2 reasons why we admire lieutenant adnan bin saidi?
The Battle of Opium Hill (14 February 1942) at Pasir Panjang was one of the fiercest battles that took place in Singapore in World War II. It pitted the invading Japanese Army against a brave but heavily outnumbered troop of the 1st Malay Brigade of the Malay Regiment. The battle was also remembered for the heroism of Lieutenant Adnan Saidi, the leader of the brigade, who together with his men fought the Japanese to their grisly deaths. Today, an interpretive centre, Reflections at Bukit Chandu, stands on the hill, commemorating the battle and the contributions of these men.BackgroundOpium Hill, or Bukit Chandu in Malay, constituted the British final defence parameter against the invading Japanese army. The Japanese campaign to invade Singapore had begun on 8 February 1942 with one strategic defensive position after another rapidly falling into Japanese hands. By 13 February, the Japanese Imperial Army had shifted their attention to Pasir Panjang Ridge. The ridge was important because it offered a passage to the Alexandra area where the British Military Hospital and the main British ammunition and ordinance depots were located.The task for defending the ridge was assigned to Lieutenant Adnan Saidi and his men of the "C" Company of the 1st Malay Brigade. They distinguished themselves by fighting on despite being heavily and continuously shelled by a regiment of the crack Japanese 18th Division. Adnan and his men, stationed at Pasir Panjang Village, held the Japanese at bay for as long as they could and withdrew only in the late evening of 13 February when they were outstripped in strength. As they retreated, they gave up the approach to Pasir Panjang Ridge known as the Gap.DescriptionThe Japanese continued their bombardment and infantry assault on the 1st Malay Brigade throughout 14 February. This gallant troop, after being forced to yield the Pasir Panjang Ridge the night before, withdrew to Bukit Chandu or Opium Hill. The hill was named so after an opium-processing factory that used to be at the bottom of the hill. Adnan ordered his men to fortify their new defence position by building a wall of sandbags all around.In the early afternoon, "strange" troops were seen by Adnan as advancing uphill from Pepys Road. The troops were first thought of as Sikh soldiers from the Birtish-Indian Army because they were spotted with turbans. However, their grouping of four instead of three, which was the norm of the British Army, led Adnan to suspect that these were actually enemy troops disguised as British soldiers. Adnan ordered his men to open fire and 20 enemy men were mortally wounded, causing the Japanese to retreat. This victory for the Malay Brigade was however short-lived as two hours later, the Japanese launched a second all-out attack with more Japanese soldiers and heightened shelling by kamikaze planes. Fierce fighting ensued on Opium Hill, and when ammunition ran short, Adnan and his men resorted to hand-to-hand combat using their bayonets. Heavily outnumbered, the 1st Malay Brigade continued to hold their ground until they were completely overrun. They paid heavily for frustrating the Japanese army's attempts at victory for nearly 48 hours. Their lives ended in grisly deaths at Japanese hands. Adnan, the courageous leader, was hung by his legs to a tree and repeatedly bayoneted before his mutilated body was burnt.The only Malay Regiment survivor was Corporal Yaakob. In the turmoil of fighting, he fell on top of a pile of dead bodies and lay there motionless to escape death by the Japanese. He witnessed the gruesome final moments of Lieutenant Adnan whose body was never recovered.AftermathBy the afternoon of 14 February, as the Malay Brigade fell, a tragedy followed. The Japanese captured Alexandra military hospital and subsequently massacred its occupants, leaving only a few to escape. On hindsight, it was said that the task of the 1st Malay Brigade in defending the Pasir Panjang/Alexandra district could have been made easier if its neighbouring Australian artillery had been more co-operative. Instead, to save on ammunition, they were told to fire only in defence of the Australian perimeter which was at higher ground than where the Malay Brigade was positioned. With a more commanding view of the battlefield, the guns could have taken on the advancing Japanese effectively along the south coast where the Malay Brigade was fighting.Adnan received posthumous awards by the British government for his bravery and his heroic contingent is remembered for its role in defending the sovereignty of Singapore.
