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The Kranji War Memorial (
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
: 克兰芝阵亡战士公坟; ms, Tanah Perkuburan Perang Kranji; ta, கிராஞ்சி போர் நினைவு) is located at 9 Woodlands Road, in
Kranji Kranji is a suburb in northwestern Singapore, bounded by Sungei Kadut to the north, Turf Club to the east, as well as Lim Chu Kang and the Western Water Catchment to the west. It is located about from the city centre and it came from Malay word ...
in northern
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 ...
. Dedicated to the men and women from the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Malaya, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
who died defending Singapore and Malaya against the invading Japanese forces 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 ...
, it comprises the
War Graves War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...
, the Memorial Walls, the State Cemetery, and the Military Graves.


Overview

The War Memorial represents the three branches of the military - the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
,
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
. The columns represent the Army, which marches in columns, the cover over the columns is shaped after of the wings of a plane, representing the Air Force, and the shape at the top resembles the
sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...
of a submarine, representing the Navy. The Memorial's walls inscribe over 24,000 names of allied personnel whose bodies were never found, spread over both sides of 12 columns of the war memorial itself. On the Kranji War Memorial the names of 191 Canadian airmen are inscribed. The grounds of the memorial is set on a hilly terrain. The grounds are maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
, and accessible only from Woodlands Road, the same road that the
Imperial Guards Division In Japan, the Imperial Guard is the name for two separate organizations dedicated to the protection of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial Family, palaces and other imperial properties. The first was the , a quasi-independent elite branch of the ...
of the Japanese 25th Army had marched down on 9 February 1942. Kranji War Memorial and Cemetery has been included into the photographic archive by the War Graves Photographic Project in association with the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
. Each individual grave has been recorded together with each and every column on the memorials.


Kranji War Cemetery

The War Cemetery is the final resting place for 4,458 Allied servicemen in marked graves laid out in rows on maintained and manicured lawns. Over 850 of these graves are unidentified. Towards the north end of the cemetery grounds is the State Cemetery, where
Yusof bin Ishak Yusof bin Ishak (12 August 191023 November 1970) was a Singaporean politician and journalist who served as the first president of Singapore from 1965 until his death in 1970. Prior to becoming head of state, Yusof was a well-known journalis ...
and
Benjamin Henry Sheares Benjamin Henry Sheares (12 August 1907 – 12 May 1981) was a Singaporean politician, physician and academic who served as the second president of Singapore from 1971 until his death in 1981. Sheares retired in 1960 and was in private pract ...
, the first and second presidents of Singapore, are buried. To the west are the Military Graves for
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
soldiers who died during the Konfrontasi and
Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
. 69 Chinese servicemen who served as members of the Commonwealth forces and who were killed by the Japanese in February 1942 were buried at the Chinese Memorial. There are also 64 burials for
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, including special memorials for three men who were buried in civil cemeteries in Singapore and
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, and whose graves were impossible to locate until this day. Previously a hospital burial ground during the
Japanese occupation of Singapore , officially , was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II. Japanese military forces occupied it after ...
, it became a military cemetery at the end of the war. Military servicemen buried elsewhere in Singapore were exhumed and reburied at the memorial. The names of Indian servicemen were inscribed on the memorial walls as they had already been cremated, as is
customary Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a r ...
in
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
.


Gallery

File:Kranji War Memorial 03.jpg, The Kranji War Memorial during the Remembrance Day Ceremony proceedings on 13 November 2005 File:Kranji War Memorial Cross.jpg, Kranji War Memorial Cross File:Kranji War Memorial Inscription.jpg, Kranji War Memorial inscription File:Kranji War Memorial 02.jpg, Kranji War Memorial
Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or ...
File:Inscription on the Kranji War Memorial.jpg, The inscription on the Kranji War Memorial File:Kranji War Memorial 01.jpg, The Catafalque Party mounted by the Singapore Armed Forces Military Police at the Kranji War Memorial during
Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...


See also

*
The Cenotaph, Singapore The Cenotaph is a war memorial located within the Esplanade Park at Connaught Drive, within the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. History The inscription at the base of the Cenotaph reads: ''They died that we might live' ...
*
Former Indian National Army Monument The Former Indian National Army Monument ( Chinese: 印度国民军纪念碑) is a historical site and a demolished war memorial at the Esplanade Park located at Connaught Drive within the downtown of Singapore. History Foundation stone layin ...
*
Civilian War Memorial The Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation, usually called the Civilian War Memorial ( Chinese: ; ms, Tugu Peringatan Bagi Mangsa Awam Pemerintahan Jepun; Tamil: ஜப்பானியர் ஆதிக்க கால ...


References


External links


Tourism board information
* Peter Chou's PBase Galler
Kranji War Memorial
* * {{Major Tourist Attractions in Singapore 1946 establishments in Singapore Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials World War II memorials Kranji Monuments and memorials in Singapore