History
The jungle war
by Commander Ah Hai
|
History
The jungle war by Commander Ah Hai |
|
The Jungle War (Part 5) In Chapter 13 of these memoirs the Japanese massacre at Eelonglong angers the guerrillas who attack to avenge the dead (Chapter 14). Chapter 15 records the strengthening of the state leadership Chapter 13 The Tragedy of Eelonglong THE JAPANESE FASCISTS were afraid of and hated the growth of the Resistance. On March 18, 1942, at Eelonglong (Jerudong, near Titi) they committed a fascist atrocity. That day, several hundred fully armed fascist soldiers entered Ladang Jelebu saying that the “imperial troops” were checking on “Good Resident” papers. People were ordered to leave their homes for investigation. This was a bluff, a prelude to a massacre. After the show at Ladang Jelebu they left behind a small troop of soldiers while the main body headed for Eelonglong in two groups. One group from Shuangburi (also called Shuangfuli) was led by Malay peasants they had deceived. Another group went along the road on lorries to the “English Bridge” at Titi to the Eelonglong Yi Chung School. Here they ordered the people to gather at the school to be examined by the “imperial army” for “Good Resident” papers. The people were suspicious and afraid because such papers were not carried on the person but pasted on house doors! Then came the accursed Lo Sheng who had come from Ladang Jelebu and was working for the Japanese who shouted : “Don’t be afraid!” The Japanese soldiers have already checked at Ladang Jelebu and found nothing wrong. The people, not knowing that the rogue had already gone over to the enemy, came to the school waiting to be “examined”. At this moment of crisis some villagers who were sensibly on their guard such for instance as Siao Shao Ying ( a girl), Siao Li Chen (see Note 64) another girl, Ch’iu Feng (Lin Chong Mu who was mother of Lin Kuan Ying and whose house was a contact point) together with Lin Siu Ying who were then at the contact link. They decided that escape was the best thing to do, so they went into hiding in a rubber estate. Towards evening they saw the flames rising from the village, black smoke covered the Titi skies. Siao Li Chen asked: “Mother, do we have a chance?” Ch’iu Feng did not know what to say and only said to her, “Be silent” |
| The Japanese locked up the men and women
in the school dormitory then tied up the young men and drove them into nearby
houses. This went on till the afternoon. Lu Shao Chien signalled to his neighbours
that they should escape but they were hesitant, and he ran away. The
Japanese shot him dead. About 4 pm the Japanese started the mass killing.
They bayoneted the men, then raped the women in the school dormitory, then
bayoneted them. They then went to the kampong killing whoever they
saw, raping the women then killing them. They seized whatever they wanted
from the houses then killed, then burnt the house down, throwing babies
to ground and killing them. Babies were later found packed like onions, drowned
in pots In the late evening the District communications member Lin Sian Kuei (see Note 65) going from No 1 Base Camp to No 2 Camp saw from a distance Japanese soldiers not far from his house. He hid in the jungle then went along the path which was familiar to him. He came across women who escaped from death. They told Ah K’ang (that was his alias) what happened. He told them to leave at once and go to our guerillas. He led the way which was full of undergrowth like aeroplane grass (kapal terbang), reeds and other plants. They marched in the dark and Sian Kuei fell into “Wild Boars Lake” (an old mining pool). Luckily it was not too deep where he fell and they all managed to pull him to safety. They continued their march through the undergrowth until dawn when they reached the troops When our soldiers heard of the massacre the commander sent a group to help. After about 2 miles they saw the enemy on bicycles. Our men opened fire and threw hand grenades, forcing the enemy to flee, leaving blood spots all over the place. We seized more than 10 bicycles and rescued several hundred of the villagers from being massacred. For us it was a battle well done Our troops continued their advance. In the middle of the night, when it was so dark you could not even see your fingers, the question arose, should they go ahead or stop and set up camp? At that time there were signs that the enemy had fled but there was no