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Killed in Action
Royal Army Medical Corps
197 Field Ambulance
History
by Ray Watson
Excerpts from ‘Mr Sam’ Far Eastern Heroes
Compiled by Ron Taylor
Japanese Attack
8th December 1941 - 15th February 1942
We reached Bombay on the 27th December and disembarked the next day and many Goodbyes were said to the Yanks. We got on very well with them. Although they gave the impression that they ‘knew the lot’, I enjoyed their company.
We boarded a train for Ahmednagar after our two-day stay in Bombay. The train journey was also to take two days and was very boring. The land was barren, no nice scenery to break the soul-destroying monotony of that dreadful journey. We were all down in the dumps. At the end of the journey we were in for a surprise, people were actually sitting on top of the carriages during the journey.
Before we actually received our rations, I recalled hearing the Indians tittering and passing comments. I thought something was in the offing, sure enough, it was in the sky, these birds, nicknamed ‘Shite Hawks’, these birds could swoop out of the sky and clear your plate as fast and as clean as could be.
Football, our national game, was always first on the agenda wherever we went, and that place was no exception. A match was arranged with ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies. It was during that match that I received the worst injuries that a man of my profession could get, badly torn ligaments in my knee. And so I had to visit the hospital as a patient.
After a couple of weeks at Ahmednagar, we were on the move again. We all knew that we were going into action, and we had bets on that our destination was to be Singapore.
The Empress of Asia
The 18th Division was the best-equipped Division ever to leave the shores of England, so it was odds on that we were going into action and so, it was back again to Bombay and onto a ship named ‘The Empress Of Asia’. We called at Ceylon (Shrilanka) for one day and we all got shore leave.
Now we knew for certain that we were hell-bent for action stations As we neared Singapore we heard planes overhead and, sure enough, the Rising Sun markings on their sides confirmed the fact that we were at war.
They began to bomb us and the hatches were battened us down. God only knows why they did that because it was a terrifying feeling as the bombs battered the sides to the ship. Massive vibrations shook the ship, and so we were all in a state of fright and shock, especially me with only one good leg.
A sergeant major yelled at the top of his voice and opened the hatches so that we would have easy access to the deck above. That was the 5th of February 1942, which I celebrate to this day with the words, “Thank the Lord I survived”.
We learned that all our planes on the island had been destroyed so we had no air support. That episode was the most frightening in my life, bombs blasted all around the ship and we were seriously hit twice. The call to ‘Abandon Ship’ was given out over the loud-speakers and we were in a cabin of a huge converted hospital with only small windows.
We had to evacuate our patients first, all the stairs had been bombed out of existence, so we had to evacuate through the portholes. Fires raged all around us, we were trapped. There were five nurses with our patients and in charge was Captain Barber. He showed great control and did an excellent job with the evacuation.
It was our turn to save ourselves. Luck was with me again. As I put my head out of the porthole, a rope came past my face and it was attached to the ship rails on the deck above. I grabbed the rope and went down it so fast that I had rope-burns on both legs. I was only too glad to get out of that burning ship and I was soon in the sea. I went down that rope knowing full well that I could not even swim. I had first spotted on of those inflatable rafts with handles round the sides to which one could hold. More people dropped from the rope beside me and I floundered until I was able to grab a handle and hang on for dear life.
Almost immediately the raft had filled to capacity and off we drifted. I was told to get on top of the raft to signal or shout if help was to come. Our raft was drifting away from Singapore and in the distance we could see the burning ‘Empress of Asia’. We were miles away when we heard an engine in the distance. It got louder and louder. It was a motor-launch, and there in the front, shouting ‘SAM!’ was one of my football colleagues. He was with two others and he said ‘You’ll be alright, we’re looking for other survivors!’
There was no-one else in sight that I could see, and all I could think to say was, ‘If you do not turn that boat around and get us all in it, you’ll never play for the 197 Field Ambulance again at football!’
We were nearing Singapore once again. To our left the lighthouse, and on our right was a mass of boats tied up. Suddenly we saw Japanese planes diving to attack, the launch-captain immediately dropped us off at the lighthouse. Whilst being machine-gunned and bombed, we leaped from the launch and up the stairs of the lighthouse. The launch-captain had bravely put out to sea again to search for more survivors. The attack by the Japanese planes on the lighthouse was terrifying as the shells tore great lumps out of it and it was packed with troops.
After the bombardment stopped we were taken to Singapore where literally hundreds of troops were swarming about, everything was chaotic. An hotel, which was now called our barracks, was to be our home until we could pick up all our own units.
We found out that the Japanese, instead of coming in by sea avoiding our guns which pointed seaward, they were coming down Malaya towards the causeway which linked Malaya to Singapore.
We were ordered by the Senior Officer in our barracks to board one of the two lorries that were to take us up the causeway. Then we were told to barb-wire the land on our side of the causeway to make it a bit more difficult for the Japanese Soldiers. Having reached the causeway and asked a Senior Officer for the barbed wire, he asked us for a chit, as we did not have one we were told to return to Singapore. If it was not so serious, I would have laughed.
I was told that the 197 Field Ambulance was inquiring after me and I was to join them the next day. I felt very sorry for most of the civilian population who were to be evacuated.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, I could not link up with my unit so I linked up with the Singapore Hospital and the hospital was chaotic.
I did all I could to help bury the corpses in huge bomb craters left by the Japanese bombers and there were literally thousands of bodies, soldiers, sailors and civilians to be buried. It was such a horrifying experience with no relatives to mourn their loss.
During all this time at the hospital I had yet to see a Japanese soldier, but that situation was not to last for long. The converted hospital I was now in needed supplies, I went with others to collect them from another hospital. As we approached the Alexandra Hospital, we heard a lot of shooting and so we kept ourselves hidden. I always believed Japanese to be small people, but the soldiers who entered the hospital that day, with drawn swords, were tall. Those soldiers started to slaughter the patients. It was an unbelievable sight and we were left gasping at the sheer horror and incredibility of that massacre. On returning to our base hospital, we reported the horrific incident to our Commanding Officer.
It seems strange that I have just glanced at the calendar as I write. It is Tuesday the 5th of February 1986 and it was 44 years ago, to the day that I landed in Singapore to the accompaniment of the Japanese bombers.
We officially surrendered to the Japanese on the 15th of February 1942.
Death Roll
Defence of Malaya and Singapore
8th December 1941 - 15th February 1942
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Died
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Name
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Service/No
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1942/02/05
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Laycock, Kenneth
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7374015
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