books, 1995

Tells the story of Tan Chong Tee, who was born and raised in Singapore, joined Force 136 during the war, and was captured and imprisoned by the Japanese (together withLim Bo Seng).

The jungle is neutral / F. Spencer ChapmanCall Number: RSING 940.53595 CHA -[WAR]













ISBN: 9812047735http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8739962Singapore : Times Books International, 1997

Gives details on Force 136, the British secret operation unit which joined communist guerrillas in the Malayan jungle to sabotage the enemy throughout the JapaneseOccupation.

Operations most secret : SOE : the Malayan theatre / Ian Trenowden ; foreword by the Earl Mountbatten of BurmaCall Number: RSING 940.548641 TRE -[WAR]ISBN: 0947554432http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7169690London : Crecy Books, 1994

Describes Force 136, how it was formed, and the missions it carried out during the Japanese Occupation.

SOE in the Far East / Charles CruickshankCall Number: RSING 940.5425 CRU -[WAR]ISBN: 0192158732http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4128567Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1983

Discusses the possibility of a different outcome of WWII had the Special Operations Executive been given more power in the decisions of the Allied movements during the war.

SOE Singapore : 1941-42 / Richard GoughCall Number: RSING 940.5425 GOU -[WAR]ISBN: 9814032875http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9765435Singapore : Raffles, 2000

Provides details on the officers of the Orient Mission, a section of Special Operations Executive, which formed the nucleus of guerrilla forces behind enemy lines whenSingapore fell.

Profiles of military leaders

The fall of General Gordon Bennett / A.B. LodgeCall Number: RSING 355.00924 LODISBN: 0868618829http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4296727Sydney ; Boston : Allen & Unwin, 1986

Investigates the events that led to the fall of Australia's most controversial soldier. During the fall of Singapore, General Gordon Bennett escaped back to Australia while hismen became prisoners under the Japanese.

Four samurai: a quartet of Japanese army commanders in the Second World War/ Arthur SwinsonCall Number: RSING 940.5425 SWI -[WAR]ISBN: 0090894405http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=561182London, Hutchinson, 1968

Describes the strong personality and military prowess of General Yamashita, and other Japanese generals in Southeast Asia.

Percival and the tragedy of Singapore / Sir John SmythCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 PERISBN: 0356035948http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4131294London : Macdonald and Co., 1971

Contains a defence of General Percival, as written by his close friend who had full access to his private papers.

Scapegoat : General Percival of Singapore / Clifford KinvigCall Number: RSING 940.5425 KIN -[WAR]ISBN: 185753171Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8845176London : Brassey's UK, 1996

Narrates the career of General Percival during his military service, his leadership during the Japanese invasion as well as his role after the Japanese Occupation.

A soldier must hang : the biography of an oriental general / John Deane PotterCall Number: RCLOS 940.541352 POThttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4090361London : Muller, 1963

Contains a biography of General Yamashita, who conquered Malaya and Singapore in seventy days.

Three military leaders : Heihachiro Togo, Isoroku Yamamoto, Tomoyuki Yamashita / Edwin P. HoytCall Number: RSING 940.54092052 HOY -[WAR]ISBN: 4770017375http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6580365Tokyo : Kodansha International, 1993

Tells the story of General Yamashita and the conflict of modern warfare with traditional 'samurai' beliefs.

The War lords : military commanders of the twentieth century / edited by Sir Michael CarverCall Number: RUR 355.3310922 WARISBN: 0316130605http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=763537Boston : Little, Brown, 1976














Includes chapters on Marshall of the RAF, Lord Tedder, who put the blame for the fall of Singapore on the High Command in Britain and not on the civilian government inMalaya.

Wavell, supreme commander, 1941-1943 / John Connell; edited and completed by Michael RobertsCall Number: RUR 940.5425 WAV.C -[WAR]ISBN: 000211920Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=561824London, Collins, 1969

Tells the story of Wavell, the first Allied Supreme Commander of the War who had to "shoulder the military responsibility for the most calamitous succession of defeats that theBritish had ever sustained."

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Introduction


Life during the Occupation: Accounts and analyses of life in Singapore under Japanese rule, from 15 Feb 1942 to 12 Sep 1945.

Life during the Occupation (personal accounts): Accounts of life written from the personal perspectives of people who lived through the Occupation.

Prison life (military): Details of the daily lives and living conditions of military soldiers at prisoner of war (POW) camps in Singapore.

Prison life (civilians): Descriptions of the lives of civilians interned in Changi Prison during the Occupation.

Japan and the Indian National Army: During World War II, the Indians allied with the Japanese to fight for their independence from the British. The anti-British Indian National Army was then formed in Malaya and Singapore.

Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau: During the Occupation, two risky Allied raids were carried out in Singapore: one was successful, the otherwas a total failure.

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Sime Road Camp: infopedia.nl.sg







The Bamboo fortress : true Singapore war stories / H. SidhuCall Number: RSING 959.57023 SID -[HIS]ISBN: 9810031017http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6203841Singapore : Native Publications, 1991

Provides details of the Japanese invasion and occupation of Singapore, as told by a generation of Singaporeans who lived through those times.

Beyond the empires : memories retold / Cindy ChouCall Number: RSING 959.57023 CHO -[HIS]






ISBN: 9813036095http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7482476Singapore : Oral History Centre, National Archives of Singapore, National Heritage Board, 1995

Contains personal memories of Singaporeans about the Japanese Occupation.

Chop suey / Liu KangCall Number: RSING 940.53595 CHO -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6199740[S.l. : s.n., 1990]

Contains a well-known Singaporean artist's drawings of atrocities perpetrated by Japanese soldiers in Malaya and Singapore.

Decade of change : Malaya and the Straits Settlements, 1936-1945 / Bryan C. CooperCall Number: RSING 959.57 COO -[HIS]ISBN: 9812180621http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10200742Singapore : Graham Brash, 2001

Describes how the British lost the Malay States, as well as personal encounters of the author during the Japanese Occupation.

Educational policy and performance in Singapore, 1942-1945 / Harold E. WilsonCall Number: RSING 379.5957023 WILhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1973

Examines how Japan, like Britain, used education for cultural indoctrination but the Japanese utilitarian approach rendered obsolete, the colonial system of education geared to"white collar" jobs in the post-war period.

Eternal vigilance : the price of freedom / compiled and edited by Foong Choon HonCall Number: RSING q940.5425 ETE -[WAR]ISBN: 9812293957http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12679756Singapore : Asiapac Books, 2006

Shows how ordinary Singaporeans survived before, during and after the Japanese Occupation. Based on the Chinese book, 居安思危, published in August 1999.

The good citizen's guide, handbook of declarations, orders, rules and regulations etc. / issued by Gunseikan-bu (Military Administration Dept.), Syonan Tokubetu-si(Municipality), and Johore AdministrationCall Number: RRARE 348.5957026 SYOhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4412487Singapore : Syonan Sinbun, 1943

A guide on how to be law-abiding citizens under the Japanese Military Administration.

Microfilm: NL 7400

The history of Jews in Singapore, 1830-1945 / Eze NathanCall Number: RSING 301.45192405957 NATISBN: 997184429Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4080637Singapore : HERBILU Editorial & Marketing Services, 1986

Describes how the Jewish community fared during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore.

A history of Singapore / edited by Ernest C.T. Chew and Edwin LeeCall Number: RSING 959.57 HIS -[HIS]ISBN: 0195885651http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5914108Singapore : Oxford University Press, 1991

Chapter 6: The Syonan Years, 1942-45 by Eunice Thio.

History of the formation of the Oversea Chinese Association and the extortion by J.M.A. of $50,000,000 military contribution from the Chinese in Malaya / Tan Yeok SeongCall Number: RDTYS 940.53109595 TANhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4412532Singapore : Nanyang Book Co., 1947

Recounts how the Overseas Chinese Association, formed on the orders of the Japanese, was forced to pay a contribution to the Japanese Military Administration.

The Japanese occupation 1942-1945 : a pictorial record of Singapore during the war / Tan Beng Luan and Irene QuahCall Number: RSING q940.5425 TAN -[WAR]ISBN: 9812047417http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7971548Singapore : Times Editions, 1996

Contains descriptions and photographs of Singapore during the Japanese Occupation, and accounts of personal experiences.

The Japanese Occupation : Singapore 1942-1945 / Singapore : Archives & Oral History DeptCall Number: RSING 779.995957 JAPISBN: 9971871661http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4080649Singapore : Archives & Oral History Dept., 1985

Shows the Japanese Occupation through black and white photographs, alongside English and Chinese text.

The Japanese occupation of Malaya (Singapore) and its currency / Wong Hon Sum ; translated from Chinese by Roger S.C. NgCall Number: RSING 737.095957 WONISBN: 9810081901http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8347345Singapore : Wong's Collection, 1996




http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?











Contains a pictorial collection of currencies used during the Japanese Occupation.

The Japanese occupation of Malaya : a social and economic history / Paul H. KratoskaCall Number: RSING 959.5103 KRAISBN: 1864486139http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8730882St Leonards, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 1998

Looks at the impact of the Japanese Occupation on Malaya during and after the war.

Malaya and Singapore during the Japanese Occupation / edited by Paul H. KratoskaCall Number: RSING 940.5425 MAL -[WAR]ISBN: 9971624168http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7644322Singapore : Dept. of History, National University of Singapore, 1995

Contains a collection of articles by different authors on the Japanese Occupation and its impact on the different races.

Malaya upside down / Chin Kee OnnCall Number: RCLOS 940.53595 CHIhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4082027Singapore : Federal Publications, 1976

Shows how people lived and worked in occupied Malaya and Singapore, and how the enemy exploited the people and the countries' wealth in the interests of Japan.

