Selarang Barracks Incident
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Categories: History of Singapore | British rule in Singapore | Massacres in Singapore | Japanese war crimes | World War II crimes | Indian National Army
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The Selarang Barracks Incident also known as the Barrack Square Incident was an event during World War II started on August 30, 1942. The barracks was sited in Changi, Singapore and were used by the Japanese to hold 17,000 Anglo-Australian prisoners-of-war (POWs). After the Japanese recaptured four escaped Allied POWs, the Selarang Barracks POWs refused to sign a pledge not to escape, and were forced to crowd in the areas around the barracks square for nearly five days with little water and no sanitation. The executions of the recaptured POWs failed to break the men. The commanders however finally capitulated on September 5 when their men started to fall ill and die from dysentery. Upon signing the pledge, the men were allowed to return to the barracks buildings.[1]
HistoryChangiBuilt in 1938, the Selarang Barracks was part of the Changi Garrision, a heavily fortified coastal defence where most of the British forces were based during the Battle of Singapore. The Selarang Barracks housed the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders, a British Army infantry regiment which recruited its soldiers mainly from Scotland. The Royal Engineers and the 9th Coastal Artillery Regiment of the Royal Artillery were based in nearby Kitchener Barracks and Roberts Barracks respectively. After the British surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942, Allied POWs were ordered by the Japanese to march to Changi for internment. As the British-built Changi Prison was already crowded with Allied POWs and civilians, the surrounding barracks including Selarang Barracks were used by the Japanese as a holding area for Australian and British POWs.[2] Image:Changi Museum Display.jpg
A display of POW artefacts at the Changi Chapel and Museum. The picture in the background shows Changi Prison during WWII.
On 30 August 1942, as a pre-emptive measure, the newly arrived Japanese Commander General Shimpei Fukuye wanted the wholly British and Australian POWs interned at Selarang Barracks in Changi to sign a "No Escape Pledge" after the recapture of four escaped prisoners from Changi Prison earlier. The four escapees were Australian Corporal Rodney Breavington and Private Victor Gale, and English soldiers, Private Harold Waters and Private Eric Fletcher. The pledge reads: "I the undersigned, hereby solemnly swear on my honour that I will not, under any circumstances, attempt to escape."[3] With three exceptions, everyone refused to sign. This was unacceptable to the prisoners as they saw it as their duty to escape if they could. Under the Geneva Convention, POWs had the right to attempt to escape and they were not supposed to be punished if they were recaptured. General Fukuye was furious at the mass display of insubordination and the following day, he ordered all prisoners except the three who had agreed to sign, to congregate at the parade square in Selarang Barracks. What ensued was to become known as the "Selarang Barracks Incident".[1] The Selarang Barracks, originally built to accommodate 800 men, consisted of a parade ground surrounded on three sides by three-storey buildings. A number of smaller houses for officers and married couples were spread out in the spacious grounds. Nearly 17,000 men[4] crammed into a parade ground of about 128 by 210 metres and in the surrounding areas.[1] An Australian POW, George Aspinall documented the situation:
The executionsWhen there were no signs of the POWs backing down on the third day, General Fukuye ordered the Commander of the British and Australian troops in Changi, Lt-Gen E. B. Holmes and his deputy General Galleghan to attend the executions of the four recent escapees—Breavington, Gale, Waters and Fletcher. One of the Australians, Breavington, pleaded to no avail that he was solely responsible for the escape attempt and should be the only one executed. Their executions were carried out by the Indian National Army guards with rifles on September 2. The initial volley was non-fatal, and the wounded men had to plead to be finished off.[1][6] Despite the executions, the prisoners remained firm as the days ensued. Without food and little water available and coupled with latrine pits, kitchens and hospital beds crowded into an area of about a square kilometre, dysentery broke out quickly and the sick began to die. Realising that more would die needlessly, the prisoners’ commanders decided that they and their men would sign the pledge "under duress". On September 4, Lt-Gen Holmes issued a written order to his men:
As the Japanese weren't familiar with English names, the POWs signed using false or meaningless names. One of the most common signatures among the Australians was Ned Kelly, a Robin Hood-like character in Australian tales of the outback.[5] After the signing was completed, the Japanese allowed the prisoners back to their former areas on September 5, thus ending the incident. During the Singapore War Crimes Trial in 1946, General Fukuye was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad at the spot where the four POWs had been shot three years earlier. The four executed POWs were later honoured and buried at the Kranji War Memorial after the war.[8] Selarang Barracks todayAfter the war, the Selarang Barracks became the home for most of the Australian Army units of ANZUK, a tripartite force formed by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to defend the Asia-Pacific region, until its disbandment in 1974. Today, Selarang Barracks is the headquarters for the 9th Division of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), and access to the camp is restricted.[9] RemembranceImage:Changi Museum.jpg
The main entrance leading to the Changi Chapel and Museum at Upper Changi Road North, Singapore. In the background lies the replica of the Changi Chapel.
In order to honour the deeds and inspirational stories that unfolded in Changi during the war, the Changi Chapel and Museum was built in 1988 as a dedication to all those who lived and died in Singapore during the years of World War II. It also serves as an important educational institution and resource centre with documentation of significant events of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore.[10] The Selarang Barracks Incident, Double Tenth Incident and other similar stories that were mentioned by the survivors of Changi Prison are retold on the storyboard displays for posterity.[11] There are also showcases containing tools, materials and personal belongings of POWs and other artefacts related or used during World War II. The items displayed in the showcases were donated from organizations, POWs and their families, as well as other visitors.[12] On 19 April 1996, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his wife, Nicky, made a personal pilgrimage to Changi Prison, to see the cell his father was kept in as a prisoner-of-war during World War II. His father, Sir Alexander Downer, was interned in Selarang Barracks from 1942 to 1943 and then in Changi Prison from 1943 to 1944. Downer also visited the Changi Memorial Chapel, where Sir Alexander had worshipped during his internment, the Selarang Barracks, and the camp parade square, where 17,000 Allied POWs were ordered to assembled in 1942.[13] See alsoNotes & references
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