Download or read book Massacre at Parit Sulong written by Gilbert Mant and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tragic, firsthand story of the Japanese massacre of 145 wounded Australian and Indian troops in Malaysia as told by one of the two survivors.
Download or read book The Bridge at Parit Sulong written by Lynette Ramsay Silver and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tells the story of an epic battle during one of the most desperate fighting retreats of World War II and the appalling massacre which followed.
Download or read book The Defence and Fall of Singapore written by Brian Farrell and published by Monsoon Books. This book was released on 2017-01-01 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shortly after midnight on 8 December 1941, two divisions of crack troops of the Imperial Japanese Army began a seaborne invasion of southern Thailand and northern Malaya. Their assault developed into a full-blown advance towards Singapore, the main defensive position of the British Empire in the Far East. The defending British, Indian, Australian and Malayan forces were outmanoeuvred on the ground, overwhelmed in the air and scattered on the sea. By the end of January 1942, British Empire forces were driven back onto the island of Singapore Itself, cut off from further outside help. When the Japanese stormed the island with an an-out assault, the defenders were quickly pushed back into a corner from which there was no escape. Singapore’s defenders finally capitulated on 15 February, to prevent the wholesale pillage of the city itself. Their rapid and total defeat was nothing less than military humiliation and political disaster. Based on the most extensive use yet of primary documents in Britain, Japan, Australia and Singapore, Brian Farrell provides the fullest picture of how and why Singapore fell and its real significance to the outcome of the Second World War.
Download or read book Disaster in the Far East 1940 1942 written by John Grehan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-03-30 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despatches in this volume include that on the Far East between October 1940 and December 1941, by Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham; the despatch on operations in Hong Kong between 8 and 25 December 1941, by Major-General C.M. Maltby, General Officer Commanding British Troops in China; the report on the air operations during the campaigns in Malaya and Netherland East Indies between December 1941 and March 1942; and the important despatch by Percival detailing the fall of Malaya and Fortress Singapore.?This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.
Download or read book Yamashita s Ghost written by Allan A. Ryan and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2014-10-17 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I don't blame my executioners. I will pray God bless them. " So said General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japan's most accomplished military commander, as he stood on the scaffold in Manila in 1946. His stoic dignity typified the man his U.S. Army defense lawyers had come to deeply respect in the first war crimes trial of World War II. Moments later, he was dead. But had justice been served? Allan A. Ryan reopens the case against Yamashita to illuminate crucial questions and controversies that have surrounded his trial and conviction, but also to deepen our understanding of broader contemporary issues-especially the limits of command accountability. The atrocities of 1944 and 1945 in the Philippines-rape, murder, torture, beheadings, and starvation, the victims often women and children-were horrific. They were committed by Japanese troops as General Douglas MacArthur's army tried to recapture the islands. Yamashita commanded Japan's dispersed and besieged Philippine forces in that final year of the war. But the prosecution conceded that he had neither ordered nor committed these crimes. MacArthur charged him, instead, with the crime-if it was one-of having "failed to control" his troops, and convened a military commission of five American generals, none of them trained in the law. It was the first prosecution in history of a military commander on such a charge. In a turbulent and disturbing trial marked by disregard of the Army's own rules, the generals delivered the verdict they knew MacArthur wanted. Yamashita's lawyers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose controversial decision upheld the conviction over the passionate dissents of two justices who invoked, for the first time in U.S. legal history, the concept of international human rights. Drawing from the tribunal's transcripts, Ryan vividly chronicles this tragic tale and its personalities. His trenchant analysis of the case's lingering question-should a commander be held accountable for the crimes of his troops, even if he has no knowledge of them-has profound implications for all military commanders.
Download or read book Fortress written by Kenneth Attiwill and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2017-06-28 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fortress: The Story of the Siege and Fall of Singapore, first published in 1959, is the sobering account of the failed defense of Singapore in late 1941 and early 1942 against the advancing Japanese Army. In Fortress, author Kenneth Attiwill—himself a prisoner of the Japanese for three and a half years—recreates, in vivid detail, the fall of Singapore in World War II: the unforgettable atmosphere of chaos, misunderstanding, panic bombings, evacuation of civilians, ill-trained troops, the invasion of Japanese troops, and the beginnings of tortures as the “Fortress” fell. Here is an engrossing analysis of the Singapore defeat—in strategy caused by the failure of the Chief of Staff in London to activate the British defense in Malaya; in the air due to disorganization at Air Command Headquarters; on the sea, because Japanese efficiency was underestimated; and on land, through misjudgment of the invasion of Malaya. Richly illustrated throughout with 14 pages of maps and photographs.
