Gemencheh memorial update - Star 2008

The Star Lifestyle

Saturday August 9, 2008
Looking spiffy now
By LIZ PRICE


Engineers from the 14 Troop of Australia’s Second Combat Engineer Regiment recently helped to spruce up the Gemencheh War Memorial in Negri Sembilan.

In May, I visited the war memorial in Gemencheh, Negri Sembilan, and wrote about it. The article was read by a military officer on rotation at the Rifle Company Butterworth (RCB), and it just so happened that his troops would be refurbishing the memorial site in July.

So he invited me to go and see the work.

As I drove there along the Tampin to Gemas road, I saw dozens of stalls selling durian. It was obviously the height of the season, and they were being sold very cheaply compared to Kuala Lumpur prices, at a mere RM1 a kilogramme.

When I reached the memorial site, Major Matt Prior, the officer commanding RCB, was there to meet me. The place was a hive of activity, with men in camouflage uniforms hard at work on the grounds surrounding the memorial.


(Above & below): The Australian soldiers put in a lot of effort to spruce up the war memorial in honour of the Australian battalion who fought the Japanese in Gemencheh in 1942.

I was surprised at the size of the camp, which was located on the strip of land between the trunk road and the old disused road.

Major Prior welcomed me with a cold drink and gave me an introduction to the work they were doing. There was one main memorial — a large marble structure erected by the 2/30 Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces. This was in memory of the men from the battalion and other supporting units who fought the Japanese here during World War II on Jan 14 and Jan 15, 1942.

The 27th Brigade from Australia was assigned to defend the area around Gemas that January, and the 2/30 Infantry Battalion from the brigade was placed at the Gemencheh River to ambush the advancing Japanese. The Australian troops blew up the wooden bridge as the Japanese were crossing.

Many Japanese were killed and their advance down the country was delayed.

Having been briefed on the background of the battle, I was introduced to Lt Michael Donker, 22, who was in charge of the operations. He said there were 28 guys working there over a six-day period. They were army engineers from the Second Combat Engineer Regiment, mostly from Brisbane.

This regiment is subdivided into the 7th Combat Engineer Squad, and then into the 14 Troop.

Lt Donker said the men were happy to be working here as they were doing jobs they were trained for. Prior to this assignment, some had been working on the Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, of the infamous Death Railway fame.




I spoke to Sapper Jeremy Long from Newcastle in New South Wales. He had only been in the army about 14 months and was quite happy about his overseas posting to Malaysia.

“I find it interesting to do the work, as it’s something I’m trained for rather than just a routine exercise,” said Long, who was rendering the walls of the new flower beds.

The troop had cleared the scrub land surrounding the memorial site. They laid down gravel on the entire site and bordered the two long sides with flower beds. All the materials had been bought locally.

The men also constructed a wheelchair-friendly boardwalk leading to the memorial. They were then still putting preservative on the planks, so I had to be careful not to step on them. At the marble memorial, they made four boxes in each corner. These would be used as sentry boxes whenever they held services here.

There was also a flag pole behind the memorial. There was to be no permanent flag, but one would be raised during services such as on Anzac Day, and when the 2/30 remember the anniversary of the battle in January.

Sapper Ben Cooke, 23, a plumber back home, said, “I am glad to be here. I can feel the war. By doing this work, one is able to put something back.”

The men were allowed to rest when the heat of the day got too much. To compensate for this, they had work until around 1am. The only drawback to this nocturnal arrangement was that lots of bees were attracted to the lights.

However, the men were well looked after, for the camp cook supplied them with tea and muffins at midnight. I wasn’t able to meet the female cook as she was away buying provisions, but all the guys sung praises of her and said she deserved a medal for looking after them.

The kitchen was large and looked well-equipped. The sleeping area consisted of camp beds in an open tent. There were toilets at the back, and at the other end of camp they even had showers. So it was all quite luxurious and the guys didn’t have to bathe in the river!



Sgt Ben Stevens, the troop sergeant and technical advisor, told me they had the plans for their assignment drawn up before they came to the site, and that work was progressing well and was on track.

All the guys commented on the friendliness of the locals. Many had come to visit them and some had brought sacks of durian. Unfortunately none of the guys I spoke to liked the king of fruits.

Lots of drivers hooted their horns and waved as they drove past. Various officials from Gemas and Negri Sembilan also visited them.

When the work was completed, the troop held a simple service before packing up and heading back to Butterworth and then on to Brisbane. The 14 Troop did a good job here. Hopefully people will respect the site and there will be no new cases of graffiti or damage.

