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| Sg Klamah WW2 Memorial |
The Sg Klamah/ Gemencheh Bridge
One
of the main attractions around the railway junction of Gemas would be
the site of the Gemencheh River Bridge, a wooden bridge that was blown
up by Australian Forces as they desperately attempted to stem the tide
of the Japanese invasion through Malaya in the final days of the Battle
of Malaya. Those were dark days as the relentless Japanese advance
arrived close to Singapore’s doorstep. Gemas was perhaps where any final
resistance could be offered being the entry point into what must have
been the psychological final buffer to Singapore, after which only the
state of Johore stood in the way. It would probably not have come as a
surprise that it was at Gemas where an ambush was planned, one that
could and perhaps might have had influenced a very different outcome if
events had worked in the favour of the defending forces. That it did
not, brought the Japanese invasion forces closer to their goal both
physically and psychologically, and within two weeks of the battle, the
Japanese had arrived at Singapore’s doorstep at Johor Baharu.
The
ambush was mounted at 4 pm on 14 January 1942, launched by “B” Company
of the 2/30th Battalion. Ignoring the advance party of Japanese scouts
on bicycle, the Australian unit blew the bridge up as the main party
crossed resulting in a heavy loss of life by the Japanese. Estimates
range from 600 to 1000 fatalities on the Japanese side and a handful
suffered by the Australians. While the initial ambush was a huge
success, reports suggest that fighting continued south of the bridge for
two days, in part due to a lack of artillery support due to
communication lines being cut by the Japanese advance party, with the
Australian forces withdrawing south through Gemas.
