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Manchester Regiment
1st Battalion
History
From The Manchester Regiment Gazette
Singapore
August 1939 - 8th December 1941
The arrival of Lt.Col. E. B. Holmes, M.C., in August 1939 to assume command of the Battalion, coincided with the arrival in Malaya of Force Emu, the first reinforcements to be despatched from India. Prior to this event, life in the Battalion had pursued the even tenor of its way, all training and recreational activities being carried out in a normal peacetime manner. On the outbreak of war in Europe, however, there was a temporary departure from peacetime routine, and the declaration of war against Germany found the Battalion mobilised and occupying its battle stations on the beaches of Singapore Island. After a few days, however, all troops were stood down pending a development of events in the Far East, and beach positions and action posts were kept only partially manned. There followed almost immediately a long and energetic revision and reconstruction of the defences of Singapore Island, in which the Battalion was called upon to play no small part. In addition to this task, training in all spheres was carried on apace, primary considerations being weapon training, seaward firing, operation and maintenance of Lyon Lights (small searchlights with which all beach posts were equipped), transport, and a thorough reconnaissance of the Battalion Sector which covered some nine miles of coastline. This programme entailed long and arduous hours of work and training, but it was carried out by all ranks enthusiastically and conscientiously, with great success, and the efficiency of the Battalion reached a very high standard indeed. It is interesting to note at this juncture that, although war had broken out in Europe, all administrative work in Malaya, e.g. pay, rations and store accounting, etc., was carried on as in peacetime, and administrative staffs were kept fully occupied. In August 1939 the Battalion was called upon to find about 20 Warrant Officers, N.C.O.s and men as instructors to the Militia, and they sailed for England a few days after their selection. Among them were many who had served continuously with the Battalion for many years, notable among them being C.S.M. Jones, of Bisley fame, and C.Q.M.S. Livesey, who had been closely associated with all boxing events in the Battalion over a long number of years. Another batch of instructors was sent home shortly afterwards.
In the whirl of war preparation and activity, sport was not disregarded. Football, cricket, hockey and boxing competitions, both Command and Unit, were held as often as circumstances would allow. This was fairly often, as most games in Malaya were played in the evenings. In the boxing world, the Battalion soon made its presence felt in Malaya, and remained champions in both team and individual championships right up to the capitulation. The Tolley Cup, open to teams from the Forces, and also civilian clubs, was won on two occasions, and tied for the third time with the Singapore Police. The Command Open Team Championship was won two seasons in succession before the competition was abandoned owing to the war. The Army Boxing Team which defeated the Navy in the Lowther Grant Cup Competition in 1940 contained some eight or nine men from the Battalion, a great tribute to our boxing prowess. Our boxing copybook was somewhat blotted however in 1941, when our Novices team was defeated by the 2nd Battalion of The Loyal Regiment by 13 fights to nil, a most unusual occurrence in Army boxing. It is interesting to note that a replica of the Tolley Cup is still in our keeping. The A.I.F. salvaged it during the last days of Singapore and returned to us after we had been taken prisoner. It remained safely hidden during our captivity in the capable hands of veteran Pte. Kinsella. It will probably find its way to the present 1st Battalion in due course. Hockey was yet another sport at which the Battalion excelled, H.Q. Coy. in particular always playing first-class hockey in the Small Unit Competitions. Shortly prior to the outbreak of war in the Far East, the Battalion cricket, team defeated the 2nd Battalion of the The Gordon Highlanders in the final of the Command K.O. Competition. Although not achieving any notable soccer or rugger successes, the standard in the Battalion was quite good. Quite a number of our players were selected to play for Army teams in all branches of sport, and did much to enhance the reputation of the Battalion. Interest in sport was particularly keen, and games were always attended by large numbers of spectators. Every effort was made in those days to encourage as many men as possible to take an active part in sport, and, as a result, the general physique and bearing of the men of the Battalion reached a very high standard. Inter-Company competitions and intense partisanship also did much to bring out that team spirit so essential in combatant troops.
