Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Conquest of Malaya and Singapore - Japanese Naval March

This is a video I got from YouTube. Special Thanks to worship 999 for posting it.

1941 December, Japanese troops landed at Kota Baru in Malaya. Within a few hours, all the British airfields were taken and thus began a quick march down the Malayan Peninsula. 2 months late, Singapore fell.

Clip shows the landing from the sea and a Japanese unit advancing under heavy fire. A soldier could be seen cutting the barb wire fence before the rest charged into the gap.

Also seen are tanks along the Singapore Padang with City Hall at the background and the reception given to General Yamashita by the surrendering British and Indian troops.

The music is a Japanese Naval march called the "March of the Warships" (軍艦行進曲) or the "Gunkan March". It was composed in 1897 by naval troop band leader Tokichi Setoguchi, the words were written by Hiraku Toriyama. It was used as the march of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and after WW II re-adopted as the march of the Maritime Self Defense Forces of Japan.

The figures for the massecre of the civilian population in Singapore varied from 6000 to 40,000. The lower figure was gleaned from the Kempei Tai Japanese military police.The higher figure from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The civilian population in Malaya suffered a similar fate.

All those who had experienced Japanese Occupation should be able remember this stirring Naval war song, even though they had bad memories of the event.


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