The Indian National Army and Japan

2. Malayan Jungle Meeting

16 CHAPTER฀TWO Malayan฀Jungle฀Meeting I฀ CAPTAIN฀MOHAN฀SINGH IN฀ 1941฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ was฀ a฀ captain,1 ฀ aged฀ thirty-three,฀ second฀ in฀ command฀ of฀ a฀ battalion฀ of฀ the฀ 15th฀ Brigade,฀ 1/14฀ Punjab฀ Regiment฀ of฀the฀British-Indian฀Army.฀Like฀many฀Indian฀officers,฀Mohan฀Singh฀ felt฀ a฀ mixture฀ of฀ pride฀ at฀ being฀ a฀ viceroy฀ commissioned฀ officer฀ and฀ annoyance฀at฀British฀discrimination฀against฀Indian฀officers.฀In฀March฀ the฀brigade฀landed฀at฀Penang฀Island฀and฀from฀there฀pushed฀inland฀to฀ Ipoh฀ in฀ Perak฀ state,฀ Malaya.฀ After฀ two฀ months฀ the฀ brigade฀ moved฀ to฀ Sungei฀ Patani,฀ seventy฀ miles฀ south฀ of฀ the฀ Malayan-Thai฀ border.฀ Then฀ in฀ September฀ the฀ brigade฀ advanced฀ to฀ Jitra,฀ north฀ of฀ the฀Alor฀ Star฀ defences฀ and฀ just฀ sixteen฀ miles฀ south฀ of฀ the฀ Malayan-Thai฀ border .฀It฀was฀marshy฀jungle฀country฀and฀the฀going฀was฀painfully฀slow.฀ ฀ The฀British฀strategy฀was฀defensive;฀there฀was฀little฀eagerness฀to฀fight฀ the฀Japanese฀in฀Malaya. Captain฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ got฀ three฀ weeks’฀ leave฀ in฀ late฀ November,฀ but฀the฀situation฀became฀tense฀and฀he฀was฀recalled฀to฀his฀battalion฀in฀ early฀ December.฀ He฀ celebrated฀ the฀ last฀ night฀ of฀ his฀ leave฀ at฀ a฀ party฀ where฀ libations฀ flowed.฀ Before฀ the฀ party฀ broke฀ up฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ surprised฀ his฀ friends฀ and฀ himself฀ when,฀ with฀ Punjabi฀ ebullience,฀ he฀ cried,฀“I฀don’t฀know฀what฀will฀happen,฀but฀one฀thing฀is฀certain:฀I’m฀ not฀going฀to฀die,฀and฀mind฀you,฀don’t฀be฀surprised฀if฀you฀see฀me฀as฀ your฀liberator฀coming฀down฀fighting฀the฀very฀British฀whom฀I’m฀going฀ now฀to฀defend.”2 ฀Everyone฀was฀surprised฀because฀Mohan฀Singh฀was฀ actually฀ a฀ rather฀ apolitical฀ young฀ man;฀ later฀ he฀ could฀ not฀ explain฀ ฀ to฀his฀friends฀what฀had฀prompted฀these฀words. 02 IndNatArmynn.indd 16 5/9/08 4:57:15 PM 17 On฀ 4฀ December฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ rejoined฀ his฀ battalion฀ near฀ Alor฀ Star.฀ They฀ were฀ digging฀ in฀ for฀ a฀ Japanese฀ landing฀ at฀ Singora.฀ The฀ 15th฀ Brigade฀ was฀ to฀ spearhead฀ the฀ British฀ advance฀ into฀ Thailand฀ from฀ Malaya.฀ On฀ the฀ night฀ of฀ 7฀ December฀ orders฀ came฀ for฀ the฀ brigade ฀ to฀ occupy฀ Singora;฀ but,฀ according฀ to฀ intelligence฀ reports,฀ the฀ Japanese฀ already฀ had฀ Singora.฀ On฀ 8฀ December฀ twenty-seven฀ Japanese ฀bombers฀bombed฀the฀Alor฀Star฀airport฀and฀rail฀lines฀to฀Thailand.฀ This฀ became฀ a฀ pattern฀ of฀ Japanese฀ attack:฀ bomb฀ the฀ rail฀ lines,฀ then฀ take฀ the฀ airport.