The following account by the late Harold V. Speldwinde, P.P.T., P.J.K., on what went on in Penang in the turbulent year of 1941, was submitted by his son, Kenneth to The Weekly Echo. It has been edited for clarity.
With the declaration of war on 8 December 1941, Penang and the mainland’s airfields were put out of action as enemy air supremacy was dominant.
The civilian population was the next unexpected target. The bombing of Penang was without mercy and uncalled for.
Twenty-seven bombers flew over Penang in formation on 11 December morning, and many thousands of people rushed out onto the streets to see what they thought was an Allied show of strength.
It was too late when we realised that they were enemy aircraft (Japanese) though many people were still unafraid because they believed (rather naively) that the enemy bombed only military targets.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose as the bombs fell, the worst hit area was the downtown centre around Prangin Road. There were dead bodies everywhere. The General Hospital was filled with casualties.
Hordes of people started running out of the town, heading for the countryside. Many were covered with blood. It was the most gruesome sight ever witnessed.
Over the next few days, matters were made worse by the horrific stench of the decaying dead bodies in town. It was unbearable.
The Straits Echo was one of the few offices to remain open. The faithful staff under the leadership of their Editor, M. Saravanamuttu (affectionately known as Uncle Sara), still printed news sheets for the people of Penang. This showed the determination of the press against heavy odds.
Immediately after the bombing of Penang, looting started as there was no law and order although officially, the British were still in “occupation” or “command”.
Uncle Sara was a gallant personality who came forward to lead the people by forming the Penang Service Committee comprising three members each from the four different communities.
They were duly elected to run the town and their office was at No. 10 Brown Road. Two meetings took place daily. One of the first things undertaken was the lowering of the Union Jack and hoisting the white flag in surrender as Penang was completely abandoned by both the British military and civil administrators. The state was left undefended, so to speak.
As there were no other volunteers for this “special” task, Uncle Sara and R. S. Gopal (his sub-editor) carried out this mission. Uncle Sara recalled that it was a unique experience to lower the Union Jack while still being a British citizen!
The committee led by Uncle Sara had the advantage of being able to call on the Penang Volunteer Police (VP). The Eurasian Volunteer Company (E. Company) under the command of Lt. A. Willweber made their headquarters at Francis Light School on Perak Road while the Chinese Company moved to Ayer Itam, where most of the community had evacuated. They were under the command of Lim Cheang Ean and Lim Khoon Teik, the Penang Magistrate. The formation of the Volunteer Police restored law and order again to a great extent.
Next Uncle Sara “opened” the rice godown at Ayer Itam and distributed the rice that was left there. Many old timers who were present then had felt that the work Uncle Sara did during those turbulent days had somewhat been forgotten. It was Uncle Sara who organised an appeal in Japanese with the help of a locally released prisoner-of-war through the Penang Wireless Society (ZHJ) to contact the Japanese headquarters in North Malaya.
Tribute must also be paid to a young Penangite named Ivan Allan (later a race horse owner who had since passed away) who bravely went to Sungai Petani on 18th December with a Japanese named Izumi, who owned a barber saloon in Argyl Road. They were said to have conveyed information to the Japanese military that the British had evacuated Penang.
On 19 December at 4 pm, two companies of Japanese troops arrived in Penang at the Church Street Pier, coming over in sampans from the mainland.
As the Penang Service Committee Chairman, Uncle Sara appealed to their Commander not to harm the local population. The next day the Japanese Civil Administrator, Hiroyasu, arrived and began the formation of four different committees for the Malays, Chinese, Indians and Eurasians, which were known as the Peace Preservation Committees.
The Japanese troops occupied the Dato Kramat Convent initially. Uncle Sara’s Penang Service Committee which had saved Penang was disbanded on 23 December 1941.
The other heroic thing that Uncle Sara did together with me (Harold Speldewinde) as his personal bodyguard and the late Oswald Foley, was to put some stranded British officers (with food and water) in a tongkang at midnight to leave for Singapore. He and “the boys” did a gallant job, but there was never any official appreciation for their work from the British. The tongkang reached Singapore safely.
As I recall, that same month Uncle Sara was imprisoned for nine months in solitary confinement in an 8 ft x 8 ft cell. Uncle Sara subsequently published a book, ”The Sara Saga” and he commented about his success in winning the cooperation of others by summing up an old saying “If you love everybody, everybody will love you.” He also cited Deepak Chopra’s quote on bravery – “Not to Be Afraid to be Afraid”.
One thousand, three hundred and fifty-four days — that was the exact duration of the hideous nightmare of Japanese rule that Penang had to endure. The Liberation that followed was on 1st September 1945 when HMS Nelson with Admiral Walker dropped anchor in the North Channel just off Muka Head.
The formalities took a couple of days and it was on the morning of Monday, 3 September that two British naval destroyers moored at the Swettenham Pier. The Union Jack was again hoisted on the flagstaff there where the British troops landed.
The Penang Service Committee was reformed and together with the Town Board, they welcomed the British troops. The relief and joy of the people of Penang were amply manifested in the spontaneity and magnitude of the greetings for the British and Allied Forces that landed after midday.
True liberation indeed — after many tales of tyranny, fear and merciless oppression accompanied by executions here and there.
— WE