|
On the
morning of 16th Feb, after the fall of Singapore,
Japanese aircraft scattered leaflets ordering British and
Australian POWs to surrender at Changi Jail while Indian POWs
were to assemble at Tyrsal Park, a racecourse. The Indian POWs
were formally handed over to the Japanese by a British Lt.
Colonel. Then after an address by a Japanese Major General, they
were handed over to Gen. Mohan Singh, head of the Indian
National Army.
Those
who did not join the INA immediately were subject to continuous
and intense pressure to join. Eventually three Indian National
Armies were formed under Mohan Singh, JKT Bhonsle and Subash
Chandra Bose. (Lt Gen Singh refers (P.137) to 90,000 Indian POWs
being handed over to the INA.)
The
remainder, “the Obstructionists”, chose to work in labour
battalions and very many died at the hands of the Japanese.
Lt Gen
Harbaksh Singh joined up with the Jind Infantry Battalion, who
remained as one unit throughout under Lt Col Gurbaksh Singh,
together with remnants of 5 Sikh and 3/12 Frontier Battalion.
This constituted a force of 1500 men who were initially
consigned for work in Rabaul, then the Burma-Siam railway but in
fact had the good fortune to be commandeered by the Japanese Air
Force at Kluang Airfield for airfield clearance and maintenance
purposes.
Later,
after sustained propaganda, many of the Muslims in 3/12 Frontier
Battalion left to join the INA. A relatively benign regime
prevailed at Kluang with the POWs being left to largely manage
themselves. Senior POWs clandestinely went outside the camp to
obtain essential materials to help in their survival. However in
the absence of proper nutrition and medicines, a number died of
dysentery and malaria but, even then, their lot was
significantly better than that of many other Indian POWs.
Although comparatively well treated themselves, they were forced
to witness atrocities against local Chinese. Through contact
with the local population they learned of the reign of fear that
was used to maintain control over the local population with the
limited Japanese resources available. The Chinese were separated
into “black”, supporters of the Kuomintang Chinese Nationalist
Army and “white”. It is likely the “black” became victims of the
massacres perpetrated on the local Chinese after the fall of
Singapore.
He
refers to the arrival of two Allied officers from Force 136 who
arrived in camp on the day of surrender. They had been in the
surrounding jungle waiting for this day and were able to direct
supplies in very quickly.
Summarised from In the Line of Duty – A
Soldier remembers by Lt General Harbaksh Singh , Chapters
10-19, published by Lancer Publishers and Distributors New Delhi |