฀ The฀ British฀ defences฀ became฀ confused.฀ The฀ 15th฀ ฀ Brigade฀ was฀ ordered฀ to฀ dash฀ from฀ Jitra฀ to฀ the฀ Thai฀ border.฀ They฀ reached฀ the฀ border฀ just฀ before฀ Japanese฀ troops฀ rushed฀ in฀ from฀ the฀ opposite฀ direction฀ across฀ Thailand.฀ Mohan฀ Singh’s฀ battalion฀ was฀ detailed฀ to฀ stop฀ the฀ Japanese฀ at฀ the฀ border฀ near฀ Jitra.฀ The฀ Japanese฀ advance฀took฀Mohan฀Singh฀and฀his฀battalion฀by฀surprise.฀The฀Japanese ฀ had฀ tanks.฀ The฀ British฀ division฀ commander฀ had฀ said฀ Malaya฀ ฀ was฀ not฀ fit฀ for฀ tank฀ warfare,฀ so฀ the฀ British฀Army฀ had฀ no฀ tanks฀ and฀ did฀ not฀ expect฀ the฀ Japanese฀ to฀ use฀ them.฀ There฀ were฀ none฀ to฀ spare฀ for฀ the฀ Malaya฀ battle฀ anyway.฀ It฀ was฀ now฀ impossible฀ for฀ Mohan฀ Singh’s฀ battalion฀ to฀ cross฀ the฀ border.฀ The฀ aggressor฀ chose฀ the฀ time฀ and฀ place฀ of฀ attack;฀ the฀ Japanese฀ had฀ a฀ double฀ advantage.฀Advance฀ units฀ of฀ both฀ sides฀ met฀ on฀ 9฀ December.฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ was฀ ordered฀ to฀ brigade฀ headquarters฀ by฀ his฀ commander,฀ Colonel฀ Fitzpatrick.฀ ฀ A฀ Gurkha฀ brigade฀ had฀ arrived฀ and฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ was฀ ordered฀ ฀ to฀position฀it.฀On฀10฀December฀he฀returned฀to฀the฀front.3 Fighting฀ was฀ limited฀ to฀ the฀ road฀ and฀ the฀ area฀ along฀ both฀ sides฀ of฀ the฀ road.฀ Everything฀ beyond฀ was฀ thick฀ impenetrable฀ jungle฀ and฀ marsh฀ where฀ it฀ was฀ impossible฀ to฀ move.฀ On฀ 11฀ December฀ Japanese฀ reconnaissance฀ planes฀ pinpointed฀ the฀ British-Indian฀ position.฀ The฀ Japanese฀ immediately฀ opened฀ up฀ with฀ mortar฀ fire฀ on฀ the฀ road.฀ Mohan ฀ Singh’s฀ battalion฀ withdrew฀ along฀ both฀ sides฀ of฀ the฀ road.฀ There฀ followed฀silence฀for฀two฀hours.฀By฀5฀p.m.฀the฀Japanese฀brought฀their฀ tanks฀ into฀ position฀ and฀ made฀ a฀ tank฀ attack฀ on฀ the฀ battalion.฀ The฀ ฀ battalion฀ had฀ ten฀ ammunition฀ trucks;฀ these฀ were฀ the฀ first฀ targets฀ blown฀ up฀ by฀ the฀ advancing฀ Japanese.฀Ammunition฀ exploding฀ everywhere ฀ dispersed฀ Mohan฀ Singh’s฀ battalion฀ in฀ a฀ mêlée฀ of฀ mud฀ and฀ shouting฀ figures.฀This฀ was฀ the฀ last฀ glimpse฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ had฀ of฀ his฀ battalion฀ as฀ a฀ unit.฀ The฀ Japanese฀ had฀ the฀ road;฀ the฀ Indian฀ troops฀ ฀ took฀to฀the฀jungle฀on฀both฀sides. Relations฀between฀Mohan฀Singh฀and฀his฀commanding฀officer฀were฀ already฀ somewhat฀ strained฀ because฀ of฀ discriminatory฀ promotion฀ 02 IndNatArmynn.indd 17 5/9/08 4:57:15 PM [18.191.171.235] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 07:34 GMT...