WWII History:Ipoh UXO

[GWR]

The histories of the Japanese invasion of Malaysia and their 'transit' through Siam/Thailand are heavily interconnected. So here is also a link to the forum list of WW II & Siam:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=74

I haven't visited it yet, but there is a museum in the middle of Kota Bahru dedicated to WW2 history (see below). (The Penang State Museum also has some exhibits on WW2 history.):

Kelantan to use WW2 history to draw tourists


http://www.nst.com.my/Monday/National/2116428/insidepix1
[Photo: NST - Japanese residents visiting the war memorial at SMK Hamzah, Machang.]

KOTA BARU: The landing site of the Japanese army during the invasion of Malaya and World War 2 relics will be promoted to attract tourists.

http://www.nst.com.my/Monday/National/2116428/insidepix2
[Photo: NST- Toru Ogawa says relatives of Japanese soldiers would want to visit Kelantan.]

The Kelantan Tourism Action Council plans to capitalise on the state's history to attract foreign visitors, especially from Japan.

Council general manager Sulaiman Ismail said that Kelantan was rich in local history.

"But the war is different. That's why we want to promote the landing site and war relics."

The Japanese landed at Kuala Pak Amat, a coastal village 12km from here on Dec 8, 1941.

History often recognises the attack on Pearl Harbour as the start of the Pacific war.

But now historians say Kelantan was where it all started as the landing happened 90 minutes earlier than Pearl Harbour.

Sulaiman said the council was working with local tour operators to set up a trail based on the war.

He said it would also co-operate with other authorities to upgrade historical sites.

Besides Kuala Pak Amat, other war-related places include the Kota Baru War Museum, where visitors can view a short black-and-white Japanese documentary on the war.

There are also photographs of those who fought in the war, equipment, uniforms and other items, including a bicycle used by Japanese soldiers.

Other war relics in the state are pillboxes used by British soldiers in the defence of Pengkalan Chepa and Machang, where a memorial stone was erected by the Japanese army to mark the spot of its fiercest battle.

In Kuala Krai, there is the Sultan Ismail hanging bridge and the Kuala Krai railway station, which the British failed to destroy despite several bombing raids.

To commemorate the anniversary of the landing recently, the council took reporters and several Japanese residents to Kuala Pak Amat and SMK Hamzah in Machang, where the memorial stone is now kept.

Former Japanese high school teacher Toru Ogawa, 63, said the planned trail could be a success.

"Not many Japanese know that Kuala Pak Amat in Kelantan was the first landing site of the invasion force.

"I am sure many, especially relatives and other family members of soldiers, would want to visit the state."

Ogawa, who is a participant of "Malaysia My Second Home" programme, said he knew about Kuala Pak Amat when he came here two years ago.

[GWR]

Keeping memory of Kampar battle alive
By : Jaspal Singh

http://www.nst.com.my/Monday/National/2168009/insidepix1
[Photo: NST - Chye Kooi Loong (centre) briefing British High Commission defence attache Col Paul Edward (left) and Warrant Officer Chris Hardman on the 1942 battle of Kampar.]

KAMPAR: For 79-year-old Chye Kooi Loong, history is not merely passages of events that had taken place but a living entity that enables one to feel the vibrations from the past even as one breathes in the present.
It is due to this belief that Chye has never been able to give up on his struggle to preserve the site where the famous Battle of Kampar took place during Japan's Malayan campaign.

For 30 years, he has pleaded, fought and reasoned with the authorities to protect the battleground where the fiercest clash took place between British and Japanese forces.

In fact, the site of the battle, which saw 7,000 Japanese soldiers mounting an all-out assault on 1,300 British/Indian defenders, is the only one where the original defence positions remained intact from when the clash took place from Dec 30, 1941 to Jan 2, 1942.

Chye is worried that his personal battle for a lasting recognition for the site may end before it is declared a war museum.
"I am already 79. I am not saying I am tired of fighting but how much time do I have anyway? I hope this battleground is accorded the status of a war museum before I die," said Chye after leading the British High Commission's defence attache members on a tour of the Green Ridge recently.