The Marquis : a tale of Syonan-to / E.J.H. CornerCall Number: RSING 959.57023 COR -[HIS]ISBN: 9971640341http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4080105Singapore : Heinemann Asia, 1981

Tells the story of the Japanese scholar and nobleman, Yoshichika Tokugawa, president of the Museum and Botanic Gardens from 1942 to 1944. Corner and a few others werespared internment to continue scientific research and preserve the valuable collections of the institutions.

Memories unfolded : a guide to memories at Old Ford Factory / edited by Pitt Kuan WahCall Number: RSING 940.530745957 ONG -[WAR]ISBN: 9789810814779http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13139247Singapore : National Archives of Singapore, 2008

Provides a pictorial guide to the exhibits within the Old Ford Factory. which is the site of the surrender of the British Military forces to the Japanese in 1942. It is currently amuseum on the Japanese Occupation in Singapore.

Money and banking in China and Southeast Asia during the Japanese military occupation 1937 - 1945 / Richard A. BanyaiCall Number: RUR 332.10959 BANhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=353305Taipei : Tai Wan Enterprises Co., 1974

Covers economic and banking issues in Southeast Asian countries during the Occupation.

New perspectives on the Japanese occupation in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-1945 / edited by Akashi Yoji & Yoshimura MakoCall Number: RSING 940.5337 NEWISBN: 9789971692995http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12849736Singapore : NUS Press, 2008

Contains articles by Japanese authors, who analysed the Occupation using Japanese-language materials and interviews.

Odd man out : the story of the Singapore traitor / Peter Elphick and Michael SmithCall Number: RSING 940.5425 ELP -[WAR]ISBN: 0340587628http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6448086London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1993

Describes the story of a British officer in Malaya, who betrayed the British during WWII.

The postage stamps of Japanese occupied Malaya / Yun-Ts'iao HsuCall Number: RCLOS 769.569595 HSU -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4980257Singapore : South Seas Society, 1948

Features the stamps used during the Japanese Occupation.

The price of peace : true accounts of the Japanese occupation / compiled & edited by Foong Choon Hon; translated by Clara ShowCall Number: RSING 959.57 PRI -[HIS]ISBN: 9813068531http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8468498Singapore : Asiapac, 1997

Contains stories about real life war heroes and their anti-Japanese activities in Singapore.

Red star over Malaya : resistance and social conflict during and after the Japanese occupation of Malaya, 1941-1946 / Cheah Boon KhengCall Number: RSING 959.5103 CHEISBN: 9971692740http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12214053Singapore : Singapore University Press, 2003

Studies the social issues faced during and after the Japanese Occupation, with a focus on inter-racial conflicts.

Singapore : an illustrated history, 1941-1984 / Information Division, Ministry of CultureCall Number: RSING 959.57 SIN -[HIS]














ISBN: 9971750309http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4080295Singapore : Information Division, Ministry of Culture, 1984

Chapters 1 and 2 contain black and white photographs on the war and the Japanese Occupation.

The Singapore Chinese Massacre, 18 February to 4 March 1942 / Ralph ModderCall Number: RSING 940.5405095957 MOD -[WAR]ISBN: 9810503881http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12410495Singapore : Horizon Books, 2004

Focuses on the Sook Ching Massacre during the Japanese Occupation (“Sook Ching” means “purification by purging” in Chinese).

Southeast Asia under Japanese occupation / edited by Alfred W. McCoyCall Number: RSING 940.5359 SOU -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2068005New Haven : Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 1980

Chapters by Yoji Akashi and Cheah Boon Kheng cover the effects of the Japanese Occupation.

Southeast Asian minorities in the wartime Japanese empire / edited by Paul H. KratoskaCall Number: RSING 959.052 SOUISBN: 070071488Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10753880London ; New York, N.Y. : RoutledgeCurzon, 2002

Provides case studies of different countries and people during the reign of the Japanese empire.

Syonan : Singapore under the Japanese : a catalogue of oral history interviews / Lam Bee Goh and Wong Hway FeiCall Number: RSING 959.57023 SYO -[HIS]ISBN: 9971990830http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4452143Singapore : Oral History Dept., 1986

Contains recollections of war-time experiences of Singaporeans and Allied personnel.

The Syonan years : Singapore under Japanese rule 1942-1945 / Lee Geok BoiCall Number: RSING q940.53957 LEE -[WAR]ISBN: 9810542909http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12661517Singapore : National Archives of Singapore and Epigram, 2005

Brings together a wealth of materials (photographs, maps, artefacts, oral interviews, newspapers) to provide a narrative of life during the Japanese Occupation.

Syonan years, 1942-1945 : living beneath the rising sun / edited by Pitt Kuan Wah and Leong WeeCall Number: RSING 940.530745957 TAN -[WAR]ISBN: 9789810580506http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13221326Singapore : National Archives of Singapore, 2009

Focuses on daily life during the Japanese Occupation, with first-hand accounts, selected newspaper articles and photographs.

Unit 731 : the Japanese army's secret of secrets / Peter Williams and David WallaceCall Number: RSING 940.541352 WIL -[WAR]ISBN: 0586208224http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5685134London : Grafton Books, 1990

Describes how branches of Unit 731, euphemistically called Boeki Kyusui Bu or Anti-Epidemic and Water Purification Department, were set up in Canton, Peking andSingapore with the aim of making biological weapons.

Wartime kitchen : food and eating in Singapore, 1942-1950 / Wong Hong SuenCall Number: RSING 641.30095957 WONISBN: 9789814217583http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13158872Singapore : Editions Didier Millet and National Museum of Singapore, 2009

Relates how eating habits changed due to food shortages during and after the Japanese Occupation. In-depth research is presented alongside personal memories, photos andrecipes.

When Singapore was Syonan : being a brief account of what transpired during the three and a half years Japanese occupation of Singapore / Hock Leong ChewCall Number: RRARE 959.51 CHEhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4980025Singapore : Printed by G. H. Kiat, 1945

Contains information on several facets of life during the Japanese Occupation.

Microfilm: NL 8342

Life during the Occupation (personal accounts)

Aisha Bee at war : a very frank memoir / Aisha AkbarCall Number: RSING 959.57022 AIS -[HIS]ISBN: 9813002301http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5441635Singapore : Landmark Books, 1990














Relates life in pre-war Singapore and up to 1945, as seen through the eyes of a ten year old child.

Amber sands : a boyhood memoir / Lee Kip LeeCall Number: RSING q920.71 LEEISBN: 9810124414http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9641747Singapore : Federal Publications, 1999

Contains the author's personal account of growing up, including life during the war years.

Amusing sidelights on Japanese occupation (Malaya, January 1942-August 1945) / Thomas R. P. Dawson ; illustrated by S. McCoyCall Number: RSING 940.5481595 DAW -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=756649Petaling Jaya : Dawson, 1972

Contains anecdotes of cruelty by the Japanese, as well as amusing misunderstandings.

A cloistered war : behind the convent walls during the Japanese occupation / Maisie DuncanCall Number: RSING 940.5425092 DUN -[WAR]ISBN: 9789814302302http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13557930Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2010

Portrays life in a convent school during the Japanese Occupation.

Dr Paglar : everyman's hero / Rex Shelley with Chen FenCall Number: RSING 610.92 SHEISBN: 9789814266468http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13348517Singapore : Published for the Eurasian Association by Straits Times Press, 2010

Relates the story of Dr Charles Paglar, a well-known Eurasian doctor and community leader. He was charged with treason for collaborating with the Japanese during the warbut was later acquitted.

Elizabeth Choy : more than a war heroine : a biography / Zhou MeiCall Number: RSING 371.10092 ZHOISBN: 9813002980http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7484319Singapore : Landmark Books, 1995

Contains a true account of Elizabeth Choy, who was tortured during the Japanese Occupation.

Escape from Battambang : a personal World War II experience / Geoffrey TanCall Number: RSING 940.54815957 TAN -[WAR]ISBN: 9814045063http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10293943Singapore : Armour Publishing, 2001

Describes life during the Japanese Occupation, when the author was a young boy.

Extraordinary adventures of an ordinary man / Chan Bee ThioCall Number: RSING 959.57 THI -[HIS]ISBN: 090126928Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=1209088London : Grosvenor Books, 1977

Contains the story of Dr. Thio, an eminent Singapore educationist. The first six chapters cover his experiences as a youth during the Japanese Occupation.

In the grip of a crisis : the experiences of a teenager during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, 1942-45 / Rudy MosbergenCall Number: RSING 940.54815957 MOS -[WAR]ISBN: 9789810586096http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12910980Singapore : Printed by Seng City Trading, 2007

Portrays the confusion, difficulties and events during the Japanese Occupation, which the author experienced as a teenager.

Kempeitai kindness / Tan Thoon LipCall Number: RCLOS 940.54725951 TANhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4412499Singapore : Malayan Law Journal, 1946

Describes the author's sixty days of torture by the Japanese military police at the Central Police station and the Kempeitai Headquarters in the YMCA building.

Microfilm: NL 10187

My side of history / Chin Peng ; as told to Ian Ward and Norma MiraflorCall Number: RSING 959.5104092 CHIISBN: 9810486936http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12106841Singapore : Media Masters, 2003

Contains personal encounters of Chin Peng during the communist movement against the British. However, during the Japanese Occupation, he was involved in the anti-Japanese movement.