Download or read book The battle for Singapore written by Norfolk Regiment and published by Os Publishing. This book was released on with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Military documents from the Norfolk regiment's involvement in the WWII battle for Singapore. Published for all those that made, and who were willing to make the greatest of all sacrifices. In some instances rivalry is inevitable, as with Kashmir, the Nile and Tibet; which of the nations should control the water sources, and with what justification? In other instances open true dialogue is the best means to limit needless reprehensible acts of war. I regret that these documents are only available in pdf format. Every OCR program I tried to help generate text files had a 100% failure rate. If you are interested in helping to transcribe the documents please contact me: [email protected]
Download or read book The Forgotten VCs written by Brian Best and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fought amid the most challenging terrain of any theater during the Second World War, the campaign in the Far East saw heroic actions against the unyielding Japanese that resulted in the awarding of more than forty Victoria Crosses greater than a fifth of all the VCs of the war.Such actions include that of Major Frank Blaker, whose battalion of the Gurkha Rifles was held up by Japanese machine-guns on 9 July 1944. After climbing for five hours up a 2,100-foot hill, Blaker crawled on his hands and knees through dense jungle alone until he was close enough to stand up and charge the strong enemy position. Though mortally wounded, he urged his men to follow and the hilltop was taken.During the famous Chindit operations, Lieutenant George Cairns was with the South Staffordshire Regiment as it attacked a Japanese position on top of Pagoda Hill. The Chindits reached the summit and, charging into the Japanese, a vicious hand-to-hand battle ensued. In the fighting a Japanese officer hacked off Cairns left arm but, astonishingly, the young Londoner then killed the enemy officer, picked up the sword with his right hand and carried on fighting. He died the next day.The Gurkhas are renowned for their courage and it is unsurprising that many of the Fourteenth Armys VCs were won by these tough Nepalese soldiers. Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung found his battalion of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles pinned down by an enemy sniper. So he stood up in the open and killed the Japanese soldier. As his battalion advanced again, it once more came under enemy fire. Bhanbhagta Gurung charged the enemy positions, taking five Japanese foxholes, one by one in the face of almost pointblank fire.The wide-ranging nature of the conflict in the Far East saw awards being granted for actions not just in Burma but also in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Borneo, New Guinea and even off the coast of Japan itself. The recipients came from across the Commonwealth, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, Great Britain, India and Nepal.These VC actions are told in great detail in The Forgotten VCs, the first book to examine in depth the Victoria Crosses of the war in the Far East. Brian Best brings to life the daring deeds of a group of courageous men in the most inhospitable of battlefield conditions, filling a glaring gap in the historiography of Britains most prestigious award for valor.
Download or read book The Army Medical Services written by Francis Albert Eley Crew and published by . This book was released on 1956 with total page 604 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Malaya 1942 written by Brian Farrell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Imperial Japan unleashed the Pacific War in December 1941, Australian forces went into action, as part of a larger British Empire force, to defend Malaya and Singapore. Australia's principal contribution to defending Malaya and Singapore was the 8th Division. Originally raised for service in the Mediterranean, the division was committed piecemeal to Malaya and its performance was bedevilled by poor command decisions in the face of an enemy better prepared on all counts for the campaign at hand. The 8th Division, however, also reflected some strengths of the AIF at large: stubbornness in positional defence, effective and flexible small unit tactics and leadership, and skill and determination in close quarter combat. Singapore was lost more in spite than because of Australian efforts, but its loss underlined Australia's strategic dependence on `great and powerful friends' during the Second World War.
Download or read book Stretcher bearers written by Mark Johnston and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a generously illustrated, engaging and moving account of the history of the stretcher-bearer.
Download or read book Quiet Courage written by Tony Matthews and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-01-06 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What could induce a young pilot to walk out onto the wing of his burning aircraft at 13,000 feet? Why would a plucky young woman descend into the bowels of a sinking ship knowing that she would almost certainly die there? Why did a family remain on their farm, tending crops while suffering four long years of deadly artillery shelling? How did a former fishing trawler sink one of Hitler’s deadliest U-boats, and who were the two Australian nurses who protected wounded patients with their own bodies while experiencing a savage machine-gun attack? Why did a young naval apprentice keep rowing when his hands had been so badly burned, they were literally glued to his oar? And who were the two selfless ‘Dad’s Army’ soldiers who miraculously saved the lives of hundreds of their comrades even when it meant sacrificing their own? These and many other fascinating questions are answered in one of the most remarkable books of gallantry, fortitude and selfsacrifice you will ever read. Quiet Courage: Forgotten Heroes of World War Two is a book about thoughtful, intelligent actions and above all, an enviable capacity for bravery.
