Sikh soldiers serving in the British Indian Army were active in Europe amd served with distinction during the Allied invasion of Italy. In the same
theatre, they also fought the Germam Army in North Africa.
The greatest defeats in British and Australian military history came in the first seventy days of 1942, when the Japanese armed forces defeated
Australian and British India Army forces in Malaya, Singapore and islands stretching from Java to New Britain.
Sikh soldiers also fought the Japanese in the Burma campaigns. The British surrender to the Japanese imposed pain on the Allied POW, which
and a number were drafted to build the famed railway over the River Kwai. This included a large number of Sikh soldiers.
With Burma captures, the Japanese advanced through Malaya, Singapore and Indonesia and then slowly to Papua New Guines
Sikh soldiers were once again at the forefront and made up a disproportionate number of the forces that India gave to the war effort. Sikh men
helped to swell the British India Army from 189,000 at the start of the war to more than 2.5 million by the end of the war.
The strength of the army in Malaya was 104,625 troops. Sikhs represented more than 60 percent of the total Indian force that fought against the
Japanese invasion of Malaysia and Singapore.
Sikh served alongside Australian forces in these theaters of war
Japanese forces invaded Malaya on 8 December 1941. Their commander, General Yamashita,
launched an aggressive offensive that quickly demoralised and defeated Malaya's
garrison of British, Indian and Australian troops.
Why did the British surrender Singapore?
Thanks to their advanced tactics and training, the Japanese advanced with incredible speed
pushing the unprepared British back to Singapore in a so-called 'bicycle blitzkrieg'.
When they crossed the Johore straights and captured the Bukit Timah heights above Singapore
itself, Percival was forced to surrender.
The capture of Singapore resulted in the largest British surrender in its history.
Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival (right), led by Ichiji Sugita, walks under a
flag of truce to negotiate the capitulation of Commonwealth forces in Singapore,
15 February 1942
On 12 September 1945, five Japanese generals and two admirals led the delegation that formally surrendered to Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, British Supreme Allied Commander in Southeast Asia, at the Municipal Building of Singapore (now known as City Hall).
The fighting in the Burma campaign in 1944 was among the most severe in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II. It took place along the borders between Burma and India, and Burma and China, and involved the British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces, against the forces of Imperial Japan and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from the United Kingdom, British India and Africa.
After the Japanese invasion of Burma in early 1942, the Allies had launched
tentative counterattacks in late 1942 and early 1943, despite lack of preparation
and resources. This resulted in an Allied defeat in the coastal Arakan Province of
Burma, and a questionable success in the first Chindit long-range raid into
Burma (codenamed Operation Longcloth).
In August 1943 the Allies created South East Asia Command (SEAC), a new combined
command responsible for the South-East Asian Theatre. Its Commander in Chief was
Admiral Louis Mountbatten. This brought a new sense of purpose and in November, when
SEAC took over responsibility for Burma, the newly formed British Fourteenth Army was
ready to take the offensive. The substantial improvement in the effectiveness of the
troops which Fourteenth Army inherited has been credited to its commander, Lieutenant
General William Slim. He enforced the use of anti-malarial drugs as part of an emphasis
on individual health, established realistic jungle warfare training, rebuilt the
army's self-respect by winning easy small-scale victories and developed local
military infrastructure.
The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the Malay Operation was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 to 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by battles between British Commonwealth army units and the Imperial Japanese Army. The Japanese had air and naval supremacy from the opening days of the campaign. For the British, Indian, Australian, and Malayan forces defending the colony, the campaign was a total disaster.
With the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945 the first liberation forces included
small groups of Malayan police officers who had not been interned and who set to work
to re-establish the police throughout the country. For the first time a Federation
Police Force covering the whole of the country was organised, responsibility for
Malacca and Penang being taken over from the former Straits Settlements, whilst the
police in the Unfederated States of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Trengganu and Johore were
united under a single Mobile Police Station Commissioner of Police in Kuala Lumpur.
The first Commissioner of Police was H B Langworthy, whilst Col J D Dailey took charge
of all security intelligence throughout the Federation and Singapore.
Extract from The Origins & Development of the Police in Malaya by Mr John H Grieve, ISO CPM
Boor Singh Usma’s elder brother, Ujager Singh Usma came from Shanghai to Singapore
in 1937. In 1940 Boor Singh Usma decided to join his brother in Singapore who had
earlier started a business in Singapore and Pulau Samboe.
Both the brothers were in Singapore during the Japanese Occupation and their trading
business flourished as Ujager Singh Usma could speak Japanese and provided translation
services for the Japanese rulers. He had picked up this language from his earlier days in Shanghai.
Following the end of WWII, Boor Singh Usma returned to India, and came back to Singapore
in 1952 to start his own business, using a bicycle to sell cloth for ladies Punjabi
suits to home-based housewives.
With business doing well, he soon upgraded to a motor
cycle and was able to travel greater distances and carry a greater variety of clothes.
Meanwhile, his family arrived from India in 1955 and they stayed at rented premises at 307
Bukit Timah Road opposite the Anglo Chinese School in Barker Road. This location was
convenient for both, his daytime mobile textile trading business and his night watchman's
job at the Indian High Commission staff quarters at 54 Stevens Road. His daytime business
was doing well and it was not long before he invested in a brand new Austin 35 car.
