Kranji War Memorial
| Singapore War Memorial, Kranji Tanah Perkuburan Perang Kranji Khắc lan chi bỏ mình chiến sĩ công mồ கிராஞ்சி போர் நினைவு | |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission and theNetherlands | |
 Panoramic view of Kranji War Memorial | |
| For the dead ofWorld War II | |
| Unveiled | 1946 |
| Location | 01°24′44″N103°45′22″E/ 1.41222°N 103.75611°E near |
On the walls of this memorial are recorded the names of twenty-four thousand soldiers and airmen of many races united in service to the British crown who gave their lives in Malaya and neighbouring lands and seas and in the air over southern and eastern Asia and the Pacific but to whom the fortune of war denied the customary rites accorded to their comrades in death THEY DIED FOR ALL FREE MEN | |
TheKranji War Memorial(Chinese:Khắc lan chi bỏ mình chiến sĩ công mồ;Malay:Tanah Perkuburan Perang Kranji;Tamil:கிராஞ்சி போர் நினைவு) is located at 9 Woodlands Road, inKranjiin northernSingapore.Dedicated to the men and women from theUnited Kingdom,Australia,Canada,Sri Lanka,India,Malaya,theNetherlandsandNew Zealandwho died defending Singapore and Malaya against the invading Japanese forces duringWorld War II,it comprises theWar Graves,the Memorial Walls, the State Cemetery, and the Military Graves.
Overview[edit]
The War Memorial represents the three branches of the military – theAir Force,ArmyandNavy.The columns represent the Army, which marches in columns, the cover over the columns is shaped after of the wings of a plane, representing the Air Force, and the shape at the top resembles thesailof a submarine, representing the Navy.
The Memorial's walls inscribe over 24,000 names of Allied personnel whose bodies were never found, spread over both sides of 12 columns of the war memorial itself. On the Kranji War Memorial the names of 191 Canadian airmen are inscribed.[1]
The grounds of the memorial is set on a hilly terrain. The grounds are maintained by theCommonwealth War Graves Commission,and accessible only from Woodlands Road,[2]the same road that theImperial Guards Divisionof theJapanese 25th Armyhad marched down on 9 February 1942.
Kranji War Memorial and Cemetery has been included into the photographic archive by the War Graves Photographic Project in association with theCommonwealth War Graves Commission.Each individual grave has been recorded together with each and every column on the memorials.
Kranji War Cemetery[edit]
The War Cemetery is the final resting place for 4,458 Allied servicemen in marked graves laid out in rows on maintained and manicured lawns. Over 850 of these graves are unidentified.[3]
Towards the north end of the cemetery grounds is the State Cemetery, whereYusof bin IshakandBenjamin Henry Sheares,the first and secondpresidents of Singapore,are buried.[4]To the west are the Military Graves forCommonwealthsoldiers who died during theKonfrontasiandMalayan Emergency.69 Chinese servicemen who served as members of the Commonwealth forces and who were killed by the Japanese in February 1942 were buried at the Chinese Memorial. There are also 64 burials forWorld War I,including special memorials for three men who were buried in civil cemeteries in Singapore andSaigon,and whose graves were impossible to locate until this day.
Previously a hospital burial ground during theJapanese occupation of Singapore,it became a military cemetery at the end of the war. Military servicemen buried elsewhere in Singapore were exhumed and reburied at the memorial. The names of Indian servicemen were inscribed on the memorial walls as they had already been cremated, as iscustomaryinHinduism.[5]
Gallery[edit]
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The Kranji War Memorial during the Remembrance Day Ceremony proceedings on 13 November 2005 -
Kranji War Memorial Cross -
Kranji War Memorial inscription -
Kranji War MemorialCross of Sacrifice -
The inscription on the Kranji War Memorial -
The Catafalque Party mounted by the Singapore Armed Forces Military Police at the Kranji War Memorial duringRemembrance Day
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Monuments, World Wars I and II – the Canadian Encyclopedia".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-08-10.Retrieved2014-09-15.Canadian Encyclopedia Monuments, World Wars I and II
- ^Chou, Peter."Singapore: Kranji War Memorial".Retrieved16 February2015.
- ^Saunders, Michael."Kranji War Memorial".Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2014.Retrieved16 February2015.
- ^"Kranji Memorials".National Library Board.Retrieved16 February2015.
- ^"Cemetery Details".Retrieved16 February2015.
External links[edit]
- Tourism board information
- Peter Chou's PBase GalleryKranji War Memorial
- Kranji War CemeteryatFind a Grave
- Kanji Military CemeteryatFind a Grave