Valentines day.............not as happy for some.

[muffett.2008]

75 Years ago today, marks the anniversary of the Alexandra Hospital Massacre by the Japanese on Singapore.
To many this day would usually go unnoticed, to those involved, who lost loved ones, this day will always be remembered with distaste and sadness.

For my family, today means not just remembering the loss of a family member, but the lies and deceit of a government, that still 75 years on, fails to correct the records concerning the event.

My Uncle was a member of the 2/18th Battalion, battled the Japs from Mersing down the peninsula until finally placed in a defensive perimeter on Singapore.
His battalion was flanked by the 2/20th on his right and the 2/19th on his left, these three Battalions bore the brunt of the Japanese thrust onto Singapore Island and were gradually pushed back.
Records show that my Uncle was reported MIA on the 10th Feb, but the 2/20th has him recorded as being on strength with them as of the 12th Feb. (so far so good, risen from the dead) reported as wounded about the period 12/13th, and supposedly transported to Alexandra Hospital by British Soldiers carrying wounded for attention.

The Japanese attacked the Hospital early on the 14th, shooting and bayoneting Medical Staff and Patients, you can read about this yourself, I tend to beat myself up a bit when I think of it, wounded carted out and bayoneted, Nurses shot and bayoneted, walking wounded crammed into confined spaces, then systematically taken out and slaughtered.......
the atrocities go on.

So no real records of patients and staff in situ on that day, the daily register goes missing, only that 300 were killed, mainly British but a few other Nationalities amongst them.
Recorded interviews with POW's later pieced together a bit of a record, Australian Unit members who were involved in the cleanup of the bodies recorded who they could, but those bodies thrown in ditches and burnt were not recognisable.
The Brit's had a fairly detailed list of their personnel, most of the Aussies being moved(those not badly wounded) prior to this event. But those that remained met the same fate, only a few survived to tell the story.

So my beef is the Secrecy Involved, the Failure to correctly Identify and Notify family, the quashing of the War Crimes Trials and the Failure to recover all the remains and return them and to correct the Records.

Now I have a family member, who supposed went MIA from the 2/18th, but is not recorded as being on strength with that Unit, nor is he listed on that Units tablet at the AWM.
However, he appears with the 2/20th two days later and is on their Tablet as Presumed Dead, at the AWM.

Funnily enough, his dog tags were recovered from a ditch post war at the Alexandra Hospital, his name also appears on the Memorial Tablet there.

My Grandmother never got over this, she always said they were lying, having received mail dated after his supposed demise.
Having personally checked his service records myself and the file numbers relating to War Crimes that were in his file, I managed to piece together the story..........doesn't make me feel any better, just bitter.

Knowing the Oz Govt. and being bound by the OSA for my early service years, and knowing that by the time these restrictions are lifted, if ever, I will be long dead, I pity my grandchildren that try to piece together that story.

Maybe I should write a FICTION novel about those days, my Daughter(mad Archivist) can put it all in perspective........maybe.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.