Battle Of Kranji

This was the second stage of the battle. The Battle of Kranji (9-10 February 1942)
The PRIMARY objective of the Japanese were to secure a second beachhead right after their assault at Sarimbun Beach so that they could breach the Jurong to Kranji defence line. This was all so that they could reach the heart of Singapore.

(That's a lot of assaults)




For the first day (9 Feb), The Japanese switched their fire to Kranji where the defensive the positions were.

Telegraph and telephone communications were destroyed in the bombardment and communications between the front line and command HQ were broken.
It would be hard or impossible or to communicate then. Plans could have not been told to the front lines from command
Headquarters.
At 8:30pm that night, the men of the Imperial Guards Division began the crossing from Johor in special armoured landing-crafts, collapsible boats and by swimming.


The second day (10 Feb), There were heavy losses.
In the early hours of 10 February, Japanese forces suffered their heaviest losses during the Battle of Singapore. While moving up the Kranji River, advance landing parties from the 4th Regiment of the Imperial Guard Division found themselves under heavy fire from Australian machine gunners and mortar teams. They also found themselves surrounded by oil slicks, which had been created by Allied personnel emptying the nearby Woodlands oil depot, to prevent its capture.
However, Japanese tanks came in and they ended up capturing Bukit Timah village by 11 February







Website URL : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kranji
Date accessed : 17 February 2013