Raz

The interior has been modified alot. The original boardroom/offices have been halved in size to

accommodate more space for exhibits.

The boardroom itself where Percival signed on the dotted line.

The Japanese used the factory as a military HQ during their occupation. Urban myth says that a few

Japanese officers committed suicide within its walls upon hearing of their surrender to the Allies.

We already know of a few documented suicides of Japanese personnel in buildings.

One most elaborate bid was at a house on Newton Rd where Japanese officers held a final sake party.

Their party trick was to rig explosives under the house with a timer to detonate their drunken proceedings

at their hour of choosing.

Exterior shots of the factory.

An interesting picture I found on the online National Archives of Singapore, a U-Boat crew on a tour to the factory.

http://picas.nhb.gov.sg/

The famous photo of Percival and his entourage walking towards the Ford Motor Works being led by Lt Col Sugita.

The board room of the factory. Yamashita at the table pressuring Percival to surrender knowing full well his

Japanese forces were outnumbered more than 3 to 1.

Group photo outside the factory.

Here are some pics of my visit to the famous Ford Factory in Singapore where the British in 1942

surrendered to General Yamashita on February 15th.

The buildings 3year long refurbishment was completed this year and is now a museum. It's fabulous that

the Singaporeans do so much to preserve their heritage compared to other places.

The museum also has a purpose built AV Theater that show films about the Japanese occupation.

It may only be a small museum but it was well worth a visit and free admittance for their first year of opening.

Here are some period photos of the factory to set the scene.

The factory in its heyday.

Thanks Ed.

I should have taken more photos as the museum had several more malaysian medals on display.

Great, thanks for the info! :-)

On a road trip through Malaysia I came across a small museum.

I found two medals, one a Elizabeth II GSM with Malaya clasp and a unknown Malaysian medal.

The rim of the GSM was so worn down that I could not make out the inscription.

Can anyone identify the Malaysian medal? I was under the impression from the museum owner

that both medals were from the same recipient.

Apa kabar Ibrahim

Nice to see a collector from Singapore, I am currently in your neck of the woods.

Funnily enough whilst searching the national archives in singapore on an unrelated WW2 project

I came across 2 pictures of a German U-boat crew on tour.

The 1st pic showed them entering the famous Ford Factory and the other had them in Johor bahru

seeing the Japanese war monument errected on Lido beach.

As to exactly which U-boat they were from I have no idea.

I would also have got some stats of my plaque for you Dan but I am overseas.

I've also never seen or heard of other grades for this non portable award either.

I've got the normal black version. Makes for a good paper weight.

There was also a miniature stickpin for this award as well.

Great stuff Don!

I'm still on the hunt for the 2x 6" gun emplacements. I'm hoping they are not on the grounds

of the naval base next door otherwise they'll most probably have been bulldozed.

Those gun emplacements I think would also have a tunnel system of their own, including for

the main magazine. I saw the main magazines at the WW2 battery at Penang, the main shaft where

they hoisted up the shells went down at least 2-3 storeys!

Considering how overgrown this place is with jungle I wouldn't want to fall down one of those.

Ah ha! But I did on my 2nd trip there ..... this time armed with a torch.

That tunnel and ladder connect to the underground power room.

The main tunnel into the power room.

Inside the main chamber of the power room. By now everything had been stripped from inside.

This is where that ladder leads down to.

I'll have to see if Morrison and co have a website.

So far no pictures have come up showing the battery in its prime.

However....

There was a 1946 report found at the PRO of a colonel who toured the batteries

in Singapore and Penang to see if they could be brought back into to service.

In this report Pengerang was covered and had accompanying photos of what it looked

like in 1946.

Sods law however dictated that that very appendix covering the Pengerang battery was missing

from the report!

Finally completed my tribute to this battery:

http://www.razcollection.dsl.pipex.com/pengerang/index.html

If anyone comes across anything on the 9th Coast Regiment, 32nd Battery

give me a shout.

Some great looking pieces guys.

Wasn't there also a stickpin mini version of the Nurnberg parteitag 29 badges?

The jungle works fast to reclaim what it has lost. There are some seriously sharp prickled bushes

about, so not only are you watching out for low flying monkeys in the trees and snakes in the

undergrowth you have to be even more mindful of the 100?s of 3cm hypodermic spikes courtesy

of mother nature!

Big buttressed rain forest trees still left standing.

A 2nd visit is planned and we hope to do a proper survey of the area.

More bunkers. I also saw a 3 cubical toilet block just behind them.

Walking down the other side of the hill I came upon a concrete shaft with metal ladder.

Health and safety is obviously not a priority here as the authorities haven't bothered with

securing the entrance.

Very long drop down, no I didn't climb down to see where it went! Perhaps this was the

escape tunnel of the underground hospital? The main entrance to this subterranean bolt hole

could be the gated and chained tunnel I saw down near the jetty below.

Porcelain shower cubical detail. I noted all the plug holes had been smashed in.

Out the back is the over grown water tower. Maybe mistaken for a air control tower?

Out of the undergrowth appears what I assume is the command center.

The only inhabitants these days are big hairy monkeys and from the smell of it

they make good use of the buildings!

What I think is the barracks.

To the bunker spotters out there, why use a jagged design like this on the roof?

3rd bunker up the trail.

Climbing up a steep slope this is the first bunker that greets you, looks like it was for one of

the 6 inch guns? I couldn?t find the 2nd emplacement for the other gun although I did find a

large rectangular concrete platform but couldn?t find any metal mountings.

The 2nd bunker 30 meters away.

British observation / fort facility at a place called Pengerang Hill in the state of Johor (Malaysia) overlooking

the sea towards Singapore. It's about 45minutes by bumboat from Singapore.

Local authorities were supposed to have spruced this area up and made it a proper easier accessed

tourist attraction. Unfortunately so far nothing has been done.

I?ve only just begun to research this site and this is what I have found out so far.

This facility was created to protect the eastern approach to the Singapore naval base.

Two 6-inch guns were installed to bolster its defenses before 1940.

In 1941 the 2nd battalion Gordon Highlanders were ordered to Pengerang to set up

defensive positions. They laid anti personnel and anti tank mines as the war crept ever

closer. From their positions they even had the pleasure of seeing HMS Repulse and HMS Prince

of Wales sailing by on their way to the Singapore Naval base.

By the 21st of January 1942 they handed over Pengerang to the 1st Mysore Infantry.

By the 15th of February it was all over with Percival surrendering to the Japanese.

From what I have found out so far I think this facility escaped any direct assault or saw any

action of any kind.

So what buildings made up this facility? From a simple Google search it seems people think

there was a underground hospital, air control tower (?), barracks, bunkers and basketball and

badminton courts.

A bunker along the seafront near a small jetty welcoming day tourists from Singapore.

View from the road of what's to come up on the hill.