Download or read book Empires in the Balance written by H. P Willmott and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2008-09-01 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The respected British military historian H. P. Willmott presents the first of a three-volume appraisal of the strategic policies of the countries involved in the Pacific War. Remarkable in its scope and depth of research, his thoughtful analysis covers the whole range of political, economic, military, and naval activity in the Pacific. This first volume comprehensively covers events between December 1941 and April 1942, concluding with the Doolittle Raid on April 18. When published in hardcover in 1982, the book was hailed as an eloquent portrayal of great empires on trial that no one should miss. Willmott’s stimulating and original approach to the subject remains unmatched even today.
Download or read book Healing in Hell written by Ken Adams and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ken Adams, as a trained medic, was sent out to the Far East and immediately saw action on the Malay Peninsula. Captured at Singapore he initially worked at Changi Hospital. Many moves and much worse capos in Thailand were to follow. He describes his life, work and the terrible conditions endured at the hands of the Japanese and Korea guards and worst of all, the Kempetai secret police. Illnesses such as dysentery, malaria, avitominosis, cholera and smallpox had to be treated with minimal or no medicines. Starvation was a fact of life. The author was frequently moved around and in 1945 took part in a march of many hundreds of miles which inevitably proved fatal to many of his fellow POWs. Liberation and repatriation are movingly described as, most significantly, is the whole process of settling back into normal life after so long in captivity of the worst kind. Healing in Hell is an exceptional account that demands reading.
Download or read book Torrance Blitz in Malaya written by Jonathan Lunn and published by Canelo. This book was released on 2019-02-21 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The endless jungle. A relentless foe. No way out. From the bestselling author of the Kemp archery novels. World War II, Malaya, 1942: Charlie Torrance, a private in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, is plunged into the maelstrom of war after a blitzkrieg Japanese invasion. Suddenly, a sweltering but otherwise uneventful posting in the Malayan jungle becomes a living nightmare. But when his group stumbles upon some mysterious documents, their plight takes a turn for the worse. Torrance is pursued remorselessly by the indomitable Captain Mitsumoto, who will stop at nothing to retrieve the papers. As the British Empire crumbles amidst the mosquitos, rubber plantations and whip cracking bullets, even surviving will feel like victory... A stunning, brutal, blood-soaked military thriller, perfect for fans of Jack Higgins, Mark Sullivan, and Alistair MacLean. Praise for Jonathan Lunn 'Full-blooded action. Simply superb' Northern Echo 'A rollicking tale with plenty of punches.' Lancashire Evening Post
Download or read book Singapore Burning written by Colin Smith and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2006-05-04 with total page 969 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Churchill's description of the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, after Lt-Gen Percival's surrender led to over 100,000 British, Australian and Indian troops falling into the hands of the Japanese, was no wartime exaggeration. The Japanese had promised that there would be no Dunkirk in Singapore, and its fall led to imprisonment, torture and death for thousands of allied men and women. With much new material from British, Australian, Indian and Japanese sources, Colin Smith has woven together the full and terrifying story of the fall of Singapore and its aftermath. Here, alongside cowardice and incompetence, are forgotten acts of enormous heroism; treachery yet heart-rending loyalty; Japanese compassion as well as brutality from the bravest and most capricious enemy the British ever had to face.
Download or read book Battle for Malaya written by Kaushik Roy and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2019-12-02 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historian and author of The Army in British India analyzes the British Indian Army’s devastating loss to the Imperial Japanese during WWII. The defeat of 90,000 Commonwealth soldiers by 50,000 Japanese soldiers made the World War II Battle for Malaya an important encounter for both political and military reasons. British military prestige was shattered, fanning the fires of nationalism in Asia, especially in India. Japan’s successful tactics in Malaya—rapid marches, wide outflanking movement along difficult terrain, nocturnal attacks, and roadblocks—would be repeated in Burma in 1942–43. Until the Allied command evolved adequate countermeasures, Japanese soldiers remained supreme in the field. Looking beyond the failures of command, Kaushik Roy focuses on tactics of the ground battle that unfolded in Malaya between December 1941 and February 1942. His analysis includes the organization of the Indian Army—the largest portion of Commonwealth troops—and compares it to the British and Australian armies that fought side by side with Indian soldiers. Utilizing both official war office records and personal memoirs, autobiographies, and oral histories, Roy presents a comprehensive narrative of operations interwoven with tactical analysis of the Battle for Malaya.