On Ladysmith Day 1940 we trooped the Colour, The parade was excellent and went off without a hitch. It was a credit to all those who took part. Festivities followed, the annual Serjeants' Ball being held the same night. Present at the Ball as guest of honour was Mr. Bates-Goodall, a resident of Singapore. He was a survivor of the Manchester Regiment from the Siege of Ladysmith, and he produced some remarkable mementoes of the siege in the way of canteen price lists, packets of cigarettes and chocolate showing siege prices and normal prices, and large scale maps on which he pointed out the general idea of the campaign, and the siege and relief of Ladysmith. On another occasion he showed us that he could still blow the Regimental call on the bugle. His death in 1941 was rather sudden, and his funeral was attended by a representative party from the Battalion. He will certainly be remembered for his interesting stories of Ladysmith by all who came in contact with him.
The Ladysmith celebrations in 1940 lasted the better part of a week. There were dances, sports, Serjeants Ball, and finally the Officers gave a dinner party to members of the Serjeants Mess. We all realised that the celebrations would in all probability be the last we would be able to hold for some considerable time, and everybody made the most of the occasion, and went all out to enjoy themselves. It was a glorious week, and presented a bright relief in a long period of hard work and arduous and monotonous training.
Another popular evening feature of these days was the Beating of Retreat on the Battalion sports ground. The Band and Drums dressed in white uniforms, and complete with silver drums and bugles presented a wonderful spectacle in the powerful beams of our Lyon lights. These occasions brought many sightseers, both civilian and military. They were discontinued late in 1940 owing to the fact that the silver drums and bugles, together with the Regimental Silver, were despatched to Australia to be lodged for the duration of the war in the safe custody of our affiliated battalion, the 10th (Adelaide) Battalion Australian Rifles. This move undoubtedly saved the many valuable and historic trophies of the Battalion from Japanese vandalism, and will no doubt be very welcome news to the many people who presented them, competed for and won them, and lastly to all those who had seen them and been acquainted with them over a long period of years. It is to be hoped that they will soon be returned, and again find a home in the Officers' and Serjeants Messes of the Regiment. When the Australian Forces arrived in Singapore we received news that the Silver Drums and Bugles had been on display to the public in Adelaide, to the great delight and admiration of the population. Yet another link had been forged between the Battalion and its affiliated counterpart some thousands of miles away.
As Xmas 1940 approached, everyone made preparations to make it a success. When would we see the next? If it was to be the last, well it was to be a good last. And it was. The men's Xmas Dinner, the last to be held when they could all be together, was a great success. The annual Serjeants Dance on Boxing Day was a glorious finale to all official functions to be held during the war. The bright and colourful spectacle of the many and varied mess dresses of the forces disappeared into the past, and the future brought to us an unbroken panorama of khaki drill. Civilian clothing, mess kit and white drill were carefully stuffed with moth balls and stored away for the duration.
February 1941 saw the inauguration of 2nd Echelon, G.H.Q. Malaya, and we were slowly but surely coming closer to a complete war footing. Training, and the reconstruction and strengthening of the battalion sector went on unceasingly. All beaches had been wired, minefields prepared, and tank obstacles constructed. Fields of fire were cleared to the accompaniment of several moans and objections from residents of Singapore, whose bathing pagars, summer residences, and gardens had perforce to be removed or demolished. The last and most stupendous task allotted to the Battalion was the construction of a gigantic anti-boat obstacle designed to prevent landing craft from getting close inshore. All work on this task was carried out at low tide, which meant that parties worked all hours of day and night according to the state of the tides. The obstacle, which stretched for some miles along the sector, proved most effective under test, and was a highly gratifying sight to all who had taken part in its construction. Unfortunately, however, we were never to have the opportunity to judge its efficiency under actual war conditions.
At this time there were still serving in the Battalion some two hundred W.O.s, N.C.O. and men who had sailed from England with the Battalion in January 1934, nearly eight years beforehand, and who had never been to England on leave during that period. Many of them were due for posting home, and others for discharge or transfer to the Army Reserve. They accepted their ill-luck with good heart, and made the best of what, to most of them, must have been a big disappointment. Many of them have since returned to England as repatriated prisoners of war, having been away from England for close on twelve years.
Acknowledgements
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Arthur Lane - Bugler with Manchesters on the Thailand-Burma Railway
Michael Hurst - Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society
Cliff Phillips for mailing me the Manchester Regimental Gazette
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