accurate information. It was decided to return to base to report and to await orders That day of March 18 in Titi, apart from Eelonglong, many of the villagers of Ladang Jelebu, Tanah Merah, Sungei Rotan, and Limong were massacred One of those killed in the estate in Tanah Merah was said to be the elder brother of Siao Li Chen said to have been shot by the Japanese soldiers when he was escaping from his house into the rubber estate Comrade Ah Ming (Note 66) was on the road from Limong to the “Wharf” when he was killed. He was short sighted and could not make out that the soldiers were Japanese so they shot and bayoneted him Ah K’e and Chin Fa (Note 67) on the morning of the 18th had left Base camp at Sungei Rotan and delivered messages to the No 1 Base camp when they were killed returning to camp |
| Ch’en Yi Kuei the liaison
man for the No 1 Base and No 2 base was ill in bed when he also was killed Of the No 2 Base Camp those killed by the Japanese were Lo Tun Peng, Siao Ro Wang, Ch’en Chi Ling brother of Ch’en Re Sheng (Note 68), Siao Siao Shan (Tse Chu’s younger brother) (Note 68), Siao Fu Ying’s two brothers Siao Ke Li and Siao Mo Mo (Siao Shao Ying’s elder brother) (Note 68), Huang Re Sheng (cousin of Huang Ai Ping) (Note 68), “Tiger head” (communications area committee member) (Note 68), Siao Tan Chiao, Lin Ch’ing (Note 69). They were all taken to Jelebu and then killed After the massacre the Japanese fascists went back to their camp at Jelebu in trucks The Party, guerillas, the resistance alliance, the self defence anti Japanese force organised by the State committee started the work of salvaging the villages State appointed Comrade Chung Kuang to be in charge. Each unit was assigned a kampong to bury the dead. Because preparations took 3 days the bodies were beginning to putrify and it was heart breaking to see the bodies; some stabbed, others stripped and cut and stabbed. It was sad to see the women who had been stabbed after being raped It was estimated that in the March 18 Eelonglong Tragedy about 1,700 from Ladang Jelebu, Tanah Merah, Kamloong, Sungai Rotan, the “Wharf,” Limong were slaughtered. About a few scores of the wounded were nursed back to life at the No 1 Base thanks to the work of the chief doctor Ch’en Chien (later to turn traitor), asst doctor Yeh Kuang Hui (who ran away to Seremban with a woman he had nursed), nurse Lin Sian Kuei and other health workers At this time the Japanese gangs were also doing mass killings in Pertang’s Simpang, Durian Tipus, Bahau, Sungei Lui, Kuala Pilah, Batu Kikir, and Yunasi village (near Bahau), Johol, Kota, Lingkap, Ayer Kuning, Port Dickson, the outlying areas of Seremban. They killed all that they saw on the road and drove out villagers from villages and estates, forced to them to take off their shirts and put their swords at their stomachs, killing those who showed fear and releasing those who were not so afraid and who later fell ill after this experience According to incomplete figures not less than 1,500 were killed in these massacres (Note 70). In Sungei Lui alone a few hundred were killed. At “Tampin Kotor” many estate workers were killed The killings were a setback to the anti-Japanese forces but they implanted a hatred of the bandits which grew into a fierce fire of resistance. |
Notes (64) Siao Li Chen, wife of Teng Foo Lung. Died bravely when the Japanese attacked towards the end of the war (65) Lin Sian Kuei younger brother of Lin Kuan Ying. He was tricked by the traitor Ho Lang to go to North Johore and was captured by the British at the beginning of the war of liberation (66) Ah Ming also Teng Ming Hsing. Middle school student from Muar. A cartoonist whose cartoons were used by the pre-war paper of the Selangor District Committee, “The Vanguard”. (67) Ah Ke and Chin Fa. Middle School students of the Seremban Chinese Middle School, aged about 20, both were engravers and couriers of the district committee. They were massacred in the March 18 incident (68) Chen Chi Ling, Siao Siao Shan, the two brothers of Siao Fu Ying, Huang Re Sheng, “Tiger Head,” were killed during the March 18 Incident (69) Lin Ch’ing After the tragedy of Eelonglong was betrayed by the spy “Twisted Hand” and was killed (70) “Not less than 1,500 people.” On March 18, 1942 at least 1,700 to 1,800 Eelonglong villagers were slaughtered by the Japanese fascists. In Negri the total from various areas was at least 1,500 making a total