Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 09-24-11 19:18
A United Front between the Malayan Communist Party and the British Colonial Authorities
Even until 1941 the British High Command in Malaya were not interested in
guerilla warfare as there were no preceding examples of any successful resistance
movement in the First World War. It was a mad idea of Europeans to stay-behind
to fight a guerilla war in an Asian country. No Europeans could disguise
themselves as Asians.
However, in early 1941 a small organization was sent to Singapore to deal
with some kind of irregular warfare. A large building at Tanjong Balai (丹
絨峇萊) at the mouth of the Jurong River, about ten miles due west of Singapore
city, was used as the training center. The organization was named No.101
Special Training School (101sts). Lieutenant Colonel R.E. Jim Gavin was
appointed the commander of the school.101sts that had sixty officers. The
object of the school was to give irregular warfare training to military
and civilian personnel - European and Native.
http://yn.chung.id.au/STS.101.jpg
http://yn.chung.id.au/MajorChapman.jpg
In September 1941, Major F. Spencer Chapman was appointed the second-in-command
of the school. Later, Lieut-Colonel Gavin was transferred to another War
Establishment. Major Chapman took over the command of the school. By December
8, plans were under way for directing irregular warfare in China and for
stay-behind parties in Hong Kong. Then war came to Malaya.
In response to the demand by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) for a united
front to resist the Japanese invasion, Sir Shenton Thomas, Governor of the
Straits Settlement, finally agreed to cooperate with the MCP. A meeting
was arranged with the leaders of the MCP.
On the 18th of December, 1941, a conference was held between Lai Te (萊特
), the Secretary-General of the MCP, Xiao Zhong (小忠), a member of the
Central Standing Committee of MCP, Innes Tremlett, a British Chinese-speaking
Police Officer and F. Spencer Chapman, the commander of No.101 Special Training
School, in a small upstairs room in a back street of Singapore. Lai Te and
Xiao Zhong were allowed to wear sunglasses to hide their identities before
they entered the conference room.
After two days of discussions it was agreed that the British would train
and arm members of the MCP to fight the Japanese. Altogether, the MCP dispatched
165 cadets, in four batches, to the Special Training School to receive military
training in guerilla and commando warfare. Besides Major F. Spencer Chapman
(查普曼少校), the other instructors were John Davis (戴維斯), who was born
in 1910 and a Chinese and Malay-speaking former Police Officer in Kampar,
Captain Richard Broome (布倫上尉), who was a District Offocer in Ipoh area,
(will talk more about them, later), D.E Devonshire (迪沃雪), and a few others
as well as several Chinese interpreters who translated the lectures into
Mandarin.
According to Major F. Spencer Chapman, in his book "The Jungle is Neutral",
"On December 18 a meeting was convened between one of those police officers,
two Chinese (one of whom was the Secretary-General of the MCP), and myself,
representing the organization [No.101 Special Training School]. This conference
took place in a small up stair room in a back street of Singapore........"
"It was agreed that the MCP would provide as many young Chinese as we could
accept at 101 Special Training School (STS) and that after training they
could be used against the Japanese in any way we thought fit. It was arranged
that the School transport would pick up the fifteen Chinese students for
the first week's course at a certain street corner in Singapore on December
20, and that as soon as we could increase our instructional staff and accommodation
this number should be doubled or, if possible, trebled. ............these
men were to be trained and armed as stay-behind parties, and established
in the jungle ahead of the advancing Japanese................".
The first batch of 15 MCP cadets to be trained at No.101 Special Training
School were from the Singapore MCP branch and they graduated at the end
of December. Immediately after graduation they were sent behind the enemy
lines. The second batch of 30 MCP cadets were from the State of Perak and
Singapore. The third batch of 60 were from the States of Selangor, Perak,
Pahang and Singapore. The fourth batch of 60 were from the States of Johore
and Singapore. These 165 MCP cadets trained by Major (later Liet-Colonel)
F. Spencer Chapman became the core of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese
Army (MPAJA).
(Note: I shall relate how the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army were established
in each State in Malaya as the story goes)
------------------------------------
The formation of the 1st MPAJA Independent Regiment - 1942
馬來亞人民抗日軍第一獨立隊
----------------------------------------------
Officially, the formation of the First Regiment of the Malayan People's
Anti-JapaneseArmy (MPAJA) was on January 4, 1942, at Serendah (雙文丹),
about 14 miles north of Kuala Lumpur.
The 15 cadets of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), who graduated from the
No.101 Special Training School (STS) at Tanjong Balai at the mouth of the
Jurong River, about ten miles due west of Singapore city, were sent to the
front line in North Malaya. However, when they arrived at Kuala Lumpur on
January 1st 1942 the whole of northern Malaya had fallen to the Japanese
Imperial Army who were on their way to Tanjong Malim, about 50 kilometers
away. Retreating British Army was in a state of 草木皆兵, 驚恐萬壯 (a state
of nerves and panic, it seemed every bush and tree hid an enemy).
