Valiant defiance

Valiant defiance
Revisiting WWII gets back on the Japanese invasion trail and examines the fiercest clash of the Malayan campaign: the Battle of Kampar. CHRISTINA KOH speaks to a historian about the furious fighting on ridges above the tin-mining town.

CHRISTMAS Eve, 1941, brought little joy to the battle-weary men of the British battalion at Kampar, Perak. They did, however, enjoy a brief respite and the unexpected miracle of a traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

Although they knew the Japanese were advancing inexorably with each passing hour, the men managed to celebrate the season with turkey, poultry from the Kampar market, fresh bread from a Chinese bakery, chocolate, and even wine and beer.

As the soldiers gathered for a quiet Christmas morning church service, few realised that in just five days, many would take part in what would be their fiercest battle with the Japanese in the entire Malayan campaign.

The Battle of Kampar lasted four bloody days, according to local historian Chye Kooi Loong, author of The History of the British Battalion – Malayan Campaign: 1941-42.

Chye Kooi Loong (in white hat) sitting in an old machine gun nest on Green Ridge and lecturing army officers from the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College on the Battle of Kampar.
Chye, who spent seven years researching the battle, relates that the British were in desperate straits after suffering disastrous defeats at Jitra and Gurun in Kedah.

Lieutenant-General Arthur E. Percival, commander-in-chief of the British forces in Malaya, chose Kampar to make his stand because of the 1,206m-high Gunung Bujang Melaka ridge overlooking the tin-rich town.

On Dec 23, 1941, Percival’s battalion took up positions on three low ridges north of Kampar: Green Ridge, Thompson Ridge and Cemetery Ridge dominated the main road and railway, and the flat tin mining terrain to the west of Kampar was also ideal for the defenders’ artillery – the British had artillery superiority over the Japanese.

For seven days, the 2,000 troops laboured feverishly from dawn to dusk, digging firing trenches, machine gun pits and artillery observation posts. To this day, some of the trenches can still be seen on Green Ridge.

On the dawn of Dec 30, two days after the Japanese took Ipoh, their artillery began firing on the Kampar ridges from the Malim Nawar road. The British guns replied.

“The bombardment from both sides shook the ground and the pounding could be heard by people as far as Ipoh, Gopeng and Batu Gajah to the north, and in Tapah and Bidor to the south. Giant flashes lit up the night sky. This was the beginning of the Battle of Kampar,” says Chye.

Although the Japanese numbered 9,000 men, and had some 200 tanks and 100 artillery guns, they were beaten back at first by strategically placed mines, dense barbed wire, and machine-gun fire – “It’s interesting to note that the British had only seven days to prepare the defences. They did a marvellous job, considering they had only bare hands and shovels,” points out Chye.

The Japanese suffered heavy casualties when they probed the defences, but on New Year’s Day, 1942, they decided to mount an all-out assault on the eastern flank of Thompson Ridge.

The attackers managed to overrun some British positions because the defenders’ guns had seized when the barrels became red hot and there were no spares, according to Chye.

Hours later, the British were able to recapture some of the positions, albeit at great cost, and only after a failed first charge.

“Many people could not know that the Japanese replaced their frontline soldiers after every 48 hours of fighting, whereas the British and Indian troops had hardly any replacements.”

The Japanese Army entering an unnamed village in Perak. The photo is courtesy of the Matang Historical Complex in Taiping, Perak, where it is on display.
On Jan 2, the Japanese massed their troops to penetrate the weakened defences on the eastern side of Thompson Ridge.

In the afternoon, the British decided to send the Jat/Punjab Regiment under the command of Capt John Graham and his second-in-command, Lieutenant T. Lamb, to charge the lines and clear the Japanese.

“Each man was given a mug of rum and some ammunition, had their bayonets fixed, then followed Capt Graham’s lead.

“As they charged the rearward slope of the ridge, the soldiers shouted ‘Sat Siri Akal’, the Punjabi war cry meaning ‘Glory to God’.

“According to the records of British historian Sir Compton MacKenzie, the Japanese mowed down many of the soldiers but the survivors pushed on. Lt Lamb was killed in the second line of the charge.

“When they finally reached the last line, Capt Graham had both legs blasted off by a Japanese mortar bomb. In spite of his wounds, he stood on his stumps and shouted encouragement to his remaining men.

“They succeeded in clearing the trenches of Japanese and carried their leader back to the army first aid post to be attended to.”

Graham died a day later at the Tanjung Malim army hospital.

In the end, though, the British were forced to withdraw to Trolak to avoid being cut off by a flanking movement from Teluk Intan to the south-west.

Today, says Chye, the Battle of Kampar is studied in military colleges worldwide as an interesting example of why the British were able to do so well there despite the earlier disasters in Kedah.

“To the Japanese, the British Battalion and other Indian units of the 6th and 15th Brigades had given them a bloody mauling for the first time in the Malayan campaign.”

n Next week, Revisiting WWII shares some personal accounts of how Kampar’s famous statue of La Salle was saved, and how people learnt to eat maize?.

We urge readers who have firsthand memories of life in Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah during World War II, or know of friends and relatives who lived through those years, to share the information and help preserve the memories for posterity.

Mementoes, artefacts, documents and photographs – which we will return – will also be most welcome. Please include a contact phone number and/or address.

Mark all material “Revisiting WWII” and send to: The Star, Menara Star, No. 15, Jalan 16/11, 46350 Petaling Jaya, Selangor; fax: 03-7955 4039; e-mail: ww2@thestar.com. my.

Related story:
Pushing across Perak

Originally published in The Star on Sunday May 8, 2005