The Green Ridge is the only sector of the actual battleground where trenches, bunkers, machine gun pits and artillery observation posts are clearly visible. The other two, Thompson and Cemetery ridges, had been swallowed up by development.

Chye said the recognition was important as the Battle of Kampar was studied in military colleges worldwide as an example of how the British/Indian forces were able put up their fiercest fight in Malaya despite a shortage of manpower, among others.

Echoing Chye's sentiment, Col Paul Edwards, the head of the defence attache and defence adviser to the British High Commission, said the authorities had a duty to protect the Green Ridge and recognise it as an important heritage site.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/2168009/Article/index_html

Also a link to the forum list of WW II & Siam:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=74

[GWR]

Tuesday June 17, 2008
Cops may evacuate residents to detonate bomb

IPOH: Villagers living around the Sungai Pinji bridge in Tambun may have to be evacuated if police decide to detonate the 450kg World War Two bomb discovered in the river.

Members of the bomb disposal unit from Bukit Aman have been at the site since Sunday night to inspect the bomb. They are expected to decide on the course of action soon.

http://thestar.com.my/archives/2008/6/17/nation/n_16bomb.jpg
[Photo: The Star - Explosive attraction: Curious villagers gathering around the Sungai Pinji bridge in Tambun, Ipoh, after a fisherman discovered the bomb there on Saturday.]


Perak CPO Deputy Comm Datuk Zulfikli Abdullah said the unit believed the bomb was still active and moving it from its present location could be dangerous.

“If the unit detonates the bomb at its present location, we may need to evacuate those living in the surrounding areas and the traders operating there,” he said.

He told villagers in Tambun not to worry because the bomb could not explode on its own.

A local fisherman discovered the bomb at 5.30pm on Saturday. The police have since cordoned off the area.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/17/nation/21569498&sec=nation

[GWR]

2008/06/22
Sleepy Tambun town awakes to explosion
By : P. Chandra Sagaran

http://www.nst.com.my/pix/pix_top_06221
[Photo: NST]

Tambun became a ghost town yesterday when all the shophouses and houses were vacated for the bomb detonation.

IPOH: The anxious one-week wait by 4,000 residents in Tambun ended yesterday when a live 454kg World War 2 bomb was detonated on the banks of Sungai Pinji, the spot where it was found.

The residents from Taman Tambun, Taman Tambun Jaya, Kampung Baru Tambun and Kampung Malay Reserve started to vacate their quarters from as early as 7am.

They were ferried to waiting areas at the Tambun mosque and the Royal Malay Regiment army base in Jalan Tambun.

The roads leading to the site were blocked. Ipoh city police chief ACP Azisman Alias, who was coordinating operations, said the bomb disposal unit got started at 8.30am.

Assisting the unit were about 200 men from the Fire and Rescue Department, Public Works Department, Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Ipoh City Council, Kinta district office, the army, and Mineral and Geoscience Department.

Sandbags were placed around the bomb before detonation.

The 20 members of the bomb disposal unit, headed by ASP Ong Fah Lim, detonated the bomb at 10.03am.

But the bomb was not completely destroyed and the bomb disposal unit began work on it again. It was detonated for the second time at 10.50am.

The bomb was found by an angler on June 14 at 5.30pm.

It could not be moved as it was risky and had be to detonated on the spot.

Azisman said the British- made bomb could have been dropped during the Japanese Occupation to blow up the bridge over the river, which linked Tambun town and the city.

The bomb, which could have been manufactured in 1945, had a killing zone of 300 metres.

"The detonation went on smoothly and the explosion did not cause any untoward incidents, injuries or damages," Azisman said.

"I thank the public for their cooperation."

Azisman said that the bomb fragments would be kept at the Tambun police station as souvenirs.

...........
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/2273963/Article/index_html