The Battle of Sarimbun Beach was the first stage of the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

assault on Singapore in February 1942 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Sarimbun Beach, in the northwestern corner of mainland

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, was the area in which Japanese troops, under the direction of Lieutenant-General

Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquering ...

, first attacked

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces (predominantly British) in Singapore. The commander of all Allied forces in Singapore, Lieutenant-General

Arthur Percival Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) was a senior British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period but is most noted for ...

, did not expect the Japanese to make their main attack on the island from the northwest and subsequently failed to reinforce the 22nd Australian Brigade, which took the brunt of the Japanese assault. The main Japanese objective to be attained following their landing at Sarimbun Beach was the capture of

Tengah Airfield The Tengah Air Base is a military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located in the Western Water Catchment, in the western part of Singapore. The air base is the most important airfield of the RSAF as it houses the majo ...

Prelude

Percival gave Major-General Gordon Bennett's two brigades, from the 8th Australian Division, responsibility for the north-western sector of the island. The terrain was primarily

mangrove swamp Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

and tropical forest, broken up by rivers and creeks. The 22nd Australian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Harold Taylor) and most of the Australian 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion, was assigned a sector wide along Sarimbun Beach with the Jind Infantry Battalion of the

Indian States Forces The Imperial Service Troops were forces raised by the princely states of the British Indian Empire. These troops were available for service alongside the Indian Army when such service was requested by the British government. At the beginning of ...

, which was guarding Tengah and a company of

Dalforce Dalforce, or the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army (星華義勇軍; ''Xinghua Yi Yong Jun'') was an irregular forces/ guerrilla unit within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II. Its members ...

, a guerilla militia recruited from Singaporean Chinese. The 27th Australian Infantry Brigade was assigned an adjoining wide area to the north, adjoining the causeway. The 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion was distributed among the infantry units.

Battle

At 8:30 p.m. on 8 February, Australian machine-gunners opened fire on vessels carrying the first wave of 4,000 Japanese troops from the IJA's 5th and 18th Divisions towards Singapore Island. The Japanese wasted no time in assaulting Sarimbun Beach, which was held by the 22nd Australian Brigade. Fierce fighting raged throughout the night in the area but the increasing Japanese strength in numbers – as well as their superiority in artillery, tanks, planes and military intelligence – eventually began to take their toll on the ill-reinforced defenders. The Japanese managed to exploit several gaps in the thinly-spread Allied defence line along the coast, such as via small rivers, streams and creeks. By midnight, the two Australian brigades involved in the defence of the beach had lost communications with each other and the 22nd Brigade was forced to retreat in confusion. At 1.00am, yet more Japanese troops were landed and the last Australian reserves went into the fray of the battle. Towards dawn on 9 February, some elements of the 22nd Australian Brigade had been overrun or surrounded and the

2/18th Australian Infantry Battalion The 2/18th Battalion was an Australian Army infantry unit that served during World War II. Formed in June 1940, the battalion was assigned to the 22nd Brigade, which formed part of the Australian 8th Division. After completing basic training, t ...

in the centre, had lost more than half of its personnel. The 2/20th Australian Infantry Battalion, holding on to the right flank, was also heavily committed in resisting the Japanese troops. The 2/19th Australian Infantry Battalion, to the left side, was being outflanked, and only "B" Company was left to face the initial landings and assaults by the Japanese. Percival did not reinforce the depleted 22nd Australian Brigade until Tengah Airfield was threatened with capture. Before some British and Indian infantry reinforcements arrived, the badly-battered Australian and Singaporean defence units, along with the Jinds, retreated to the " Jurong Line", stretching south from the village of Bulim east of the airfield. Tengah Airfield was taken by the Japanese at around mid-day on 9 February.

Aftermath

Shortly after dark on 9 February, three British

Fairmile B motor launch The Fairmile Type-B motor launch was a type of motor launch (often referred to as MLs) built by British boatbuilder Fairmile Marine and others during the Second World War for the Royal Navy for coastal operations. Design While the Type A had b ...

es were sent on a raid up the western channel of the

Straits of Johor The Johore Strait (also known as the Tebrau Strait, Straits of Johor, Selat Johor, Selat Tebrau, and Tebrau Reach) is an international strait in Southeast Asia, between Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia. Geography The strait separates the Ma ...

at the area of the coastline adjoining Sarimbun Beach. Their primary objective was to attack Japanese landing-craft and disrupt enemy communications. They came under fire from enemy forces on both shores (coming from Malaya to the north and Sarimbun Beach to the south) but pressed on almost as far as the

Causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

. A few Japanese landing-craft were sunk before the launches returned to Singapore, suffering minimal to almost no damage. Some Allied soldiers saw this as an example of effective defensive tactics that were used too little and too late by their senior commanders.

References

* Lionel Wigmore, 1957, ''

Australia in the War of 1939–1945 ''Australia in the War of 1939–1945'' is a 22-volume official history series covering Australian involvement in the Second World War. The series was published by the Australian War Memorial between 1952 and 1977, most of the volumes being edi ...

, Volume IV – The Japanese Thrust'', (1st ed.; Australian War Memorial: Canberra). * Frank Owen, 2001, ''The Fall of Singapore'', Penguin Books,

External links

Germaine Foo-Tan, 2004, "1942 – Sarimbun Beach Battle"
(Singapore Ministry of Defence). {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Sarimbun Beach British rule in Singapore Sarimbun Beach Military of Singapore under British rule Military history of Singapore 1942 in Singapore Sarimbun Beach

Prelude

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References

External links