During World War II the Japanese advance down the Malayan peninsula towards Singapore was fast and furious: the Japanese arrived in northern Malaya in December of 1941, and reached Singapore two months later. One of the most ferocious battles between the Allied forces and the Japanese occurred near Gemas, in Johor, at the Gememcheh bridge.
Remnants of the Gemencheh Bridge
You might remember that Jerome had recently blogged about taking the train up to Gemas, and thus he had the chance to visit the bridge and site of an unsuccessful attempt to halt the Japanese advance.
The ambush was mounted at 4 pm on 14 January 1942, launched by “B” Company of the 2/30th Battalion. Ignoring the advance party of Japanese scouts on bicycle, the Australian unit blew the bridge up as the main party crossed resulting in a heavy loss of life by the Japanese. Estimates range from 600 to 1000 fatalities on the Japanese side and a handful suffered by the Australians. While the initial ambush was a huge success, reports suggest that fighting continued south of the bridge for two days, in part due to a lack of artillery support due to communication lines being cut by the Japanese advance party, with the Australian forces withdrawing south through Gemas.
Today, a memorial stands near the bridge to commemorate the lives lost there. Read about it in Jerome’s post, The Gemencheh Bridge.
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