My wartime experiences in Singapore / Mamoru Shinozaki, interviewed by Lim Yoon LinCall Number: RSING 959.57023 SHI -[HIS]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4081691Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1973

Describes life in Singapore during the war. Mamoru Shinozaki was a Japanese officer who saved thousands of Chinese during Sook Ching by issuing them good citizenpasses.














Papa as a little boy named Ah Khoon / Andrew Tan Chee KhoonCall Number: RSING 959.5704092 TAN -[HIS]ISBN: 9789810583293http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13141198Singapore : Ring of Light Publishers, 2007

Portrays the Japanese Occupation and its atrocities, through the eyes of a child who grew up in a kampong.

Remember Pompong and Oxley Rise / Su Lan ChenCall Number: RCLOS 940.5481 CHEhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4077576Singapore : Chen Su Lan Trust, 1969

Describes the author's experiences as a war victim in Syonan-to and the massacres of the population in Singapore, Johore, Negri Sembilan and Pahang.

Rosie's war : escape from Singapore 1942 / Rosalind Sharbanee MeyerCall Number: RSING 959.5704092 SHA -[HIS]ISBN: 9780977541652http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12880557Darlinghurst, N.S.W. : Sydney Jewish Museum, 2007

Describes the fall of Singapore from the point of view of a six year old child. The author managed to escape to India with the female members of her family, while her fatherwas interned in Singapore during the Occupation.

Scholar, banker, gentleman soldier : the reminiscences of Dr. Yap Pheng Geck / Yap Pheng GeckCall Number: RSING 959.5700994 YAP -[HIS]ISBN: 9971651149http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4080133Singapore : Times Books International, 1982

Contains the story of Dr Yap, who was in the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during the Japanese Occupation.

Singapore : through sunshine and shadow / John Bertram Van CuylenburgCall Number: RSING 959.57 VAN -[HIS]ISBN: 9971640325http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4080104Singapore : Heinemann Asia, 1982

Narrates the life of a Eurasian doctor, including his efforts to survive with his family during the war years.

Singapore assignment / Tatsuki FujiiCall Number: RCLOS 959.57 FUJ -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4123785Tokyo : Nippon Times, 1943

Describes how Fujii, a journalist with the Japanese-controlled Singapore Herald before the war, was interned by the British and later became editor of Shonan Times.

Sold for silver : an autobiography of a girl sold into slavery in Southeast Asia / Janet LimCall Number: RSING 940.547252 LIM -[WAR]ISBN: 9810517289http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12423773Singapore : Monsoon, 2004

Portrays the author's escape from Singapore at the outbreak of war and the three years she spent in Sumatra under the Japanese as a fugitive, prisoner and nurse beforereturning to Singapore.

Son of Singapore / Tan Kok SengCall Number: RSING 920 TANISBN: 9812350535http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9337432Singapore : Longman, 1999

Describes the author's experiences as a young boy during the Japanese Occupation.

Syonan : my story : the Japanese occupation of Singapore / Mamoru ShinozakiCall Number: RSING 959.57023 SHI -[HIS]ISBN: 9789814328524http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13699400Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011

Gives details on how Mamoru Shinozaki helped the local people in Singapore during the Japanese Occupation. He was imprisoned by the British for espionage before the war,and later served in high office during the Japanese Occupation.

A time of fireflies and wild guavas / Maurice BakerCall Number: RSING q370.92 BAKhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9653246Singapore : Federal Publications, 1999

Consists of the author's personal memories of his life during the fall of Singapore and the subsequent Japanese Occupation. It also relates the different kinds of treatmentreceived by the different races, namely Chinese, Malays, Tamils and Eurasians.

The thorn of lion city : a memoir / Lucy LumCall Number: RSING 959.5703092 LUM -[HIS]ISBN: 9780007200344http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12854545London : Fourth Estate, 2007

Portrays what the author's family went through during the Japanese Occupation. The Japanese atrocities are contrasted with the cruelties from her own family members.

When Singapore was Syonan-to / Ngiong Ing LowCall Number: RSING 940.54815957 LOW -[WAR]














ISBN: 9812327770http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12236444Singapore : Times Editions, 2004

Contains the author's recollections of events in wartime Singapore, largely based on his "This Singapore", which was privately printed and distributed in 1947.

Where is thy victory? / Muriel La BrooyCall Number: RSING 940.5481 LAB -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5071148S.l. : s.n., 1987

Describes events that happened in Singapore from December 1941 to August 1945, from the perspective of a Eurasian school teacher who tried to keep her family safe duringthe war.

With freedom to Singapore / Oswald Wellington GilmourCall Number: RSING 959.57023 GIL -[HIS]ISBN: 0404548296http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=58725New York : AMS Press, 1974

Describes Singapore under the Japanese Occupation and the eventual liberation, with insight into the British administrative aspect, as the author was working in the MalayanPlanning Unit (under the British war office).

A young girl's wartime diary : the journal of a teenager written during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore / Si Hoe Sing LengCall Number: RSING 959.5703 SIT -[HIS]ISBN: 9789814200561http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12974483Singapore : Lingzi Media, 2007

Views the Japanese Occupation through the eyes of a fourteen year old girl. The book was first published in Chinese in 2006.

Prison life: Military

And the dawn came up like thunder/ Leo RawlingsCall Number: RSING 940.548142 RAW -[WAR]ISBN: 0903488000http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=540257Harpenden, Rawlings: Chapman Publications Ltd, 1972

Describes the author's experiences as a POW in Singapore and Thailand.

Changi interlude : leaves from the diary of a third class internee / Guy HeriotCall Number: RCLOS 940.547252 HERhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4197262London : Baxter, 1946

Describes the author's internment in Changi POW Camp (written in verse).

The Changi murals : the story of Stanley Warren's war / Peter W. StubbsCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 STU -[WAR]ISBN: 9813065842http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12162378Singapore : Landmark Books, 2003

Tells the story of Stanley Warren, the POW who painted the enduring murals in the Changi POW Camp.

Changi photographer : George Aspinall's record of captivity / Tim BowdenCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 ASP -[WAR]ISBN: 9812042407http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6334804Singapore : Times Editions, 1991

Contains a young Australian soldier's photographs of life in Changi and Thai Burma Railway POW camps, and his personal story as told to and written by a broadcaster.

Changi, the lost years : a Malayan diary, 1941-1945 / T.P.M. LewisCall Number: RSING 940.547252095957 LEW -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3985759Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia : Malaysian Historical Society, 1984

Describes life in the Changi and Sime Road POW camps.

Darkness before the dawn : diary of a Changi POW 1941-1945 / J.N. FarrowCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 FAR -[WAR]ISBN: 9781904985556http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13001131Peterborough : Stamford House Publishing, 2007

Reproduces a diary kept by Sgt. J. N. Farrow of the 5th Royal Norfolk Regiment, who documented life in the Changi POW Camp.

Don't ever again say "it can't be done!" : the story of Changi Industries Inc / Captain John G. Clemetson ; sketches by Les BettanyCall Number: RSING 940.547252 CLE -[WAR]ISBN: 9810542577http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12654550Singapore : Changi University Press, 2005

Portrays Changi Industries Inc (in a picture book format), which was set up by ingenious POWs to help fulfil the needs of fellow POWs.

Eaten by the Japanese / John Baptist Crasta ; introduction and two essays by Richard Crasta














Call Number: RSING 940.5425 CRA -[WAR]ISBN: 9814032689http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9765202Singapore : Raffles, 1999

Narrates the life of an Indian soldier employed in the Imperial British Army, who refused to join the Japanese after the fall of Singapore. Instead, he suffered through theJapanese Occupation as a POW.

Exhibition of paintings and drawings / V. Murray GriffinCall Number: RCLOS 756 GRI year 1976-1947http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4120845S.l. : s.n., 1946-47

An illustrated catalogue for a Commonwealth exhibition of the Australian Official War Artist's works done while in captivity in Changi POW Camp.

Microfilm: NL 15435

The history of Changi / Henry ProbertCall Number: RSING 959.57 PRO -[HIS]ISBN: 9810555806http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12744559Singapore : Changi University Press, 2006

Contains a history of the Changi area, including the wartime years as a POW Camp. The book was originally printed by Prison Industries in Changi Prison in 1965.

I fed the 5000 : based on the experience of ex-RQMS John Franks 179594, as told by him / John FranksCall Number: RSING 940.5472520924 FRA -[WAR]ISBN: 0705102122http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4134231London : Mitre Press, 1975

Tells the story of the author, who fought the Japanese in Yong Peng, Malaya, was interned in Changi POW Camp and later worked on the Siam-Burma Railway.

Love is the spur / by Geoffrey BinghamCall Number: RSING 940.547252 BIN -[WAR]ISBN: 9781876730062http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12683216North Parramatta, NSW : Eyrie Books, 2004

Describes how the author was incarcerated as a POW in Changi and Kranji POW camps.

MacDougal's farm / Eric LambertCall Number: RCLOS 940.54725951 LAMhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4084497London: F. Muller, 1965

Provides details of the courage and indomitable character of a POW.

The missing years : a POW's story from Changi to Hellfire Pass, 1942-45 / Stu LloydCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 LLO -[WAR]ISBN: 9781877058776http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13180947Dural Delivery Centre, N.S.W. : Rosenberg Pub., 2009

Tells the story of Captain Hugh Pilkington, a POW in Changi Camp who was also sent to work on the Thai-Burma Death Railway.

The naked island / Russell BraddonCall Number: RSING 940.547252 BRA -[WAR]ISBN: 0140149759http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6606807Ringwood, Victoria : Penguin Books, 1993

Narrates the bewildering days and nights of the Malayan Campaign and of over three years in captivity, from a soldier's perspective.

