SGH War Memorial

Coordinates: 1°16′45.62″N 103°50′0.71″E / 1.2793389°N 103.8335306°E / 1.2793389; 103.8335306
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

SGH War Memorial
Singapore
Japanese Occupation of Singapore: 407
Beneath this cross lie 94 British, 6 Malayan, 5 Indian, 2 Australian soldiers and 300 civilians of many races, victims of man's inhumanity to man, who perished in captivity in February 1942. The soldiers are commemorated by name at Kranji War Cemetery
.

The SGH War Memorial is located within the grounds of the

Second World War in Singapore. In 2005, the memorial, along with eight other historic sites of SGH, was incorporated as part of the Outram Campus Heritage Trail that allow visitors to explore the important historical landmarks that are closely linked with the history of medical education in Singapore.[1]

History

Etymology

Built in 1882, the Singapore General Hospital used to occupy the site of a Sepoy Camp (Sepoy is from the

Hokkien dialect.[2] Located nearby was the Outram Prison (now demolished), which was the site of the public executions of the 1915 Singapore Mutiny
.

College of Medicine

The College of Medicine Building along College Road in Outram

The

Laurence Nunns Guillemard, then Governor of the Straits Settlements and Patron of the College.[3]
The College had been the seat of medical education in Singapore.

The building was designed by Major P.H. Keys, who also designed the

bas relief
of a Roman eagle and sculptures depicting the teaching and practice of medicine.

King Edward VII Hall

Built in 1957, King Edward Hall comprises a main block and two four-storey buildings serving as a hostel for medical students. Many leading doctors and dentists from Singapore and

Mahathir bin Mohamad (4th Prime Minister of Malaysia) have passed through the hall and forged lifelong friendship during their stay here.[4]

Double tragedy

On the morning of 14 February 1942, Yoong Tat Sin, a fourth-year medical student, was fatally injured by

Outram Road General Hospital for an emergency operation, but he died soon after.[5]

That same evening, his fellow friends, about 25 students from the medical and dental faculties of the College of Medicine decided to give Yoong a proper burial within the grounds of the hospital. One of the five trenches dug out earlier for air raid purposes was converted into a grave for Yoong. As the grave was being prepared, they were spotted by Japanese gunners which began pouring a heavy barrage of shells at the defenceless students. Some quick-footed students managed to flee to safety towards the College building. However, those left behind only had time to leap into the trenches and Yoong's grave. As a result, 11 of the students were killed, three were wounded and only two managed to escape injury in the aftermath.[5] Those who were killed instantaneously were given a burial on the morning of 16 February, a day after the surrender of Singapore to the Japanese, in the trenches where they fell.

In Memoriam

The military casualties at SGH were commemorated by name that was inscribed on the Singapore Civil Hospital Grave Memorial at the Kranji War Cemetery today

After the war, the British Colonial Government erected a memorial to commemorate the British soldiers and civilian war dead along College Road near the spot where the slain students were killed. The memorial consists of a painted wooden cross affixed to a pyramidal granite base. The words inscribed at the base of the cross reads:

Beneath this cross lie 94 British, 6 Malayan, 5 Indian, 2 Australian soldiers and 300 civilians of many races, victims of man's inhumanity to man, who perished in captivity in February 1942. The soldiers are commemorated by name at Kranji War Cemetery.[6]

Together with the slain students, the Commonwealth military casualties were buried in a mass grave site on the hospital grounds (beneath the memorial) due to the intense shelling and lack of burial space in the last days before the fall of Singapore.[7]

On 22 October 1948, Dr

Orthopaedic Surgery Department) was first home to the students' lounge of the Medical School. Over the years, the memorial plaque moved twice before finally resting in the foyer of the College of Medicine Building, close to the burial grounds of the slain students.[5]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Singapore General Hospital, "Outram Campus Heritage Trail Guide".
  2. ^ Savage, "Sepoy Lines", pp. 346–347.
  3. ^ a b "College of Medicine Building" – Information obtained from on-site heritage plaque
  4. ^ "Outram Campus Heritage Trail" (PDF). SGH Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Major Yap, "Singapore General Hospital – Student Tragedy", pp. 72–74.
  6. ^ Information obtained from on-site memorial cross near Block 3, Hospital Drive.
  7. ^ Bose, "The Civil Hospital Grave Memorial", p. 15.

Bibliography

External links