"The Battle of Kampar had proved that the gallant Sikh soldiers were superior, man to man, to the Japanese." KL Chye.

Read with interest of the Saragarhi's battle, and how the Sikh's fought till the last man, BRAVO the Sikhs are worriers , Here is an abstract from a book "History of the British Battalion-Malayan campaign of 1941 and 1942 " by Mr. Chye Kooi Loong who also happens to be a local teacher and also a good friend of mine. Not many sikhs are aware of this historic battle which happened to be the toughest barrier for the Japanese to gain into Malaya and the downfall of the British in Malaya. This is part of the history to be remembered

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.... the struggle on the epic Battle of Kampar from 30th December 1941 to the 2nd January 1942 from dawn to dusk was a classic example of what can be achieved by sheer grit and determination and in this battle brought out the finest characteristics of the Japanese , British and Indian troops engaged.

In the four day struggle were the repeated banzai charges on the forward slope of Thomson Ridge now known as Taman Kampar Jaya to gain possession of the ridge positions occupied by the British Battalion. The charges were made with all the well known bravery and total disregard of danger of the Japanese soldier. there was a dogged resistance, in spite of being bombed and machine gunned by Japanese during the day for 30 hours, by the men of A Company under Lt. Newland. Finally Japanese overran the trenches on the Eastern sector of Thomsan Ridge.

The British Battalion D Company made two counter charges to try to drive out the Japanese. Later a third charge was made by the company of Gujars from the Jats/Punjab Regiment, but it failed after heavy casualties. The forth and final charge was made by a company of Sikh sepoys under Captain John Graham. As for the bravery , leadership and self sacrifice of Captain Graham of the 1/8th Punjab Regiment at Kampar, his gallantry was an epic which must surely rank with any act of velour in the two world wars.

Leading the Sikh company against the Japanese occupied trenches Graham and his gallant Sikhs the first and second lines at bayonets point and through shouts of "Sat Siri Akal " they struggled against heavy Japanese gun fire. Many died and collapsed. In the final charge Graham had only 30 Sikhs left and a Japanese hand grenade blew both his legs below the knees as the small group reached the crest. Even then, Graham and his Sikhs continued to fight till all the Japanese survivors ran off to safety. The Battle of Kampar had proved that the gallant Sikh soldiers were superior man to man to the Japanese; A havildar at the 1/8th' Punjab headquarters said on hearing Captain Graham's death -' Mera dil tut gia. Aisa bahadur admi khabi nahin honge'.

This very brave act has never been fully told, so due credit has never been given to these men who fought so bravely. The Sikh soldiers with shouts of Sat Siri Akal charged up the rear slope of Thompson Ridge. They stormed the Japanese lines with their bayonets bristling in the sunlight. Their eyes aglow with fury of battle. The noise of the guns was deafening and then suddenly firing stopped. The Japanese were licking their wounds, their dead lying in trenches and some of them throwing away their arms in a desperate bid to escape, others being bayoneted before they could turn. Once on the objective, the Sikhs continued the slaughter firing on groups attempting to cover. The bogey of the super Japanese samurai warrior had been laid bare.

In the Malayan Campaign of 1941 -1942 Sikhs have served in the following Indian Regiments as the 2/5th Punjab,1/8th Punjab, 2nd Baluch, 5/11th Sikh , 2nd Frontier Force ,1st Frontier Force Rifles , 1/14th Punjab, 2/16th Punjab ,and 3/1th Punjab Regiments.

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This is part of an article of the Battle of Kampar. For your information Mr Chye is a Historian and the above book is printed by Oxford in England.

Mr Chye is putting on a lot of Pressure on the United Nation 's Armed Forces to erect a monument in memory of the forgotten heroes. The UN forces representatives have been paying visits to this place often and I hope in the near future something will be done and the names will be written on this monument. Also the trenches are still there well preserved by nature.