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Chapter 4

THE RIVER KRIAN

On 8 December the Japanese Army had landed at Singora and Kota Bharu on the Malayan Peninsula. The invasion force, successful in their landing and surprise attack, immediately crossed the frontier and assaulted the British possession of Malaya. The brigades, which set up the route to the whole of the Malayan coastline, on their way South pushed aside the resistance of the British Army’s defence-position at Jitra, north of Alor Star, and towards the end of December reached the line of the River Perak. On 1 January Ipoh caved-in and our Army closed-in on the line to the north of Kampar.

Our bridging unit used Malayan Railways after a surprise infantry attack and pursuit and got into Sungei Patani on 2 January. The airfield was bombed, the enemy destroyed his railway-lines with mines: it became pretty dangerous. On 4 January the unit was ordered to the Krian River railway bridge and told to prepare temporary bridge-girders. The bridge was 100 km from Sungei Patani going South and while the girders were being put up the retreating enemy’s time-fused charges blew up three trusses, a 40-metre gap. At the same time the road downstream of the bridge was also damaged so a temporary bridge had to be put up.

During their retreat the British Army held us up by destroying the highway over bridges regardless of size. Our infantry drove on in pursuit and to the bridges which enemy field engineers had collapsed repairs had to be made. The advance continued and on both the Perak and the Krian rivers the demand was for installing temporary bridges quickly. All of us gunzoku gave demonstrations of our skills and pressed on with the work, everyone in high spirits, having been accorded such an opportunity of taking an active part in the Japanese Army’s invasion of Singapore.

The bridges covered about 200 metres in total extent and their construction-framework comprised three 40-metre-span trusses. In addition, two 40-metre-span trusses had also fallen down in mid-river together with their bridge-piers. In re-installing the fallen trusses there was no margin to spare in the time available and so we had to make wooden temporary bridges downstream. The river-bed was over ten-metres deep, covered with mud, and because it was near to an estuary the ebb-and-flow of the tide affected water levels. After technical engineering tests we pushed in stout timbers about 20 metres long to make bridge-piers, and made wooden girders 4 metres long to fit one span, and lowered the railtrack surface as much as possible, work which proved inadequate, so we had to work to a gradient below normal percentages to secure the track.

On 6 January the pile-driving job started. All the unit’s working companies in turn were apportioned to it, with 2 and 3 Labour Companies laying and securing the roadbed and then laying the railtrack, 4 Company assembling materials together with a Materials Company formed specially from 1 Labour Company.

Since the job was below surface pile-driving meant that we had to erect a piling frame. It was a painful job, and because it took time to commandeer boats for pontoons it was 9 January before piling got out to mid-river. In the assembling of materials the business of buying and fashioning stout timbers was difficult and in the end, to get the right coverage, we had to log rubber-trees in a plantation. Later on, stockists of timber girders and metal fittings were sent promptly from Thailand. The rails to be used were shunted into a sidings near Nibontebal station.