The refurbishment of the site means it will need little maintenance, and will probably be visited by further rotations of troops.

Sg Gemencheh war memorial

This article was published in The Star

Saturday June 7, 2008

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Back-tracking in Gemas

By LIZ PRICE

A memorial near Sg Gemencheh in Negri Sembilan pays tribute to Australian soldiers who fought to defend Malaya from Japanese forces.
All that remains of the wooden bridge are a few stumps in the river and a couple of posts standing on the embankment. Some metres downstream is a replacement concrete bridge which now carries traffic over the river on Route 1 which connects Tampin to Gemas, Negri Sembilan.
Six decades ago, this was the site of a gruesome battle in which many men lost their lives. On Jan 14, 1942 during World War 2, Australian troops blew up the wooden bridge across Sungai Gemencheh, near Kampung Sungai Kelamah, where many Japanese soldiers were killed.
On Dec 8, 1941, the Japanese Army landed at Kota Baru and Southern Thailand. They travelled down the country and many battles ensued, particularly in Perak. One of the most famous was at Slim River where British Forces destroyed bridges and laid out mines in an attempt to control the rapid advance of the Japanese. However, the Slim River bridge was taken by the Japanese on Jan 7, 1942.
As the Japanese continued their invasion down through the peninsula, on Jan 10, three lieutenant-generals — Brits Arthur Percival and Sir Lewis Macclesfield Heath and Australian Henry Gordon Bennett —went to the Gemencheh River Bridge to plan a major attack of the Japanese invading force.
Heath was appointed to command the Third Indian Corps, part of the Malaya Command during the Battle of Malaya. His commanding officer was Percival. Bennett, who was with the Australian army, was in charge of selecting the area for an ambush.
On Jan 14, Australian troops (New South Wales 2/30th Battalion, backed up by Queenslanders) successfully ambushed the Japanese on Sungai Gemencheh. The bridge had been wired with demolition charges. As a result, the Japanese suffered huge losses, but their General Yamashita acted quickly and called for fresh troops from Kuala Lumpur.
An estimated 400-500 Japanese soldiers were killed while the 2/30 Battalion reported 11 casualties. However, another report said that 700 Japanese died while the Australians lost eight men and 80 were wounded.
On Jan 15, Japanese reinforcements arrived at Sungai Gemas and the 2/30th Battalion came under heavy fire. The Australian army retreated further south.
The action at Gemencheh Bridge was the first time that an Australian Infantry Battalion fought the Japanese, however, several smaller Australian Units were in action prior to this date.
Today, there is a memorial site located near the river. I was confused as the river is Sungai Gemencheh, but for some reason, Tourism Malaysia signs call it the Kelamah River Memorial. The Kelamah River is a tributary that joins Sungai Gemencheh 2km south of the bridge.
One plaque at the site consists of a large wooden keris and a noticeboard in English and Malay, probably erected by Tourism Malaysia. Unfortunately, the date is wrong as it states the battle took place in 1941, instead of 1942. “Australian” is also misspelt.
Nearby is a simple stone plaque by Tourism Malaysia, with a short description in Malay, English, Chinese and Japanese, but again misquoting 1941. It is a pity the authorities have not bothered to change these errors.
Now there is a newer marble war memorial, presumably erected by the Australians. The plaque says: “In memory of the men of the 2/30th Infantry Battalion AIF and supporting units who fought the Japanese Imperial Forces at this site on Jan 14 and Jan 15, 1942. They will be remembered.”
Sadly, this memorial has already been defaced with graffiti and scratches.
Unfortunately, this memorial site is not mentioned in any Malaysian guidebook or leaflet. However, it is shown on the Negri Sembilan map . . . but in the wrong place!
Since the memorial is about 10km from Gemas, we decided to take photos of the historic railway station there. Gemas is at the junction of the east and west railway lines. The station was built in 1922 and is a stopover for trains from the north (Butterworth), east coast (Tumpat and Gua Musang) and the south (Singapore). Other than passenger trains, the station also accommodates cargo trains carrying cement, petrol, rubber and logs.
The original station building is still standing. For railway enthusiasts, there is a 1946 model North British Locomotive Company steam engine called Temerloh. Of course, we couldn’t resist posing on this old loco before having a cold drink in the old station café.

• Directions: The memorial site is 10km west of Gemas on Route 1 to Tampin.

See photos of Gemas railway station.