VJ Day- Remembering the 2nd Battalion

Please note, there may be discussions, sources and images about the treatment of soldiers in Japanese Prisoner of War Camps during World War Two in this blog that some readers may find upsetting. 

As many know, VE Day (Victory over Europe Day) was celebrated on the 8^th of May to mark the anniversary of Germany’s surrender during the Second World War. Although this ended the war in Europe, there were still thousands of soldiers engaged in fighting throughout the Asia-Pacific region against the Japanese who did not surrender for a further 3 months. The 15^th of August 2025 marks the 80^th anniversary of VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) when Japan officially surrendered on this date in 1945 and brought an end to the conflict in WW2. To commemorate the 80^th anniversary of VJ Day, our blog this month focuses on the 2^nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and their experience in Malaya (now known as Malaysia) and Singapore against the Japanese.  

In 1940, the Japanese took occupation of French Indochina which comprised of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Loas. On the 8^th of December 1941, the Japanese arrived in Singora (Songkhla) and Pattani in Thailand where an armistice was immediately signed. From there, the Japanese began to push through British and Indian forces along the west coast of Malaya, reaching closer to Singapore. Singapore was Britain’s major military base in Southeast Asia and the keystone to its reginal defense system at this time. The 2^nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had arrived in Singapore in August 1939 and had undergone two years of intensive training in the jungle, developing agile speed, offensive spirit, endurance, teamwork and morale to ensure success in action. The mastermind behind the training was Lieutenant Colonel Ian Stewart of Achnacone, Argyll. Lieutenant Colonel Stewart recognised the Japanese threat and fully prepared his Battalion to fight in the jungle using old but effective Lanchester armoured cars. The 2^nd Battalion became known as ‘the jungle beasts’.   

The first contact with the Japanese occurred on the 15^th of December 1941 at Baling, Malaya, only a week after the Japanese landed at Kota Bahru in northern Malaya. It was then almost a continuous action until the fall of Singapore in February 1942. During this year of fighting, the Argylls repeatedly gave the Japanese a very hard time, delaying their invasion over 800 kilometres. On the 7^th of January 1942, the Battle of Slim River took place where the Argylls were decimated by the Japanese tanks and motorised infantry. They were reduced to only 3 officers and 90 men and were forced to withdraw across the Causeway to Singapore.

The battle cruisers HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk by Japanese aircrafts near Kuantan, Malaya on the 10^th of September 1941. 300 Royal Marines survived and were picked up from the sea and formed into two companies which joined the remnants of the 2^nd Battalion in Singapore on the 29^th of January 1942. The Royal Marines were from the Plymouth Division, and the reformed battalion became known as The Plymouth Argylls. The final battles in Singapore ended when the high command ordered a stop to the fighting and thus surrendering to the Japanese. Those that survived were then taken into captivity by the Japanese for the next three years.  

The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws that set out how soldiers and civilians should be treated in war. The Third Geneva Convention mandates that Prisoners of War should be treated humanely, receiving adequate food, shelter, and medical care. It also protects them from violence and torture. Although the Japanese signed the Geneva Convention, they did not follow it and instead treated their POWs horribly. The Japanese believed that surrender was dishonourable and therefore they had little to no respect for surrendered POWs. The prisoners were kept in appalling conditions and suffered from disease, hunger, malnutrition, violence, and death.  

The Japanese had many POW camps across the Asia-Pacific region. When the Plymouth Argylls were defeated in Singapore, they were taken prisoner to Changi Prison which held POW from all over the Asia-Pacific region. Many died here from mistreatment, malnutrition and disease, just as they did throughout all of the Japanese camps. In June 1942, 100 Argylls including three officers, Major Jack Hyslop, Captain Tam Slessor and Captain Ernest Gordon, were amongst a party of 600 who left for Siam in Thailand. They were transported in hot and insanitary closed rail trucks with many men suffering from dysentery. When they arrived, they found no camp and were forced to build it themselves. 

Forced labour was common across Japanese POW camps since the prisoners were seen as expendable labour for the Japanese war effort. The most famous project that POWs were forced to work on was the Burma-Thailand railway, also known as the ‘Death Railway’. The Japanese needed to move their troops and materials to Burma in preparation for their invasion of India and a railroad was the safest option for the Japanese. It was opened in October 1943 after only one year of construction and covered 1,250 miles, costing the lives of over 12,000 prisoners of war and 90,000 local labourers. More than 100 camps were set up along the route of the railway so that sections could be built simultaneously. The conditions of these camps were terrible with little food and medical supplies resulting in a high mortality rate. The main causes of death during the construction of the railway were maltreatment, starvation, overwork, and disease. 

940 men served in the 2^nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders stationed in Malaya and Singapore. Of this, 244 were killed in action and the remainder were taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese. A further 192 Argylls and 33 Royal Marines died in captivity whilst working on the infamous Burma Railway. Some Argylls managed to escape by boat to Sumatra and Ceylon and few managed to evade capture until the end of the war. Although numbers differ by source, The Glasgow Herald reported that only 230 Argylls from the 2^nd Battalion returned home to Scotland.  

Upon return home after the Japanese surrender in August 1945, many of the surviving men reported that they felt no one could comprehend what they had been through as a POW in a Japanese camp halfway across the world. The defeat in Singapore seemed for many to be shameful. The survivors came home to a country that wanted to move on from the war that, for them, had ended in May. Thousands of soldiers alongside the 2^nd Battalion endured horrific treatment in Japanese POW camps for many years during the war and it is important that we do not forget or overlook their experiences. The war did not end in May 1945 for these soldiers or for the local populations in Southeast Asia. From May to August, soldiers were still fighting to return home and many still lost their lives. It is important that we remember them.  

To further remember the men of the 2^nd Battalion, as well as the many others who fought against the Japanese forces, there will be an VJ Day event at Stirling Castle on Tuesday 26^th August. This event is free, and you can claim your tickets, as well as find out more about the event here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cwgc-vj-day-80-commemoration-tickets-1481038057699 

There is also a previous Winter Talk the museum hosted if you would like to learn more about the 2nd Battalion and Singapore: https://argylls.co.uk/the-argylls-and-the-disaster-of-singapore-1942/

Written by Caitlin Stewart, Digital Content Volunteer