Under such circumstances Xiao Zhong (小忠), a member of the Central Executive
Committee of the MCP, told Xu Qingbiao (徐慶彪), the leader of this group,
that he and his men should stay in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur and form
the First Regiment of the MPAJA in the state of Selangor. Xiao Zhong issued
an order to the Selangor branch of the MCP asking its members to assembly
at the Chinese Serendah cemetery pavilion (雙文丹義山亭) about 14 miles
north of Kuala Lumpur. 155 young men and 10 young women turned up. They
were the leaders of the various anti-Japanese organizations in the state.
The majority of them were workers and many of them were the high school
students from the Kajang Overseas Chinese High School (加影華僑中學).
Three days later, on the morning of January 4th 1942, these 165 young women
and men, Zhu Lao (朱佬 alias Zhu Riguang 朱日廣), on behalf of the members
of the Central Executive Committee of the MCP, promulgated the formation
of the 1st Independent Regiment of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army
(MPAJA). Zhu Lao declared that, "馬來亞人民抗日軍第一獨立隊成立了, 從此馬
來亞各族人民有了自己的武裝. The First Regiment of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese
Army has formed and from now on the people of Malaya have their own army."
The regiment was under the command of five members of the MCP. They were:
(1) Xu Qingbiao (徐慶彪a Hokkien), the officer in charge of political affairs,
(2) Chen Tianqing (陳天慶 a Hokkien), the commander of the regiment,
(3) Liao Yilin (廖弈林 a Hakka), his deputy commander,
(4) Chen Xiang (陳祥 a Cantonese), the head of the political section,
(5) Liew Yao (劉堯 a Hainanese), in charge of military supplies
That same afternoon, this fledging regiment was attacked by the Japanese
warplanes. It was reported that Japanese soldiers were also sighted in an
area about seven miles from Serendah. Xu Qingbiao gave order to retreat
in groups into the jungle and to reassemble at Durian Hill (榴槤山). The
first group, who left the pavilion, was met by a group of Japanese soldiers
who opened fire on them. The MPAJA did not return fire because they were
not ready for battle. One of them called Yan Dao (嚴島), who was about 22-years-
old, a Hainanese coffee shop attendant, was wounded on the left side of
his back. Liew Yao and Ya Hui (亞輝) were the last ones to leave the pavilion.
They destroyed all the provisions which they were unable to remove.
Yan Dao had high fever and he was in pain. A doctor from Serendah was asked
to help engaged to cure him, but he could not remove the bullet from his
body. The doctor said it required an operation to remove the bullet. It
was not possible to send him to the hospital under such circumstances. Yan
Dao died on the fourth day. He was the first casualty of the MPAJA.
After wandering in the jungle for sometime, all the members managed to regroup
at Durian Hill. Ten days later, Chen Tianqing announced that the regiment
was to be broken up into three patrols with about 60 members in each.
The commander of the 1st Patrol was Nan Cheng (南盛) and his deputy commander
Peng Shaoxiong (彭少雄). The MCP representative was Li Bai (李白). Jian
Ao (煎熬 alias Wu Qingqi 吳清琦) and Wu Lianzhi (吳連枝) were in charge
of coordinating the Labour Movement. The Administrator of the patrol was
Chen Jin (陳金). The region in the north of the state of Selangor was to
be under the jurisdiction of the First Patrol. The towns of Gumut, Rasa,
Kerling, Kalumpang and the surrounding villages were in this region.
Huang Qing (黃清) was the commander of the 2nd patrol and the representative
of the MCP was Lin Shihu (林獅虎), who was later replaced by Jian Ao. Chen
Liu (陳六 alias Wu Yuqing 吳毓清) and Lian Zhizhao (連志超) were in charge
of the Labour Movement. The area under the control of the 2nd Patrol included
the towns of Serendah, Rawang, Ulu Yam, Batu Arang and the villages in the
vicinity of these towns.
The party representative in the 3rd Patrol was A Fang (阿芳). The commander
was Ya Yan (亞燕) and his deputy was Wu Yake (吳亞克). Xie Ruisheng (謝瑞
生 a female) and Yang Bo (楊波 alias Lin Qingfeng 林清豐) were in charge
of the Labour Movement. Later, Yang Bo was transferred to the 1st Patrol
and was replaced by Hui Guan (惠光 alias Cheng Zhongqiu 陳忠秋). The towns
under the control of the 3rd Patrol were the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur as
well as the towns of Kuala Jinjang, Bukit Tinggi, Batu Caves and the villages
near these towns.
The headquarters of the First Regiment was with the 3rd Patrol. There were
only about thirty rifles in the whole regiment. These rifles were given
by the Special Training School. Members of the Perak branch guerilla units
based in the Slim River area gave them 70 rifles after they had picked up
a few hundred abandoned weapons by the British after the disastrous battle.
Later, F. Spencer Chapman, the commander of the No.101 Special Training
School arrived at the 1st Regiment base and he led them to recover the weapons
he buried previously. The area of activity covered by the 1st Independent
Regiment was the whole of the state of Selangor.
Posted to asiawind.com
By CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
|
|
The Asiawind forums are provided to you by
InTechTra Inc.
