Wikipedia

Operation Tiderace

Operation Tideracewas the codename of the British plan to retakeSingaporefollowing theJapanese surrender in 1945.[4]The liberation force was led byLord Louis Mountbatten,Supreme Allied CommanderofSouth East Asia Command.Tiderace was initiated in coordination withOperation Zipper,which involved the liberation of Malaya.

Operation Tiderace
Part ofWorld War II

GeneralSeishirō Itagakisigning the terms for the reoccupation of Singapore on board theheavy cruiserHMSSussex.4 September 1945
Date4–12 September 1945
Location
Singapore
Result

Unopposed Allied victory

Belligerents

Japan

United Kingdom
India
Australia
FranceFrance(Naval only)[1]
Commanders and leaders
Empire of JapanSeishirō Itagaki(POW)
Empire of JapanShigeru Fukudome(POW)		 United KingdomLord Louis Mountbatten
United KingdomRobert Mansergh
Strength
77,000 infantry[2]
2 heavy cruisers
1 destroyer
2 submarines		 60,000 infantry
7 escort carriers
2 battleships
1 heavy cruiser
2 light cruisers
15 destroyers
3 Royal Fleet Auxiliary
3 hospital ships
14 merchant vessels
43 landing ship, infantry[3]
Casualties and losses
300 suicides
76,700 captured		 1 battleship damaged

Background

edit

With theSoviet invasion of Manchuriaand an American plannedinvasion of Japan,South East Asia Command were also drawing up plans to invade Malaya, codenamedOperation Zipper.With over 100,000 Allied infantry,[5]the plan was to capturePort SwettenhamandPort Dickson,and would involve an airstrike of more than 500 aircraft of theRoyal Air Force.The assault was scheduled for 9 September 1945, but was forestalled following the Surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945.[6]Once the lodgement was secure, the Allies would have initiatedOperation Mailfist,during which ground forces were to advance south through Malaya and liberate Singapore.[7]It was expected that Operation Mailfist would begin in December 1945 and conclude in March 1946.[8]

Operation Tiderace was planned soon after theAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasakion 6 and 9 August. Emergency planning was put in preparation for the rapid occupation of Singapore at an early date should Japan agree to accept the terms of thePotsdam Declarationof 26 July.[9]

While Operation Zipper was executed ahead of schedule, it did so on a much smaller scale, having quickly transferred a proportion of its original strength to Operation Tiderace. The convoy consisted of about 90 ships,[3]which included two battleships,HMSNelsonand theFrench battleshipRichelieu.[10]The heavy cruiserHMSSussexserved as the flagship.[11]HMASHawkesburywas the sole Australian warship during the Japanese surrender, escorting the repatriation transportDuntroon.[12]A smaller British naval force was given the task of liberatingPenangunderOperation Jurist,a component of the overallOperation Zipper.[citation needed]

There were a total of sevenescort carriers:HMSAmeer,HMSAttacker,HMSEmperor,HMSEmpress,HMSHunter,HMSKhediveandHMSStalker.[13]

The Japanese naval fleet in Singapore consisted of thedestroyerKamikaze[14]and two cruisers,MyōkōandTakao,both of which had been so badly damaged before that they were being used as floating anti-aircraft batteries. Two ex-German U-boats,I-501andI-502were also in Singapore.[15]Both were moored atSingapore Naval Base.[16]Air strength in both Malaya andSumatrawas estimated to be a little more than 170 aircraft.[17]

Return to Singapore

edit
Admiral LordLouis Mountbattensigns the acceptance of surrender forGreat Britain.Brigadier (later Gen.)Thimayya(future Chief of Staff of the Indian Army) is visible on the far left of the Allied table representing Indian forces. 12 September 1945

Operation Tiderace commenced when Mountbatten ordered Allied troops to set sail fromTrincomaleeandRangoonon 31 August for Singapore. The fleet was not armed with offensive weapons as Mountbatten had good reason to believe that the Japanese in Malaya and Singapore would surrender without a fight: on 20 August GeneralItagaki Seishiro,the commander in Singapore, had signalled Mountbatten that he would abide by his emperor's decision and was ready to receive instructions for the Japanese surrender of Singapore.[18]

Japan's defeat had caught the Japanese Command in Singapore by surprise. Many were unwilling to surrender and had vowed to fight to the death. Itagaki had initially balked at the order to surrender and instead ordered the 25th Army (the component of the 7th Area Army defending Singapore) to resist when the Allies arrived.[18]There was even a secret plan to massacre all AlliedPoWson the island.[18]However, three days after theEmperor's announcementon 15 August, Itagaki flew from Singapore toSaigonto confer with his leader Field Marshal CountTerauchi,Commander of the Japanese Southern Army and all forces in South-east Asia. Terauchi prevailed over Itagaki who then sent his signal to Mountbatten. Newspapers in Singapore were finally allowed to carry the text of the Emperor's speech, confirming what many already knew from listening toAll India Radiobroadcasts fromDelhion forbidden shortwave radios.[18]