of 3,200 to 3,200 persons Chapter 14 Guerillas seek revenge THE FOLLOWING STEPS were taken to avenge the massacres 1) The Model Company (the No 1 Base Company) was to search for weapons, attack the enemy and eliminate their agents 2) the 43 Company (the original No 2 Base company) was to co-ordinate its attacks on the enemy with the Model Company 3) the 15 Company (the expanded Pertang company) was to further train, look for weapons and attack the enemy 4) the 24 Platoon (of Bahau) together with the Lingkap Independent Platoon and local units were to work closely together and increase training, coordinate their efforts with the armed people’s movement to attack the enemy and to set up a company when conditions were ripe 5) to send Hu Li to Desa Sikamat and Temiang and there to meet with Hsiao Chu, Han Soon and Min Wen’s guerilla group and develop it into a platoon to be called the 51 Independent Platoon and to make Desa Sikamat and Temiang as their base, and relying on the village to set up a temporary base |
| 6) to send “Hainan Kang”
with a squad to Tampin Lingkap and join up with the armed people’s
movement to form a platoon to be active along the Tampin area These decisions led to progress of sorts in the guerilla areas up to the end of 1942 but the Desa Sikamat guerilla unit was betrayed by Huang Tong Aun. The cadres Hsiao Chu, Han Soon and Chen Wen disappeared, and are thought to have been killed 7) In April 1942 our troops attacked the Titi police station and killed many Japanese police reserves and policemen 8) The Japanese sent more than a thousand soldiers in a counter attack shelling the “Peak” and Eelongong day and night and, from the Limong road, shelled the Limong forest but they dared not enter the hills 9) Our fighters were keen to avenge the dead; all wanted to attack the enemy. Commanders shared the same sentiments Our fighters adopted guerilla tactics, preparing ambushes along the Kongkoi road and killed many of the enemy, to everybody’s joy In September the same year they ambushed many enemy soldiers along the Bahau to Pahang railway track 10) At the same time we carried out elimination of traitors. The work we did were blows on the enemy and encouragement to our people The Japanese bandits retaliated with large scale cleaning up operations In those days of rapid changes and severe conditions of battle our soldiers’ spirits went up and down with the fluctuations of battle. By the end of 1942 we had developed into about 600 guerilla soldiers effectively attacking and curtailing the activities of the Japanese bandits Chapter 15 Strengthening the State leadership IN APRIL 1942 the Central Committee sent to Negri some old comrades to strengthen the leadership. Among them were Ah Li (Note 71) who was to be secretary, Lao T’ian (Note 72) to be assistant head of propaganda, Ah Ch’uan (Note 73) to be committee member. Ah Hai became the head of organisation, Ah San head of propaganda; these five were the new committee with Ah Lee, Ah Hai and Ah San as the core forming the secretariat. Comrade Ch’en Ch’un was not appointed to any position, Ah T’ie was sent to the 2 Independent Ah Lee was in charge of the border area; Ah Hai the Bahau - Kuala Pilah area; Ah San the Seremban area and Lau T’ian, the Titi and Pertang areas, Ah Chuan, Port Dickson |
| Notes (71) Ah Li also Lo Ch’ang also Lo Soon Mo. Turned traitor when arrested by the Japanese but killed the traitor Huang Tong Aun, and returned to us. After the war he worked in a some factory in Canton and Honan and died in the 90s (72) Lao T’ian also Fng X X. After arrest by the Japanese became fiercely counter-revolutionary. Just before the end of the war fled the enemy and came back to us. Went to Thailand after the war then to China. In 1949 under the name of Fng Yi Ran he joined the army but was exposed (73) Ah Ch’uan. One of the leaders of the Dalforce in Singapore. Fought bravely and was seriously wounded and died of his wounds after the anti-Japanese war at Pertang. Go to the top (To be continued) |
from The War in the South - the story of Negri Sembilan's guerrillas by Shan Ru -hong (Internet edition) First published 2003 Part 4 |
|
Legal Aid Centre
For help with legal problems. Telephone: 261 7451 |
| ______ INDEX Point to the article that you want to read, and CLICK
Index page Baba pioneers Baba
sayings Book review
Constitutional proposals (5) |
| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 46 |