Operation Tiderace
Operation Tiderace | |||||||
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Part of World War II | |||||||
General Seishirō Itagaki signing the terms for the reoccupation of Singapore on board the heavy cruiser HMS Sussex. 4 September 1945 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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United Kingdom India Australia France (Naval only)[1] | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Seishirō Itagaki (POW) Shigeru Fukudome (POW) |
Lord Louis Mountbatten Robert Mansergh | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
77,000 infantry[2] 2 heavy cruisers 1 destroyer 2 submarines |
60,000 infantry 7 escort carriers 2 battleships 1 heavy cruiser 2 light cruisers 15 destroyers 3 Royal Fleet Auxiliary 3 hospital ships 14 merchant vessels 43 landing ship, infantry[3] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
300 suicides 76,700 captured | 1 battleship damaged |
Operation Tiderace was the codename of the British plan to retake
Background
With the
Operation Tiderace was planned soon after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Emergency planning was put in preparation for the rapid occupation of Singapore at an early date should Japan agree to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration of 26 July.[9]
While Operation Zipper was executed ahead of schedule, it did so on a much smaller scale, having quickly transferred a proportion of its original strength to Operation Tiderace. The convoy consisted of about 90 ships,[3] which included two battleships, HMS Nelson and the French battleship Richelieu.[10] The heavy cruiser HMS Sussex served as the flagship.[11] HMAS Hawkesbury was the sole Australian warship during the Japanese surrender, escorting the repatriation transport Duntroon.[12] A smaller British naval force was given the task of liberating Penang under Operation Jurist, a component of the overall Operation Zipper.[citation needed]
There were a total of seven escort carriers: HMS Ameer, HMS Attacker, HMS Emperor, HMS Empress, HMS Hunter, HMS Khedive and HMS Stalker.[13]
The Japanese naval fleet in Singapore consisted of the destroyer Kamikaze[14] and two cruisers, Myōkō and Takao, both of which had been so badly damaged before that they were being used as floating anti-aircraft batteries. Two ex-German U-boats, I-501 and I-502 were also in Singapore.[15] Both were moored at Singapore Naval Base.[16] Air strength in both Malaya and Sumatra was estimated to be a little more than 170 aircraft.[17]
Return to Singapore
Operation Tiderace commenced when Mountbatten ordered Allied troops to set sail from
Japan's defeat had caught the Japanese Command in Singapore by surprise. Many were unwilling to surrender and had vowed to fight to the death. Itagaki had initially balked at the order to surrender and instead ordered the 25th Army (the component of the 7th Area Army defending Singapore) to resist when the Allies arrived.
The Allies arrived in Malaya on 28 August, with a small portion of the fleet sent to recapture
General Itagaki, accompanied by Vice Admiral Shigeru Fukudome and his aides, were brought aboard HMS Sussex in Keppel Harbour to discuss the surrender. They were received by Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Christison and Major-General Robert Mansergh. A tense encounter began when a Japanese officer reportedly remarked, "You are two hours late," only to be met with the reply, "We don't keep Tokyo time here."[21] By 18:00, the Japanese had surrendered their forces on the island. An estimated 77,000 Japanese troops from Singapore were captured, plus another 26,000 from Malaya.[18]
The formal surrender was finalised on 12 September at
Japanese reaction to the surrender
Itagaki had met his generals and senior staff at his HQ at the former
About 200 Japanese soldiers decided to join the communist guerrillas whom they were fighting just days before in a bid to continue the fight against the British. But they soon returned to their units when they found out that the
Nonetheless, some stayed hidden in the jungles with the communists, and when
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A convoy of landing craft carrying Indian troops entering the bay at Singapore, 1945.
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Children of Singapore cheer the arrival of the5th Indian Division, 5 September 1945.
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Ships of the occupation convoy en route to Singapore, August 1945
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HMS Sussex docked in Singapore on 12 September 1945
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Cheering schoolchildren welcome the return of the British Army on 5 September 1945
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A soldier from the5th Indian Divisionstands guard over Japanese prisoners
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Mountbatten gives a public address in Singapore during the surrender ceremony
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Abandoned Japanese Ki-45 Toryu fighters captured at Kallang Airfield
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Heavy cruiser Takao, surrendered to British forces at Seletar, Singapore
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Instrument of Surrender signed by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten for the Allies and General Itagaki for the Japanese
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Chinese community holding preliminary celebrations through the city streets, with liberation banners
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Union Jack is hoisted during the formal surrender of all Japanese southern armies
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Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city
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Three of the indicted Japanese war criminals are led to their cells underneath the Supreme Court in Singapore
See also
References
Notes
- ^ Sarnet & Le Vaillant, p. 330
- ^ "H.M.S. Rotherham (H09)". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ^ a b H.M.S. Attacker
- ^ Park, p. 2156, para 360.
- ^ Park, p. 2155, para 349.
- ^ Park, p. 2155, para 351.
- ^ Chant (2013)
- ^ Warren, p. 297
- ^ Park, pp. 2155–2156, para 358.
- ^ "H.M.S. Cleopatra". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ^ "H.M.S. Sussex". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ^ HMAS Hawkesbury (I), Royal Australian Navy
- ^ H.M.S. Hunter
- ^ IJN Kamikaze: Tabular Record of Movement, Long Lancers, retrieved 12 June 2011
- ^ IJN Submarine I-501: Tabular Record of Movement, Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp, retrieved 9 December 2009
- ^ IJN Submarine I-502: Tabular Record of Movement, Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp, retrieved 9 December 2009
- ^ Park, p. 2156, para 371.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The real Japanese surrender" (PDF). The Sunday Times. 4 September 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ^ Agency, Digital Transformation. "Flying boats in the Second World War, 1939–45 | australia.gov.au" Archived 24 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine. www.australia.gov.au. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
- ^ Albert Minty, Black Cats: the real story of Australia’s long range Catalina strike force in the Pacific War, Solomons to Singapore, Cairns to the coast of China, RAAF Museum, Point Cook,1994
- ^ ISBN 9780674021532
- ^ Sarnet & Le Vaillant, pp. 331–334
Bibliography
- Chant, Christopher (2013). The Encyclopedia of Codenames of World War II. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 9781134647941.
- Park, Keith (August 1946). Air Operations in South East Asia 3rd May 1945 to 12th September 1945 (PDF). London: War Office. published in "No. 39202". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 April 1951. pp. 2127–2172.
- Sarnet, René; Le Vaillant, Eric (1997). Richlieu (in French). Nantes, France: Marines édition. ISBN 978-2-909675-32-9.
- Warren, Alan (2006). Britain's Greatest Defeat : Singapore 1942. London: Hambledon/Continuum. ISBN 1852855975.