No time for geishas/ Geoffrey Pharaoh AdamsCall Number: RSEA 940.547252 ADAISBN: 0850521033http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=549544London, Cooper, 1973

Describes how the author was interned in Changi POW Camp for a short period and helped to build the Syonan Shinto off Thomson Road.

Of love and war : the letters and diaries of Captain Adrian Curlewis and his family, 1939-1945 / compiled by Philippa PooleCall Number: RSING 940.548194 CUR -[WAR]ISBN: 0712601600http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4252780London : Centuring Pub., 1983

Reproduces the diaries of an Australian in Changi POW Camp, which were discovered and edited by his daughter.

One man's war / Stan ArneilCall Number: RSING 940.54815 ARN -[WAR]ISBN: 090918853Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4138848Sydney : Alternative Pub. Cooperative, 1981

Covers the author's imprisonment in Changi POW Camp, the infamous Siam-Burma Railway and his return to Australia in October 1945.

The other side of Tenko / L. L. BaynesCall Number: RSEA 940.5472520924 BAY -[WAR]ISBN: 0352317213














http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4145410London : W. H. Allen, 1985

Relates the author's POW days in Changi and Thailand.

P.O.W. : prisoners of war : Australians under Nippon / Hank NelsonCall Number: RSING 940.547252 NEL -[WAR]ISBN: 0642527369http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4191848Sydney : Published by ABC Enterprises for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1985

Describes how and why out of the 22,000 Australian soldiers captured in Malaya and Singapore, only 14,000 survived the POW camps.

Prisoner of the Japanese from Changi to Tokyo / Tom Henling WadeCall Number: RSING 940.5481 WAD -[WAR]ISBN: 0864176023http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7027757Kenthurst, NSW, Aust. : Kangaroo Press, 1994

Provides details on how Lieutenant Tom Wade was captured and became a POW in Changi. He was then moved to Korea and finally to Tokyo.

Prisoners of the Japanese in World War II : statistical history, personal narratives, and memorials concerning POWs in camps and on hellships, civilian internees, Asian slavelaborers, and others captured in the Pacific Theater / Van WaterfordCall Number: RSING 940.547252 WAT -[WAR]ISBN: 0899508936http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6612206Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 1994

Contains true accounts from POWs on how they suffered under the Japanese during WWII.

Prisoners of war / Hugh Clarke, Colin Burgess, Russell BraddonCall Number: RSING 940.547252 CLA -[WAR]ISBN: 0949118257http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5551910Sydney : Time-Life Books in association with J. Ferguson, 1988

Chapter 3: An account of POWs' struggles to survive massive overcrowding, starvation and tropical diseases in Changi POW Camp.

Reassessing the Japanese prisoner of war experience : the Changi POW camp, Singapore, 1942-5 / R.P.W. HaversCall Number: RSING 940.547252 HAV -[WAR]ISBN: 0700716572http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10918566London ; New York, N.Y. : RoutledgeCurzon, 2003

Explores the ingenious ways in which the POWs improved their lives at Changi POW Camp.

The remorseless road : Singapore to Nagasaki : an RAF officer's account of capture and the Japanese prison camps in World War II / James McEwanCall Number: RSING 940.53 MAC -[WAR]ISBN: 1853108863http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8760590Shrewsbury : Airlife Pub., 1997

Tells the story of the author, who served in the RAF and was posted to Singapore. He became a POW after the fall of the British and managed to survive against all odds.

Road from Singapore / Diana NormanCall Number: RSING 364.8092 DOD.NISBN: 0340234830http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4163992London etc. : Hodder and Stoughton, 1979

Narrates how John Dodd escaped to Java in 1942 but was captured six months later and imprisoned in Changi POW Camp.

Singapore burning : heroism and surrender in World War II / Colin SmithCall Number: RSING 940.5425 SMI -[WAR]ISBN: 0670913413http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12546124London : Viking, 2005

Weaves together individual, first-hand accounts of troops, following the fall of Singapore, from British, Australian, Indian and Japanese sources.

Singapore diary : the hidden journal of Captain R.M. Horner / edited by Sally Moore McQuaidCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 HOR -[WAR]ISBN: 1862273715http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12803936Stroud : Spellmount, 2006

Reproduces the diary of a POW, filled with personal stories and cartoons drawn by fellow POWs. The diary was hidden in the false bottom of a suitcase throughout theJapanese Occupation.

Sinister twilight : the fall of Singapore / Noel BarberCall Number: RSING 959.57 BAR -[HIS]ISBN: 0099559609http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5893056London : Arrow Books, 1988

Describes how soldiers survived the fighting and incarceration in POW camps, based on unofficial sources - papers, diaries and notes.

Slaves of the son of heaven : the personal story of an Australian prisoner of the Japanese during the years 1942-1945/ Roy H WhitecrossCall Number: RUR 940.547252095 WHI -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5031473Sydney : Dymock's Book Arcade, 1952















Provides an Australian soldier's account of his life as a POW during the Japanese Occupation, with vivid details of camp life.

Spotlight on Singapore/ Denis Russell-RobertsCall Number: RCLOS 940.5425 RUShttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2590277Douglas, Isle of Man: Times Press, 1965

Describes a serving officer's experiences in the fighting in Malaya and Singapore and as a prisoner during the Japanese Occupation.

The story of Changi Singapore / David NelsonCall Number: RSING 940.547252 NEL -[WAR]ISBN: O950324302http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10904614Singapore : Changi Museum Pte. Ltd., 2001

Reproduces the diary of the author, who was interned at Changi POW Camp during the Japanese Occupation and recorded the ordeals of the POWs.

To the Kwai and back : war drawings, 1939-1945 / Ronald SearleCall Number: RART 741.942 SEAISBN: 0285637452http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12794455London : Souvenir, 2006

Depicts the imprisonment of the author via drawings. The author was imprisoned mostly in Changi POW Camp except for about eight months on the Siam-Burma railway.

We came home or return from the land of milk and honey : a true story of living hell / Richard J. ArmstrongCall Number: RSING 940.547252 ARM -[WAR]ISBN: 0859053520http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13063872Carlisle, W.A. : Hesperian Press, 2005, 1992

Relates the experience of the author in Changi POW Camp and on the Burma railway.

White coolie / Ronald HastainCall Number: RCLOS 940.547252 HAShttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4206411London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1947

Describes the trauma of life in Japanese POW camps in Singapore and elsewhere, with drawings by Ronald Searle.

You'll die in Singapore / Charles McCormacCall Number: RSING 940.548142 MAC -[WAR]ISBN: 9810530153http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12563155Singapore : Monsoon Books, 2005

Relates how two soldiers succeeded in escaping from Pasir Panjang camp, over to Kranji and across the Straits of Malacca to Sumatra, Java and thence to Australia.

You'll never get off the island : prisoner of war, Changi, Singapore, February 1942-August 1945 / Keith WilsonCall Number: RSING 940.5472520924 WIL -[WAR]ISBN: 0043522416http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5516620Sydney : Allen & Unwin Australia, 1989

Provides details on life as a POW in Changi Camp, with both brutal scenes and humorous moments.

Prison life: Civilians

An Amstutz newsletter : covering 20 January 1942 to 7 September 1945 / Hobart B. AmstutzCall Number: RRARE 940.5481 AMShttp://mms.elibraryhub.com/SHC/NLBHB/020000475.pdfSingapore : Wesley Manse, 1945

Contains the personal narrative of Hobart B. Amstutz, who worked in the Prison Camp Ministries during the Japanese Occupation.

Microfilm: NL 10071

British civilians and the Japanese war in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-45 / Joseph KennedyCall Number: RSING 959.51034 KENISBN: 0333416031http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4487730Basingstoke : Macmillan, 1987

Provides details on the privations suffered by British civilians during the Japanese Occupation, pieced together from diaries, letters and recollections.

Campaigning in captivity : Salvationist 'ambassadors in bonds' during the Second World War / Arch R. WigginsCall Number: RCLOS 267.15 WIGhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5024307London : Salvationist Pub. & Supply, 1947

Chapters 18 & 20: Work done by the Salvationists in Changi

The churches of the captivity in Malaya / John Northridge Lewis BryanCall Number: RCLOS 940.5472595 BRY -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5031114London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1946

Shows paintings, sketches and photographs of the many churches built in POW camps (mostly in Singapore).








http://mms.elibraryhub.com/SHC/NLBHB/020000475.pdf






Microfilm: NL 16349

Dear Philip : a diary of captivity, Changi, 1942-45 / Freddy BloomCall Number: RSING 940.5472520924 BLO -[WAR]ISBN: 0370303458http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2317864London : Bodley Head, 1980

Reproduces a diary of the author's prison life and ordeal at the hands of the Kempeitai, in the form of letters to her husband.

Deficiency diseases in Japanese prison camps / Dean A. Smith and Michael F.A. WoodruffCall Number: RCLOS 616.39 SMI -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2642370London, H.M. Stationery Off., 1951

Contains the experiences of medical officers who were internees in the civilian and military internment camps in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Destined meeting / Leslie BellCall Number: RCLOS 940.547252095957 BELhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4596290London : Readers Book Club, 1960

Reveals the terrible conditions of Japanese POW and internment camps in Singapore.

Escaped Singapore-- heading homewards / George RockerCall Number: RSING 940.5425 ROC -[WAR]ISBN: 9971491737http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5685197Singapore : G. Brash, 1990

Describes how an expatriate veterinarian manages to save his cattle and himself from the advancing Japanese army.