Despite the fact that he held two jobs, Boor Singh Usma still found time for involvement in
Sikh community affairs and served on the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Temple management committee
in various positions, including being the Treasurer in 1962 and 1963, President in 1980 and 1981, and Trustee
thereafter. He had a keen interest in kabaddi and was among the first Sikhs in Singapore to start a kabaddi team
to promote the game and participate in Vesakhi mela and other outdoor festivals.
He rented a small shop in Queen Street in the early 1970s for his business, moving
again in 1977 to a bigger shop in Rochor Centre called Punjab Sikh House.
With advancing age, he later downsized to a smaller shop in Tekka Market in the 1980s.
He passed away in 1997.
Extract and adapted slightly from:
SINGAPORE’S EARLY SIKH PIONEERS
Origins, Settlement, Contributions and Institutions
RISHPAL SINGH SIDHU
Yesteryear Sikhs of SE Asia
1944 Burma - 30th Indian Mountain Regt, RIA, on the move.
Burma. (NAM) Note: The 30th Indian Mountain Regt RIA (later the 33rd) served in Burma
between 1943-1945, taking part in the First and Second Arakan Offensives, the capture
of Akyab Island, the battle of Ramree Island and the capture of Rangoon.
It was equipped with light mountain guns that could easily be dismantled and transported
by mules or men in rough terrain. The 30th amalgamated with the 34th Battery and 19th
(Maymyo) Battery in September 1944 and became the 33rd Indian Mountain Regt, Royal
Indian Artillery.
The 30th served with the 26th Indian Div, after amalgamation the 33rd served with the 25th
Indian Div.
29th Mar 1945 - The British tank commander and Indian crew of a Sherman tank of the
9th Royal Deccan Horse, 255th Indian Tank Brigade, encounter a newly liberated
elephant on the road to Meiktila, Burma. (IWM)
The 9th Royal Deccan Horse was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army,
it was formed from the amalgamation of two regiments after World War I. They saw
service from the Mutiny of 1857 up to and including World War II.
The 9th Royal Deccan Horse can trace its formation to 1790 when it was called Asif
Sah's Irregular Cavalry. Two Regiments were raised for service under the Nizam of
Hyderabad in Berar who was allied with the East India Company.
During the following years the Regiment's title would change and they were known by
the following titles over the years;
1st Regiment, Nizam’s Cavalry
2nd Regiment, Nizam's Cavalry
1st Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent
2nd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent
1st Lancers, Hyderabad Contingent
2nd Lancers, Hyderabad Contingent.
The Deccan Horse was frequently called for service during the 18th and 19th Centuries, winning a Victoria Cross in 1859 and was also awarded the battle honour, ‘Central India’.. The Regiment was also in action during the Second Afghan War, the Burma War, and in China during the Boxer Rebellion. In 1903 during Kitcheners reform of the Indian Army the two Regiments were incorporated into the regular Indian Army with the titles XXth Deccan Horse and the 29th Lancers (Deccan Horse). The XXth Deccan Horse was awarded the titled Royal for their distinguished service during World War I, and in 1922 following the amalgamation of the two regiments, the Royal Deccan Horse (9th Horse) was formed. During the Second World War,the Regiment converted to tanks, and became part of the 255th Indian Tank Brigade. The regiment took part in the re-conquest of Burma.
Circa 1960s - Royal Malaysia Police College, Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor. Standing 2nd frm left, middle row - Gurdial Singh Sgt 25359
Fall of Singapore
Colonel (RET) Gurcharan Singh Sekhon (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਚਰਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੇਖੋਂ, born 1937) is a
retired Singaporean army officer. Nicknamed "Father of the Engineers", he is
a pioneer of the Singapore Armed Forces, credited with setting up the Singapore
Combat Engineers.
He served as the 6th Commandant of the Singapore Command and Staff College from
1979–1981, and thereafter as the Assistant Chief of General Staff (Operations) of
the Singapore Army, an appointment today held by an officer of one-star rank.
In July 1967, he became a graduate of Singapore's first batch of officer cadets.
Of that batch, he was the first to command a specialist branch, to hold this
command alongside command of a battalion, to command the Singapore Command and
Staff College, and to command the First Division of the Singapore Armed Forces.
A young Sikh Soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces
ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. At dawn on 25 April 1915 a contingent of Australian and New Zealand Soldiers landed on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula. Alongside the Australian and New Zealand Soldiers were battled seasoned Sikhs and Gurkhas. The ANZAC soldiers were decimated. The 14th Sikhs also suffered heavy casualties. Human valour was unavailing against modern weapons of war, and on that day the 14th Sikhs battalion’s casualties amounted to 82 percent of the men actually engaged in the battle. Only 3 British officers were left unwounded.
Approx 1.2 million Indians volunteered to fight for the British Indian Army in WWI, making them the largest volunteer army in the Great War. While Sikhs only make up 2% of India’s population, 22% of the British Indian Army were Sikhs. In World War I and II, 83,005 Sikhs were killed and 109,045 wounded fighting for the allied forces.