Introduction
“The moral collapse of British rule in South East Asia came not at Singapore but at Penang.”
This often repeated quote from Forgotten Armies, the Fall of British Asia 1941-45 by Bayly and Harper (2005) highlights the view that it was at Penang that the British first lost their aura of invincibility in South East Asia when it fled the island in the dead of night on 16th December, 1941 leaving the local population to fend for themselves against the Japanese invaders.
Singapore would fall just over two months later on 15th February, 1942 following a lightning advance southwards by Japanese troops, at the rate of fifteen kilometres per day, but it was in Penang where the superior reputation that the British had gained amongst the Malayans during their over 150 years of rule was lost forever.
Japanese invasion of Malaya
The Japanese invasion of Malaya began on 8th December, 1941 when over 5,000 troops of the 25th Army under Lt. General Tomoyuki Yamashita landed on the beach at Kota Bharu on the north-east coast. The position was defended with fortifications and an artillery battery but the small garrison was no match for the invasion force and the town was quickly taken, following which the force advanced south along the eastern coast.
The ease with which the amphibious force was able to land unopposed was due to the Japanese mastery of the air which they achieved with little resistance from the Allies. Prior to the invasion it was said that Allied aircraft in the whole of North Malaya numbered just 75 with only one recognised fighter squadron, No. 21 RAAF consisting of 12 Brewster Buffaloes.
Most of the Allied aircraft were destroyed on the ground when the the airfields at Alor Star, Sungai Petani and Butterworth were bombed. One pilot, Arthur Scarf, flying a Bristol Blenheim managed to get airborne and completed a bombing mission over Singora before being shot down for which he earned a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Initial reaction in Penang
On 8th December, the first that the population of Penang heard about the Japanese invasion at Kota Bahru was from special newspaper editions which also referred to the attack on Pearl Harbour the day before, and the bombing raids on Singapore.
For the next few days it was mostly business as usual although policemen were seen stationed outside some Japanese businesses in George Town whilst the whole population went out to watch as Japanese reconnaissance planes flew over the island.
Bombing of Penang
However, on 11th December the aeronautical displays of the previous days turned into deadly air raids and it was reported that several hundred people died in the initial attacks. People hid inside to escape the bombing and machine-gun fire, or fled to the suburbs around Penang Hill.
The bombings continued daily and law and order in Penang broke down. Government officers including the Resident Councillor and the Chief Police Officer left their posts for their residences in the suburbs and the Government Offices on the waterfront were evacuated. In response, some people, mostly Asians, volunteered as wardens to carry out policing and to distribute food.
In the meantime Sir Shenton Thomas, Governor of the Straits Settlements in Singapore, in a radio address tried to reassure the population proclaiming that: “Every inch of the country will be defended.” This promise was to prove a hollow statement.
Evacuation by the British
On 16th December after five days of bombing and exactly one week after the landings at Kota Bharu, the British and European population of Penang fled the island. In the dead of night, following notice from the authorities, they gathered what belongings they could carry and rushed to the Eastern and Oriental Hotel where an armada of small boats was waiting to evacuate them.
Despite the departure of the British from Penang the bombing continued which led to one of the most remarkable incidents of the whole episode which, it is said, saved George Town from complete destruction as well as many lives.
“Penang saved from needless bombing“
Under the headline “Penang saved from needless bombing”, the Japanese-occupation newspaper, Shonan Shimbuan, later reported that it was due to the heroic deed of one man in particular who helped to stop the bombing. Referred to as a Eurasian jockey named Mr. I. Allen, he had a plan to sail to the mainland and inform the Japanese that Penang had surrendered to save it from further punishment.
Whilst the Union Jack was still flying at Fort Cornwallis, George Town, and the BBC continued to report that Penang was still holding out, and in the absence of any formal declaration of withdrawal by the British, the Japanese continued to bomb the island.
Mr. Allen, intending to sail to the Japanese Headquarters to inform them of the surrender, managed to find a small sampan, although without a sail, and along with two Japanese internees who had escaped when the British left the island, set-off on the night of 17th December. Rowing for ten hours in choppy waters he reached Kuala Muda in Kedah and, without stopping for rest he then found a bicycle and rode over 20 miles to Sungei Patani where the Japanese headquarters was situated and informed them that all the British had left and the island had surrendered.
In addition to the actions of Mr. Allen, some in the local population also tried to convey messages of surrender by radio to the Japanese to persuade them to halt the bombing. The electricity supply to the island had been cut when the British dynamited the Prai power station but local technicians working with the Penang Broadcasting Station managed to use an emergency generator at the main hospital in George Town and read out messages of surrender repeatedly over the airwaves in between music.
Furthermore, according to reports in the Shonan Shimbuan, it was a newspaperman, later identified as the local Indian editor of the English language paper the Straits Echo, who lowered the Union Jack flag at Fort Cornwallis and replaced it with the white flag of surrender.
Landing of the Japanese
In any event, after the pleas for an end to the hostilities by the local population had been issued, the bombing stopped, and on 19th December the Japanese landed unopposed on Penang thus ending over a century and a half of British rule.
With the aim of restoring law and order planes had dropped leaflets warning looters to cease their plundering, and indiscipline by Japanese troops was severely punished with several officers being court martialled and shot. Penang was renamed Tojoto after the Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, and so began over three years of occupation.
Liberation in 1945
Whilst Penang, George Town, was the first major Malayan town to fall to the Japanese during the Malayan campaign it was also the first to be liberated when, on 3rd September, 1945 British forces launched Operation Jurist, and peacefully regained control of the island.
Malaysia 1786 - 1957 