Freedom in internment : under Japanese rule in Singapore, 1942-1945 / Tyler ThompsonCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 THO -[WAR]ISBN: 9810019327http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5685834Singapore : Kefford Press, 1990

Narrates life under internment, including the self-government developed by the internees, and activities in the camp.

From the Somme to Singapore : a medical officer in two World Wars / Charles HuxtableCall Number: RSING 940.5472520924 HUX -[WAR]ISBN: 0710420552http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4562462Tunbridge Wells, Kent. : Costello, 1988, 1987

Reproduces Huxtable's POW diaries in which he writes of camp life and conditions in tragically under-equipped hospitals.

The happiness box / David Griffin ; with drawings by Leslie GreenerCall Number: JRSING 428.6 GRIISBN: 9810026544http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5988088Singapore : Media Masters, 1991

Reproduces a children's story with animal characters, first written and told to entertain POW children in Changi.

If this should be farewell : a family separated by war : the journal and letters of Ernest and Mary Hodgkin 1942-45 / edited by Adrian WoodCall Number: RSING 940.548141 HOD -[WAR]ISBN: 1863683933http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12412976Fremantle, Western Australia : Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2003

Interweaves the diary of a British Colonial government servant interned in Changi Prison, with the letters from his wife who managed to escape to Australia.

In the shadow of the rising sun / Mary ThomasCall Number: RSING 940.548142 THO -[WAR]ISBN: 9789812618597http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13158763Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2009

Describes the life of the author under internment in Changi. The author taught at St. Andrew's School before the fall of Singapore.

Jailbird jottings: the impressions of a Singapore internee / Iris G J ParfittCall Number: RRARE 940.547252095957 PARhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5013323Kuala Lumpur : Printed by Economy Printers, 1947

Shows glimpses of life led by women prisoners in Changi Prison and in Sime Road Camp.

John Leonard Wilson: confessor for the faith/ Roy McKayCall Number: RCLOS 283.0924 WIL.MISBN: 0340154888http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=403904London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1973

Tells the story of Wilson, Bishop of Singapore, who was interned in Changi Prison and tortured by the Japanese military police as a suspected spy.

Life and death in Changi : the war and internment diary of Thomas Kitching (1942-1944) / edited by Goh Eck KhengCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 KIT -[WAR]ISBN: 981306563X














http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=11516912Singapore : Landmark Books, c2002

Reproduces the diary kept by Thomas Kitching, previously the Chief Surveyor of Singapore, who died at age 54 in Changi Prison in April 1944.

Memoirs of a migrant / Francis ThomasCall Number: RSING 959.57 THO -[HIS]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=496795Singapore : University Education Press, 1972

Gives details of prison life during the Japanese Occupation.

Priest in prison : four years of life in Japanese-occupied Singapore, 1941-1945 / John HayterCall Number: RSING 940.547252092 HAY -[WAR]ISBN: 1856460517http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=8678457Thornhill : Tynron, 1991

Describes the author's experiences as a priest in Changi.

Prison camp ministries : the personal narrative of Hobart B. Amstutz, 17 February 1942 to 7 September, 1945 / Hobart B. AmstutzCall Number: RRARE 940.5478 AMShttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4412978Singapore : Welsey Manse, 1945

Gives details on how a Methodist minister contributed towards the religious life of the internees, along with other Christian missionaries in captivity.

[Microfilm: NL 10071]

Shenton of Singapore : governor and prisoner of war / Brian MontgomeryCall Number: RSING 941.0840924 SHE.MISBN: 9971651394http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3223694Singapore : Times Books International, 1984

Describes the life of Sir Shenton Thomas, Governor of Singapore at the outbreak of war and POW in Changi, Formosa, Korea and Manchuria till the war ended. The book isbased on his private papers and diaries.

The story of Changi Singapore / David NelsonCall Number: RSING 940.547252 NEL -[WAR]ISBN: O950324302http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10904614Singapore : Changi Museum Pte. Ltd., 2001

Tells the story of the author, a captain in the Singapore Volunteer Corps.

Within Changi's walls : a record of civilian internment in World War II / George L. Peet ; edited and with an introduction by Emma G. PeetCall Number: RSING 940.53175957092 PEE -[WAR]ISBN: 9789814328852http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13796733Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011

Describes the author's wartime experiences, when he was interned at Changi and later at Sime Road Camp.

Japan and the Indian National Army

F. Kikan : Japanese army intelligence operations in Southeast Asia during World War II / Fujiwara Iwaichi ; translated by Akashi YojiCall Number: RCLOS 940.548752 FUJ -[GH]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=3499239Hong Kong : Heinemann Asia, 1983

Gives details on how Fujiwara helped to organise the Indian Independence League Branches in Japanese occupied territories and to form the anti-British Indian National Armyin Malaya and Singapore.

The Indian National Army; second front of the Indian independence movement / K. K. GhoshCall Number: RUR 320.540954 GHOhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=76162Meerut, Meenakshi Prakashan, 1969

Describes the Indian National Army's early difficulties, its consolidation under the Indian nationalist, Subhas Chandra Bose, and its campaigns to liberate India.

The Indian National Army and Japan / Joyce Chapman LebraCall Number: RSING 940.5354 LEB -[WAR]ISBN: 9789812308061http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13055778Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008

Studies the alliance between Japan and the Indian independence movement in Southeast Asia, which culminated in Subhas Chandra Bose's leadership of the Indian NationalArmy in Singapore.

Japan and the Indian National Army / T.R. SareenCall Number: R 940.541254 SAR -[WAR]ISBN: 8174510117http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=7861365New Delhi : Mounto Pub. House, 1996

Describes the formation and exploits of the Indian National Army under General Mohan Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose, its subsequent defeat, and the trial and acquittal of itsofficers in India.














A will for freedom : Netaji and the Indian independence movement in Singapore and Southeast Asia 1942-1945 / Romen BoseCall Number: RSING 940.5354 BOS -[WAR]ISBN: 9810042760http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6428944Singapore : VJ Times, 1993

Describes how the Indians started to fight for their independence when the British were defeated, and then allied with the Japanese to achieve their goals.

Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau

Deadly secrets : the Singapore raids, 1942-45 / Lynette Ramsay SilverCall Number: RSING 940.5425957 SIL -[WAR]ISBN: 9781863514101http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13726463Binda, N.S.W. : Sally Milner Pub., 2010

Gives details of Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau, two Allied raids on Japanese-occupied Singapore.

The heroes / Ronald Cecil McKieCall Number: RDTYS 940.5426 MAChttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4321091Sydney : Angus & Robertson, 1960

Tells the story of two daring long-range sea raids launched from Australia to attack Japanese ships in the Singapore harbour: one was successful, the other was a total failure.

The heroes of Rimau / Lynette Ramsay SilverCall Number: RSING 940.5426 SIL -[WAR]ISBN: 9810436769http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=10287278Singapore : Cultured Lotus, 2001

Provides research that uncovered the truth of Operation Rimau, which official history claimed was a failure.

Kill the tiger : Operation Rimau and the battle for Southeast Asia / Peter Thompson & Robert MacklinCall Number: RSING 940.5425957 THO -[WAR]ISBN: 9781905379392http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12857671Dunshaughlin : Maverick House, 2007

Provides an account of Operation Rimau, an unsuccessful mission carried out during WWII.

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Newspapers during the war

Google NewspaperSG

NewspaperSG is an online resource of current and historic Singapore and Malaya newspapers. You can search our digital archive of English language newspaperspublished between 1831-2006, or find information on over 200 newspaper titles in the National Library's microfilm collection.

Please note that newspapers published during the Japanese Occupation have not been digitised. However, they can be accessed via microfilm.

A sample of Syonan Shimbun can be seen via the query below (pre-entered into the google search box below)

The Shimbun bows out: newspapers.nl.sg

Selected newspapers published during the Japanese Occupation

Microfilms of the newspapers listed below are available for viewing at Level 11 of Lee Kong Chian Reference Library.

Azad Hindhttp://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=ffe411c5-3db4-4d1b-bec4-9a710aeb66cc&fromdate=&todate=Singapore : Indo-Sinbun Sha, 1943-1945

A Tamil newspaper, printed and published for I. I. L. headquarters in East Asia by M. Sivaram. It was also known as the "Organ of the Indian Independence LeagueHeadquarters".

Syonan Shimbunhttp://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=574e1d3a-3d3b-4e3b-8e04-e6822ad77d1d&fromdate=&todate=Singapore : Syonan Shimbun Kai, Feb 1942 - Sep 1945

The Straits Times was taken over and renamed by the Japanese: 20 Feb 1942 as Shonan Times; 21 Feb - 7 Dec 1942 as Syonan Times; 8 Dec 1942 - 7 Dec 1943 as SyonanSinbun.

Syonan Shimbun Fortnightly






http://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=ffe411c5-3db4-4d1b-bec4-9a710aeb66cc&fromdate=&todate=

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=574e1d3a-3d3b-4e3b-8e04-e6822ad77d1d&fromdate=&todate=



http://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=88256008-0afa-4383-93d6-20c1408c37ee&fromdate=&todate=Syonan Shimbun, Jun 1945 - Aug 1945

A fortnightly issue of the Syonan Shimbun.

Zhao Nan Ri Bao 昭日http://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=24f6dec6-3985-4115-9f21-382a575b73d7&fromdate=&todate=Singapore : s.n., Feb 1942 - Aug 1945

A Chinese-language version of "Syonan Shimbun", it was also known as Shonan Jit Pau.

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Aftermath of the war

Google Infopedia



Japanese surrender: infopedia.nl.sg

A sense of history: A select bibliography on the history of Singapore

The National University of Singapore library has developed a select bibliography that includes the period of the Japanese Occupation. The bibliography consists ofEnglish, Chinese and Japanese Language materials.