The Allies arrived in Malaya on 28 August, with a small portion of the fleet sent to recapturePenangas part ofOperation Jurist.On 30 August 1945 a flight of 9RAAF Catalinaslanded in Singapore bearing medical supplies and personnel documents in preparation for the Japanese surrender and the liberation of the thousands of PoWs on the island.[19][20]WhenPenangsurrendered without resistance under Operation Jurist, the Allied fleet sailed for Singapore on 2 September, passing theRaffles Lighthouseat the Southern entrance to the Straits of Malacca.[21]The fleet arrived in Singapore on 4 September 1945, meeting no opposition.[18]However, theFrench battleshipRichelieustruck amagnetic mineat 07:44 on 9 September while passing down the Straits of Malacca. She eventually limped into Singapore at 12:00 on 11 September.[22]

General Itagaki, accompanied by Vice Admiral Shigeru Fukudome and his aides, were brought aboard HMSSussexinKeppel Harbourto discuss the surrender. They were received by Lieutenant-General SirPhilip Christisonand Major-GeneralRobert Mansergh.A tense encounter began when a Japanese officer reportedly remarked, "You are two hours late," only to be met with the reply, "We don't keepTokyo timehere. "[21]By 18:00, the Japanese had surrendered their forces on the island. An estimated 77,000 Japanese troops from Singapore were captured, plus another 26,000 from Malaya.[18]

The formal surrender was finalised on 12 September atSingapore City Hall.[18]Lord Louis Mountbatten,Supreme Allied Commanderof Southeast Asia Command, came to Singapore to receive the formal surrender of Japanese forces in South East Asia from General Itagaki on behalf of Field MarshalHisaichi Terauchi,commander of theJapanese Southern Army Groupwho had suffered a stroke earlier in the year.[21]ABritish Military Administrationwas formed to govern the island until March 1946. Itagaki departed for Japan shortly afterwards to face trial and execution as a war criminal.[21]

Japanese reaction to the surrender

edit

Itagaki had met his generals and senior staff at his HQ at the formerRaffles CollegeinBukit Timahand told his men that they would have to obey the surrender instructions and keep the peace. That night, more than 300 officers and men killed themselves by falling onto their swords in theRaffles Hotelafter a farewellsakeparty, and later, an entire Japanese platoon killed themselves using grenades.[18]

About 200 Japanese soldiers decided to join the communist guerrillas whom they were fighting just days before in a bid to continue the fight against the British. But they soon returned to their units when they found out that theMPAJA,which was funded by theMalayan Communist Party,did not plan to fight the returning British.[18]

Nonetheless, some stayed hidden in the jungles with the communists, and whenChin Pengand remnants of the Malayan Communist Partyended their struggle in 1989,twoformer Japanese soldiersemerged from the jungle with the communists and surrendered.[18]

  • A convoy of landing craft carrying Indian troops entering the bay at Singapore, 1945.
  • Children of Singapore cheer the arrival of the5th Indian Division,5 September 1945.
  • Ships of the occupation convoy en route to Singapore, August 1945
  • HMSSussexdocked in Singapore on 12 September 1945
  • Cheering schoolchildren welcome the return of theBritish Armyon 5 September 1945
  • A soldier from the5th Indian Divisionstands guard over Japanese prisoners
  • Mountbatten gives a public address in Singapore during the surrender ceremony
  • Abandoned JapaneseKi-45 Toryufighters captured atKallang Airfield
  • SurrenderedHeavy cruiserMyōkōmoored at Seletar alongside submarinesI-501andI-502
  • Heavy cruiserTakao,surrendered to British forces at Seletar, Singapore
  • Instrument of Surrender signed by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten for the Allies and General Itagaki for the Japanese
  • Chinese community holding preliminary celebrations through the city streets, with liberation banners
  • Union Jack is hoisted during the formal surrender of all Japanese southern armies
  • Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city
  • Three of the indicted Japanese war criminals are led to their cells underneath the Supreme Court in Singapore

See also

edit

References

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^Sarnet & Le Vaillant, p. 330
  2. ^"H.M.S. Rotherham (H09)".Retrieved26 November2014.
  3. ^abH.M.S. Attacker
  4. ^Park, p. 2156, para 360.
  5. ^Park, p. 2155, para 349.
  6. ^Park, p. 2155, para 351.
  7. ^Chant (2013)
  8. ^Warren, p. 297
  9. ^Park, pp. 2155–2156, para 358.
  10. ^"H.M.S. Cleopatra".Retrieved26 November2014.
  11. ^"H.M.S. Sussex".Retrieved26 November2014.
  12. ^HMASHawkesbury(I),Royal Australian Navy
  13. ^H.M.S.Hunter
  14. ^IJN Kamikaze: Tabular Record of Movement,Long Lancers,retrieved12 June2011
  15. ^IJN Submarine I-501: Tabular Record of Movement,Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp,retrieved9 December2009
  16. ^IJN Submarine I-502: Tabular Record of Movement,Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp,retrieved9 December2009
  17. ^Park, p. 2156, para 371.
  18. ^abcdefghij"The real Japanese surrender"(PDF).The Sunday Times. 4 September 2005. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 19 January 2008.Retrieved9 December2009.
  19. ^Agency, Digital Transformation."Flying boats in the Second World War, 1939–45 | australia.gov.au"Archived24 August 2017 at theWayback Machine.australia.gov.au.Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  20. ^Albert Minty, Black Cats: the real story of Australia's long range Catalina strike force in the Pacific War, Solomons to Singapore, Cairns to the coast of China, RAAF Museum, Point Cook,1994
  21. ^abcdForgotten wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia,Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007,ISBN9780674021532
  22. ^Sarnet & Le Vaillant, pp. 331–334

Bibliography

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Tiderace&oldid=1274671692"