Gemencheh (

Negeri Sembilan Malay Negeri Sembilan Malay (; also known as or ) is an Austronesian language spoken mainly in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan and in northern Malacca in Alor Gajah. The language is spoken by the descendants of Minangkabau settlers from Sum ...

: ''Moncheh'') is a

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The clo ...

Tampin District The Tampin District is a district in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The district covers and is further divided into four adat socio-political provinces: Tampin town, Air Kuning, Gemencheh and Gemas. Tampin District is surrounded by Tangkak and ...

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

.http://apps.water.gov.my/jpskomuniti/dokumen/TAMPIN_PROFIL_JANUARI_2011.pdf The Gemencheh Bridge is famous for being ground for the

Battle of Gemas The Battle of Gemas—part of the wider Battle of Muar—took place during the Japanese invasion of Malaya in the Pacific Campaign of the Second World War. The action occurred on 14 January 1942 at the Gemencheh Bridge near Gemas and saw around ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

between Japanese and Australian forces. It is also well known for the production of '' maman'', which is a type of edible leaves that takes two to three hours to cook for the leaves to become crispy and the gravy to dry up, resulting in a rich, flavourful traditional leafy maman ''

rendang Rendang ( ; ) is a Minang dish originating from the Minangkabau region in West Sumatra, Indonesia. It has spread across Indonesian cuisine to the cuisines of neighbouring Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and th ...

''.

Gemencheh Bridge during Battle of Malaya

During the Battle of Malaya in the Second World War, Gemencheh Bridge near Gemas was the site of a fierce battle between the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

and the 2/30 Battalion, 8 Division, Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Commanding Officer of the Battalion was Lieutenant Colonel Frederick "Black Jack" Galleghan. Gemencheh Bridge was a bridge over the Sungei Gemencheh that connected Gemas with the larger neighbouring town of

Tampin Tampin is a town in Tampin District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, which borders Pulau Sebang town in Alor Gajah District, Malacca. History and etymology Tampin gets its name from the container or pouch weaved from the pandanus fronds. The con ...

. The Japanese had passed through Tampin and needed to cross the bridge to reach Gemas. On 14 January 1942, "B" Company of the 2/30th Battalion, launched an ambush against the Japanese in the hope of preventing them from advancing further south. As the advancing Japanese soldiers on bicycles passed by the ambush site, the bridge was blown. The Australians then opened fire on the Japanese column and killed about 700 Japanese soldiers. The battle following the ambush, and a further battle closer to Gemas, lasted two days. It ended with the Australian withdrawal through Gemas to Fort Rose Estate. Four days later, another encounter between Japanese and Allied soldiers took place near

Parit Sulong Parit Sulong is a small town in Batu Pahat District, Johor, Malaysia on the Simpang Kiri River, east of Muar. The historical Parit Sulong Bridge constructed during World War II is a main feature in that town. Parit Sulong sits approximately ...

during the Battle of Malaya.

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 ...

troops, including the Australian 2/19th and 2/29th Battalions, were surrounded and routed there. A memorial remembering fallen Australians now stands somewhere near the site of the destroyed Gemencheh Bridge in Federal route 1.

References

Mukims of Negeri Sembilan Tampin District {{NegeriSembilan-geo-stub

Gemencheh Bridge during Battle of Malaya

See also

References