Bibliography of Asian Studies

The Bibliography of Asian Studies consists of records on all subjects related to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present. Ithas a searchable online interface.

Aftermath

British military administration in the Far East, 1943-1946 / Frank Siegfried Vernon DonnisonCall Number: RCLOS 940.535 DON -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=2288854London, H.M.S.O., 1956

Describes the tasks faced by the interim British Military Administration, as it attempted to restore order to civilian life in the immediate post-war period.

A chronological table of proclamations of the British Military Administration (Singapore Division) Issued and published between the 15th August, 1945, and the 31st March, 1946: with an alphabetical index / compiled in the Attorney-General's ChambersCall Number: RCLOS 348.5957 SINhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4981009Singapore : Printed at the Govt. Print. Off., 1948

Comprises official proclamations issued by the British Military Administration, after Singapore's liberation.

The collective memory of the Sook Ching massacre and the creation of the Civilian War Memorial of Singapore / K. BlackburnCall Number: RSING 959.5 JMBRAShttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4126333(2000, December). Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 73 (2), 71-90

Tells the history and purpose of erecting the Civilian War Memorial.

The end of the war : Singapore's liberation and the aftermath of the Second World War / Romen BoseCall Number: RSING 940.5425 BOS -[WAR]ISBN: 9789812610669http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13234908Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2005

Focuses on events in the final days of the Japanese Occupation, based on declassified files from British military archives.

Fortress Singapore : the battlefield guide / Yap Siang Yong, Romen Bose, Angeline PangCall Number: RDKSC 940.5425 YAPISBN: 9812043659http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13765387Singapore : Times Books International, 1997

Provides a guide to the battlefields in Singapore during WWII.

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=88256008-0afa-4383-93d6-20c1408c37ee&fromdate=&todate=

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Microfilm/Reel.aspx?title=24f6dec6-3985-4115-9f21-382a575b73d7&fromdate=&todate=

http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/bib/sh/

http://bmc.lib.umich.edu/bas/








Historical research on the Surrender Ceremony at City Hall on 12th September 1945Call Number: RSING 940.5425 HIS -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4078648Singapore : Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, 1975

Describes and explains the exhibit of the Japanese Surrender Ceremony at City Hall, now in Sentosa.

Japanese occupation and ex post facto legislation in Malaya / S. K. DasCall Number: RCLOS 348.595 DAShttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4500075Singapore : Malayan Law Journal, 1960

Gives details of the post-war legislative measures that were instituted in Malaya to solve problems arising from the Japanese Occupation.

Microfilm: NL 11929

The killer they called a god / Ian WardCall Number: RSING 959.57023 WAR -[HIS]ISBN: 9810039212http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=6371610Singapore : Media Masters, 1992

Describes how Masanobu Tsuji, a WWII war criminal, escaped justice and reappeared as an anti-communist and anti-US elected parliamentarian in 1952. Includes trials ofother Japanese officers.

The knights of Bushido : a short history of Japanese war crimes / Lord Russell of LiverpoolCall Number: RSING 341.69 RUShttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4092928London : Cassell, 1958

Gives details on the atrocities suffered by POWs and civilian populations in all Japanese held territories, based on evidence given in war crimes trials.

Kranji : the Commonwealth war cemetery and the politics of the dead / Romen BoseCall Number: RSING 940.54655957 BOS -[WAR]ISBN: 9789812612755http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12666092Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2006

Relates the history of Kranji War Cemetery, the resting place for the Commonwealth war dead who perished during WWII.

Memorandum on proposals for a Malayan War damage compensation schemeCall Number: RCLOS 355.2323 MAL -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4315950Kuala Lumpur : Printed at the Govt. Press, 1948

Includes Singapore's claims for war damage compensation.

Post surrender tasks : section E of 'The report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff / by the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, 1943-1945, Vice-Admiral the EarlMountbatten of Burma'Call Number: RCLOS 940.5425 ALLISBN: 0117702242http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4128060London : H.M.S.O., 1969

Pages 300 - 308: British Military Administration in Singapore and Malaya, 15.8.45 - 31.3.46.

Red star over Malaya : resistance and social conflict during and after the Japanese occupation of Malaya, 1941-1946 / Cheah Boon KhengCall Number: RSING 959.5103 CHEISBN: 9971692740http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12214053Singapore : Singapore University Press, 2003

Traces the growth of communist insurgency in Malaya and Singapore to the inter-racial conflicts during the Japanese Occupation and the breakdown of authority in theimmediate post-war period.

Report on the British Military Administration of Malaya, Sept. 1945 to March 1946 / HR HoneCall Number: RCLOS 959.506 HONhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4271319Kuala Lumpur : Printed at the Malayan Union Govt. Press, 1946

Contains an official report on post-war issues, prepared by H.R. Hone, Chief Civil Affairs Officer, Malaya, under directions received from the Supreme Allied Commander, SouthEast Asia.

Microfilm: NL 11213

Report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff by the Supreme Allied Commander, South-East Asia, 1943-1945, Vice Admiral the Earl Mountbatten of BurmaCall Number: RDTYS 940.5425 ALL -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4083962H.M.S.O, 1951

Includes Appendix G: Instrument of Surrender of Japanese in S.E.A.C. 12th September and Statement by Supreme Allied Commander, S.E.A. made at the SurrenderCeremony held in the Municipal Buildings, Singapore on 12th September 1945.

Singapore : the battle that changed the world / James LeasorCall Number: RSING 959.51 LEAhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=670465Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1968

Analyses how the momentous defeat of Western Allied forces by an Asian army set the stage for the demise of white colonialism in Asia.

Trial of Sumida Haruzo and twenty others (the "Double Tenth" trial) / edited by Colin Sleeman and S.C.Silkin














Call Number: RCLOS 341.69 HARhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4085303London : W. Hodge, 1951

Describes the trial resulting from the Double Tenth Incident, where the Kempeitai brutally tortured innocent civilian POWs suspected of giving information to saboteurs.

War and memory in Malaysia and Singapore / edited by P. Lim Pui Huen, Diana WongCall Number: RSING 959.503 WARISBN: 9812300376http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9570099Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2000

Describes memories and monuments of WWII and contains documents that are organised according to the different races.

The war dead of the British Commonwealth and Empire : the register of the names of those who fell in the 1939-1945 war and have no known grave : the Singapore MemorialCall Number: RCLOS 940.5465 IMPhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4194003London : s.n., 1956

Contains the register of names at the Singapore Memorial, in Kranji War Cemetery.

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War memories

Web Resource: Singapore - World War 2 Battlefield in 1942

The National Archives of Singapore has created Singapore - World War 2 Battlefield in 1942, which contains archival resources, including photographs and oralhistory accounts.

Web Resource: Changi Museum - Civilian internees database

Changi Museum has collected nearly 5,000 records of registered Civilian Internees interned in Singapore during the Occupation. It has an online search databaseto allow families and friends to search for information on their loved ones.

Web Resource: irememberSG

irememberSG is part of the Singapore Memory Project, a national initiative to collect, preserve and provide access to the memories of our nation. Memories aboutWorld War II are available as well, for instance in "Dawn of New Life" by Mary Magdeline Pereira.

If you have a memory about World War II, do send it in to [email protected].

Personal memories of the Occupation

“Captain Sato came back to visit us the next day, bringing with him the promised notice which my father promptly hung over the frontdoor, under a small, blue lamp. It was in Japanese with an official-looking red seal which must have been Captain Sato’s signature orrank. Often, in the night, we heard heavy footsteps climbing up the steps, followed by a long silence, and a hasty retreat. That piece ofpaper carried more weight than if Captain Sato had posted a sentry at the front door. It was to protect us all through the JapaneseOccupation.” (Pg 105)

Aisha Bee at war : a very frank memoir / Aisha Akbar

“Singapore was a dead city. Never had I dreamt that our city would be in such chaos. Orchard Road was clear of people. At ColdStorage, there was the smell of liquor as bottles were being smashed in case the Japanese should lay hands on them. The Cathaycinema had become a military hospital. Straggling troops without weapons were wandering on the road. People with their earthlypossessions in bundles were trudging on the road with strained looks and dazed faces.” (Pg 117)

Amber sands : a boyhood memoir / Lee Kip Lee

“It seemed no time at all when the guards’ voices were heard outside the classrooms. In one fluid movement, the Australians, acting inunison, transferred all food remnants into their upturned hats, which were then crammed onto sweaty heads while they saluted theirreturning gaolers. The latter appeared not to notice how high those slouch hats sat on the heads of their grinning captives.” (Pg 82)




http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/home/

http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/dir_defence8.htm#Photographs

http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/dir_defence8.htm#oral_history

http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/dir_defence8.htm#oral_history

http://www.changimuseum.com/civilian.htm

http://www.iremember.sg/home

http://www.iremember.sg/home;jsessionid=1F3EF2BF41568F67A2C920E38D87C86C.liferay11?p_p_id=nlbksi_blogs_aggregator&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-2&p_p_col_count=2&_nlbksi_blogs_aggregator_struts_action=%2Fnlbksi_blogs_aggregator%2Fview_entry&_nlbksi_blogs_aggregator_entryId=44516&_nlbksi_blogs_aggregator_aggregatorFlag=true&_nlbksi_blogs_aggregator_oldRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iremember.sg%2Fhome%3Bjsessionid%3D1F3EF2BF41568F67A2C920E38D87C86C.liferay11%3Fp_p_id%3Dnlbksi_blogs_aggregator%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-2%26p_p_col_count%3D2





