Publication:Navy Annual 2005/Bersama Lima Task Group Marks the 60th Anniversary of WWII
BY LIEUTENANT COMMANDER BRIAN CHASE, RAN
On 12 September 2005, officers and sailors from HMA Ships Adelaide, Canberra and Westralia joined serving and ex-serving allied servicemen and women from around the world to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Royal Australian Navy ships were participating in exercise BERSAMA LIMA (Five Together), a multinational exercise comprising ships and aircraft from Australia, UK, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia, that took place off the coast of Malaysia.
On 12 September 1945, Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable Lord Louis Mountbatten, KG, PC, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIe, GCVO, DSO, FRS, RN, the Supreme Commander of South east Asia received the surrender of the Imperial Japanese forces. To mark the anniversary, the Singaporean Government organised the memorial service at the Kranji War Cemetery and Memorial. The Kranji War Cemetery and Memorial holds great significance, as it is where a large number of Singaporean, ANZAC, British, Indian and other allied personnel who died in the defence of Singapore are buried.
The evening before, another memorial ceremony took place within Sembawang Dockyard, this time to commemorate the sacrifices of FORCE Z, a fleet of ships comprising HM Ships Prince of Wales, Repulse, Electra, Tenedos, Express and HMAS Vampire. Their mission was to counter Japanese aggression at sea in South east Asia.
At around 1100 on 10 September 1941, the fleet sailed on a mission to search out and engage the enemy. Devoid of any air cover, the ships came under attack by some 83 enemy bombers and torpedo-carrying aircraft. In the ensuing two-hour battle both the Prince of Wales and the Repulse were sunk with the other ships sustaining heavy damage. Of FORCE Z's total of 2921 sailors, 841 perished.
The devastating loss left Singapore with no defence from the sea and hastened the eventual fall of Singapore two months later.
