WWII: 75th Anniversary Japanese Surrender Tours
There are 2 WWII Surrender tours to choose from:
830am — 4 hour Half Day Tour, including some transport
9am — 2 hour Morning Walk
We will run these tours for up to 10 people in two sub-groups of up to five each. So do gather a group of up to 5 (or 10) people together and join us for one of these two fascinating tours.
Private Group Walking Tour
4 Hours with transport or 2 Hours Morning Walk
830am or 9am Morning Tour
Choose from a 4 hour tour or 2 hour walk
Morning Walk $300 for 1-5pax or $450 for 6-10pax Half Day Tour $450 for 1-5pax or $800 for 6-10pax
The Surrender of Singapore – September 1945
So often we associate these words with the ignominious surrender to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, but the surrender by the Japanese on 12 September 1945 is an equally important date in the story of WWII in Singapore.
This year we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII so it is a good time to learn how it all came about and reflect on the many ways it impacted Singapore.
We are running both shorter (2-hour) walking tours and longer (4-hour) walking tours combined with transport. The first will focus on the area around Beach Road and the Civic District, especially the Padang, which was also very central to the pre-invasion war effort and the early days of the Occupation.
The longer tours will first go further afield to places such as Bukit Batok, the Old Ford Factory, Turf City and the sites of the Sime Road and Adam Park POW camps, before ending with Beach Rd, the Padang and Fort Canning as per the shorter tour.
830am — Longer 4 hour tour Half Day Tour (part transported, part walking)
We will meet at Bukit Batok to see the site of the Syonan Chureito, a monument to Japanese fallen soldiers before walking a short distance to the former Ford Factory, where the February 1942 surrender to the Japanese took place and which is now a WWII museum. From there we will be transported to Turf City —the old Turf Club—where the first encounter took place between the Japanese and a British soldier (who literally parachuted in) during the “stand off” period between August 15, when the Emperor of Japan announced their country’s surrender, during the Sept 12 formal ceremony.
We will then drive to the Adam Road area to talk about the POW experiences and the last camp to be “liberated”. Next we will drive to Beach Road and the Padang (via the old Raffles College site) to follow the shorter tour itinerary on foot, ending in Fort Canning.
8:30 Meet at Bukit Batok Park
Japanese memorial
Ford Factory
Adam Park
Adam Drive
Turf City
via Evans Road to see old Raffles College
Padang & City Hall
Fort Canning
12:30 – 1pm: End of tour at Fort Canning
9am — 2 hour Morning Walking Tour
Starting in Beach Road we will briefly explore the old 1930s Army buildings there (now part of the South Beach development) and then cross to Raffles Hotel. It was often used by the Japanese during the Occupation—when it was known as Syonan Ryokan, incorporating ‘syonan’ (“Light of the South”), the Japanese name for occupied Singapore, and ‘ryokan,’ the name for a traditional Japanese inn and was the site of an infamous incident in August 1945.
We will then walk to the far side of the Padang to see various war related memorials and look back to the old City Hall, now part of the National Gallery, where the actual surrender by the Japanese Lord Mountbatten and the other Allies took place on 12 September 1945. We will visit to actual “surrender room,” ie the City Chamber and the steps on which Mountbatten made his speech.
The tour will end at Fort Canning, with its many layered military history, where those who wish to then take a tour of the Battle Box may do so (open Saturdays, not midweek)
9am meet at Marriott hotel main entrance (nearest MRT : Esplanade)
Beach Rd army buildings
Raffles Hotel
Padang & City Hall
Fort Canning
11am End of tour with optional coffee at FC Hotel (nearest MRT Fort Canning)