A cloistered war : behind the convent walls during the Japanese occupation / Maisie Duncan

“Wheat flour had run out or had been reserved for the Japs to make ramen, or Japanese noodles, so someone hit on the idea ofmaking bread from tapioca flour, which was still available. The problem was, no matter how much yeast you added, the dough wouldnot rise. It remained flat and heavy. It was all right when they added maize flour, but when that ran out, the resultant bread was like achunk of rubber and very elastic. You could not cut it because it would stick to the knife. You just tore it to bits. The greatest careneeded was not to let it drop from the table. You would have to catch it back on the rebound from the ceiling: it would bounce that high!There was one consolation though. It took a long time to digest, so one of those could not only keep you full for hours, but alsoconstipated for days.” (Pg 22)

Escape from Battambang : a personal World War II experience / Geoffrey Tan

“Joseph Nanao Tsutada was very glad to see me and my family safe and sound and he wrote out another protection certificate tocertify that I had been his former teacher and that I had treated all the Japanese students in the school with consideration andkindness. He asked other members of the Japanese Imperial Army to give me and my family the same friendly treatment. He signed asofficer-interpreter on the staff of Count Terrauchi, and put his red seal on it. His certificate later helped to change three brutal, ruthlessJapanese guards into tolerant and understanding human beings.” (Pg 37)

Extraordinary adventures of an ordinary man / Chan Bee Thio

“A Japanese word which we feared most was kura. Whether on foot or on a bicycle, if one heard a Japanese sentry gruffly shout kura,it spelt trouble, lots of it. Meaning ‘come here’, it indicated a tone of annoyance and impatience on the part of the sentry. Somethingwas amiss. Maybe the bow was not executed properly or the cyclist did not dismount courteously or he simply did an ‘eyes right’.Depending on the whims and fancies of the guard on duty, the usual punishment for this aberration was a tight slap on the face,sometimes two.” (Pg 100)

In the grip of a crisis : the experiences of a teenager during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, 1942-45 /Rudy Mosbergen

“People were so miserably poor that many had only one meal a day, usually taken before they went to sleep. So terrible was theirhunger that they would collect the skins of tapioca and sweet potato to boil and eat… .The destitute in their tattered clothes wereeverywhere to be seen. They begged, not just for money, but for scraps of food. Many did not beg for themselves but for familymembers. That was the reason why many beggars would collect the food in containers to be taken home to feed their starving kin.”(Pg 24)

Papa as a little boy named Ah Khoon / Andrew Tan Chee Khoon

“Almost every day thereafter, new detainees were brought in and some earlier detainees transferred out of Tanjong Pagar. But theoriginal group of detainees, comprising Chinese community leaders and Volunteer officers, remained where they had originally beenkept. Treatment grew harsher with each passing day and the quality of food deteriorated rapidly. We were only given balls of coldcompressed cooked rice and no drinks. Once or twice a day we were handed buckets of hot water. We were beginning to experiencethe effects of the torture and the harshness of the confinement.” (Pg 57)

Scholar, banker, gentleman soldier : the reminiscences of Dr. Yap Pheng Geck / Yap Pheng Geck

“A group of European civilian internees was in the hospital grounds, working without rest at clearing the debris of war, and no soonerhad I seen them than we stopped as a batch passed us. Humiliation was what the Japanese delighted in during the Occupation. This Ilearned to the utter limit of my endurance, as I shall describe fully later. But here before our eyes were our top government officials,barebodied, in short khaki pants, being made to push wheelbarrows laden with broken bricks and mortar.” (Pg 146)

Singapore : through sunshine and shadow / John Bertram Van Cuylenburg

“The General Hospital was flooded with new recruits who came from all walks of life – teachers, sales girls and housewives, rich andpoor, all trying to serve their country. Some of these new recruits had never done any housework – they did not even know how to boil











water. They wore high-heeled shoes and dressed as if they were going to a party.” (Pg 101)

Sold for silver : an autobiography of a girl sold into slavery in Southeast Asia / Janet Lim

“I did not bother to find out if those asking for passes were good citizens or bad hats. My only concern was to help as many people as Icould in this confusion. The passes read; “The bearer of this pass is a good citizen. Please look after him and protect him, and let himgo about his business without hindrance.” ” (Pg 43)

Syonan : my story : the Japanese occupation of Singapore / Mamoru Shinozaki

“Our duty was to attend to the casualties of enemy air raids and take them to hospital. …There were a lot of casualties in Boat Quayand Market Street. My medical unit was sent to Tiong Bahru where we had to dig up a collapsed earth shelter in which we found amother with two little children in her arms, all suffocated to death. They need not have died if there had been a proper shelter. We weredeeply saddened by this as we were to be later, again and again, by the innocent dead and wounded after each bombing raid.” (Pg 93)

A time of fireflies and wild guavas / Maurice Baker

“I had grown used to the sight of dead or injured people and the hordes of starving refugees on the pavements. On my way to school inthe mornings I passed beggars sleeping by the roadside, their legs covered with sores and flies, and every week Japanese soldierswith bayonets fixed to their rifles would march European prisoners, in khaki shorts and muddy shoes, along our road. Each man carrieda hoe over his shoulder and looked emaciated, cheeks sunken, eyes staring blankly, sunburnt red skin draped over protruding ribs.Popo called them the ‘walking skeletons’.” (Pg 145)

The thorn of lion city : a memoir / Lucy Lum

“In the panic and aware of impending disaster, couples sought to be married. All red tape, all nuptial elaboration was indifferentlydisposed of. Couples knocked on the priest’s door and he answered their summon. Without questioning he joined them in HolyMatrimony.” (Pg 39)

Where is thy victory? / Muriel La Brooy

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War fiction






Web Resource: Overdrive

Overdrivehttp://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/browse.aspx?browse_by=A-Z&filter1=OA collection of popular ebooks and audio books, including all kinds of genres and many general interest subjects.

You can access Overdrive from home & libraries if you have a Digital Library account (registration is free).







http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/browse.aspx?browse_by=A-Z&filter1=O



Web Resource: World eBook library

Overdrivehttp://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/browse.aspx?browse_by=A-Z&filter1=WProvides access to one of the world's largest digital archives of eBooks and eDocuments.

You can access the World eBook library from home & libraries if you have a Digital Library account (registration is free).

War fiction set during WWII in Singapore

The bamboo rod / Sidney Charles GeorgeCall Number: RCLOS 823 GEO -[RFL]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4146515Jarrolds, 1951

Tells a tale of adventure and suspense, spanning the entire period of the war, with main characters drawn from Singapore's multi-ethnic population.

Destination Singapore : from Shanghai to Singapore / Lim Thean SooCall Number: RSING 828.995957 LIMhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=1054456Singapore : Pan Pacific Book Distributors, 1976

Describes how Ah Kwee, a spy working for the Japanese, came to Singapore from Shanghai to steal British naval plans which turned out to be fake.

The devil's garden / Nigel BarleyCall Number: RSING 823.92 BARISBN: 9789814358422http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=14110812Singapore : Monsoon Books, 2011

Describes the lives of prisoners and soldiers working in the Botanic Gardens during WWII.

The girls of Emerald Hill / Goh Sin TubCall Number: RSING S823 GOHISBN: 9814032026http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9620340Singapore : Raffles, 1998

Narrates the eventful lives of five Singapore girls who are waitresses at Nan-mei-su, a comfort house set up by the Japanese army in Cairnhill.

King rat / James ClavellCall Number: RCLOS 823.91 CLAhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=1915397London : M. Joseph, 1963

Describes life in Changi Prison during the closing months of the Japanese Occupation, with the principal character of a ruthless American corporal who seeks dominance overcaptors and captives alike.

Last Tenko / Michael HardwickCall Number: RSING 823.914 HARhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4145476London : British Broadcasting Corporation, 1984

Narrates how a group of women prisoners in a Japanese camp rebuilt their shattered lives after liberation.

No other medicine / Gordon Scott MacGregorCall Number: RSING 940.5481 MAC -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4118849Chyverton, Mawnan Smith, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 5NE : G.S. MacGregor, 1984

Gives details of prison life, under the guise of a novel. The author was formerly the physiology professor at the College of Medicine in Singapore.

The siege of Singapore / Lim Thean SooCall Number: RSING S823 LIMISBN: 9810013434http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5368565Singapore : Aequitas Management Consultants, 1989

Provides details on the siege of Singapore in the form of a historical novel - the Japanese advance down the Malaya Peninsula, the retreat of the Allied forces and the anguishand confusion of the civilian population.

The Singapore grip / James Gordon Farrell ; introduction by Derek MahonCall Number: RSING 823.914 FARISBN: 1590171365http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12511097New York : New York Review Books ; Berkeley, CA : Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, 2005

Describes the lives of white expatriates, civilians and the military, in the period just before the first bombs fell on Singapore.

Storm over Singapore / Alfred DraperCall Number: RSING 823.914 DRAISBN: 086188566Xhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=4432759London : Piatkus, 1986

Describes how amidst the panic and confusion, a British trawler and its crew engaged in many hazardous missions up to the surrender.

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/browse.aspx?browse_by=A-Z&filter1=W













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Audio-visual materials

Web Resource: a2o

The National Archives of Singapore has developed the Access to Archives Online Singapore (a2O), a website on Singapore heritage information dating back to the17th century. a2O allows users to search and listen to oral history interview samplers and watch snippets of audio-visual recordings.

Memories at Old Ford Factory

Old Ford Factory was the venue for the formal surrender by the British to the Japanese during World War II. The factory was gazetted as a national monument on15 February 2006.

Today, Old Ford Factory is a permanent exhibition gallery for the Japanese Occupation in Singapore, which is titled "Memories at Old Ford Factory". There is avideo clip to show the development process of the exhibition.

Selected sound recordings

The fall of Singapore [sound recording] / Oral History Department, SingaporeCall Number: RAV 940.548252 FALhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5100334Singapore : Oral History Department, 1986

Consists of recorded interviews of people who took part in the defence of Singapore.

Mopping up operation [sound recording] / Oral History Department, SingaporeCall Number: RAV 940.548252 MOPhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=5098423Singapore: Oral History Department, 1986

Contains Singaporeans' memories of the Japanese "Sook Ching" operations - mass elimination of suspected anti-Japanese elements in the population - in Telok Kurau, PayaLebar, Chinatown and Jalan Besar.

Selected video recordings

The Changi murals [videorecording] / Boo JunfengCall Number: RSING 791.43658 CHAhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12909368W. Films and Akanga Film Prductions, 2006

1 DVD (18 min) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. archival copy

Tells the story of the five biblical murals which were painted by Stanley Warren, when he was a POW at Changi Camp during the Japanese Occupation.

Interacting with our world. Social studies 5, What happened here? [videorecording] / Educational Technology Division, Ministry of EducationCall Number: RSING 372.83 INThttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13035679Singapore : Educational Technology Division, Ministry of Education, 2007

1 videodisc (ca. 25 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in

Features the Old Ford Factory, Changi Museum and City Hall, and shows events that led to the fall of Singapore and the subsequent Japanese Occupation.

Remembering Syonan-to [videorecording] / Channel NewsAsiaCall Number: RSING 940.535957 REM -[WAR]http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12772683Singapore : MediaCorp News, 2005?

1 videodisc (23 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in

Features memories of people who lived through the Japanese Occupation.

Shonanto o shitte imasuka Senka ni utsutta ningen-zoh = Do you know Shonan Island [videorecording] / Nagoya TV ; directed by Hachiro Ikeda.Call Number: RCLOS 940.531 SHOhttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12693495Nagoya : Nagoya TV, 2006

1 DVD : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in

Focuses on how a British scholar managed to get support from the Japanese to preserve the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

http://www.a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/search/index.html

http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/moff/exhibition1.htm

http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/moff/about7.htm









Selected interactive multimedia

Attacked! [interactive multimedia] : the Japanese occupation of Singapore, 1942-1945 / National Archives of Singapore, National Heritage Board ; producer, Chang Siok EngCall Number: RDKSC 959.5703 ATThttp://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=9627659Singapore : Daiichi Media, 1999

1 computer laser optical disc : sd., b&w with col. ; 4 3/4 in

Portrays the Japanese Occupation via interactive maps and wartime diaries.

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Do you know?

Web Resource: Artwork of POWs

Many POWs in Singapore kept records of their imprisonment, in both pictorial and written form, at great risk to their own lives.

The artwork of Des Bettany shows his life as a POW in Changi during the Japanese Occupation. He and other fellow artists showed great ingenuity in workingwith primitive materials, such as making paints from coloured earth from various depths.

Web Resource: Changi Murals

The Changi Murals are five large wall paintings, created between 1942 and 1943. Depicting five events from the Bible's New Testament, they were created byStanley Warren of the Royal Artillery, a POW during the Japanese Occupation.

Some facts and figures about the Japanese Occupation

The Japanese swept down 1,200 km from landing in Singora to occupying Singapore in just 70 days when they had originally expected the campaign to take 100days.

Many tactics were used to mislead the enemy into thinking the Japanese were a larger force than they really were and to generate confusion and to demoralisethe enemy. Such tactics included:

· Swift, intense attacks

· Night attacks

· Noises such as firecrackers thrown into enemy positions or bogus commands given in English or Urdu to trick the enemy into exposing themselves

· Disguising themselves as natives or even in enemy uniforms to lure the enemy into traps

· Hiding beneath bodies of the enemy to fire on those who approached to retrieve the bodies

· Spreading out troops which would pop up briefly and draw fire to give the impression that the force was bigger than it really was

· Booby traps and exploding bullets were planted to create the impression of great numbers and generate confusion in enemy ranks

The Japanese 25th Army had strong units of combat engineers who were able to repair bridges at top speed, which were blown up by the retreating British troops.

Many of the Allied troops were untrained, undisciplined, had no clue about tropical warfare, had never been in combat, had never been in the tropics, were newlyarrived in Singapore, did not want to be here, and had an inferiority complex.

On 15 February 1942, Singapore was renamed “Syonan-To” – “Syo” meaning “brilliant or bright” from Hirohito’s title as the Syowa Emperor, “nan” meaning “south”


http://changipowart.com/the-artwork/life-as-a-pow

http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_578_2005-01-05.html

http://www.petrowilliamus.co.uk/murals/murals.htm

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/about_us/history/world_war2/v04n12_history.html



and “to” island. It was also the first day of Chinese New Year.

Raffles College became Yamashita’s HQ following the British surrender and it was also the assembly point for British Army troops to be marched into internmentin Changi.

When Singapore fell, the Governor Shenton Thomas wrote a note to the Japanese asking that the scientific collections of the museum, libraries and BotanicGardens be preserved. The matter went to Marquis Tokugawa Yoshichika who was the Supreme Consulting Adviser to the Japanese Military Administration andthe Civil Governor of Malaya. As a result, E.J.H. Corner and Richard Eric Holttum were able to work under Professor Tanakadate Hidezo during the Occupationand keep intact the scientific and historic legacy of the Botanic Gardens and the Raffles Museum.

The newspaper Syonan Times published lessons of Nippon-go, teaching readers fundamental Japanese greetings and how to count. Syonan Radio alsobroadcasted Japanese lessons daily.

Japanese currency notes replaced the Straits Dollars during the Occupation. These notes initially bore equal value as the Straits dollars and were popularly knownas “banana money” as the $10-note featured the banana plant. By the end of the Occupation, banana money came to mean worthless money.

The numbers killed in the Sook Ching will never be known and figures given range from 5,000 to 40,000.

POWs went around near-naked because their clothing and footwear were never replaced and they had to make do with whatever they could improvise or pick up.

All clocks were re-aligned with Tokyo time which was one and a half hours ahead of pre-war Singapore time.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital was renamed Hakoi Byoin.

Crime was said to be at an all-time low during the Occupation because of the extreme Japanese response of shooting or beheading someone believed to be guiltyof a crime. Heads of looters were displayed by the Japanese opposite the Cathay Cinema, Anderson Bridge and Kallang Bridge, to stop looting from occurring.

The Overseas Chinese Association was forced to raise $50 million within a month as a “token of atonement” for supporting the British army and the Chinesegovernment.

Holidays in Syonan

· 11 February: Kigensetsu (ascension of Jimmu Tenno)

· 15 February: Fall of Singapore Day



· 10 March: Army Day marking Japanese victory in 1905 Battle of Mukden against Russian army.

· 29 April: Tenchosetsu, the birthday of Tenno Heika (His Majesty the Emperor).

· 27 May: Navy Day marking Japanese victory in Battle of Tsushima against Russian fleet.

· 14 October: Yasukuni Autumn Festival.

Newspapers such as Syonan Times and Syonan Jit Poh came under the Propaganda Department housed in Cathay Building and readers had to get the real newsbetween the lines.

The Kempeitai introduced a neighbourhood watch known as the jikeidan or vigilance committee. It essentially had neighbours responsible for keeping an eye ontheir neighbours.

Schoolchildren were given free doses of foul-tasting red palm oil to make up for any deficiencies in their diet.

As a result of Operation Jaywick, the Kempeitai raided Changi Prison for radio sets in an operation known as the “Double Tenth Incident” (as it happened on 10October 1943). Fifty-seven internees and civilians were arrested and subjected to extreme forms of torture. Fifteen died from their injuries.

In 1943, the Japanese government set itself the goal of moving 300,000 people out of Syonan to ease the food shortages. Endau was picked as a site to resettlethe Chinese while Bahau was designated for Eurasians and Chinese Catholics as well as neutrals such as the Swiss and Danes.

On 1 August 1944, a luxury tax came into effect e.g. 100% on items made of precious stones and metals.

Force 136 was made up of not just Chinese, but also Malay and Indian agents. It was in the process of training a group of South Indian agents in India when thewar ended abruptly.

At the end of the war, many Japanese soldiers were reluctant to surrender and there were some who preferred to commit ritual suicide, samurai-style with asword, or with grenades and guns.

Unit 731 conducted biological and germ warfare on POWs and political prisoners who were labelled as “logs” or “maruta”, an attempt by the doctors topsychologically distance themselves from their human subjects.

Extracts from the following sources:

Syonan years, 1942-1945 : living beneath the rising sun / edited by Pitt Kuan Wah and Leong Wee



Call Number: RSING 940.530745957 TAN -[WAR]ISBN: 9789810580506http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=13221326Singapore : National Archives of Singapore, 2009

Focuses on daily life during the Japanese Occupation, with first-hand accounts, selected newspaper articles and photographs.

The Syonan years : Singapore under Japanese rule 1942-1945 / Lee Geok BoiCall Number: RSING q940.53957 LEE -[WAR]ISBN: 9810542909http://eservice.nlb.gov.sg/item_holding_s.aspx?bid=12661517Singapore : National Archives of Singapore and Epigram, 2005

Brings together a wealth of materials (photographs, maps, artefacts, oral interviews, newspapers) to provide a narrative of life during the Japanese Occupation.

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