Bukit Kepong Incident
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| Bukit Kepong Incident | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Malayan Emergency | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Combatants | |||||||
| Malayan Races Liberation Army or Malayan Communist Party | Malayan Police | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Muhammad Indera | Sgt Jamil Mohd Shah | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200 | 25 | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| about 40 dead | 23 dead including non-combatants | ||||||
Bukit Kepong Incident was a historic armed encounter which took place on the February 23, 1950 between the police and the Malayan Communists during pre-independence Malaya. This conflict took place in an area surrounding the Bukit Kepong police station in Bukit Kepong. The wooden station was located on the river banks of the Muar River, about 59km from Muar town, Johor.
The incident started just before dawn with the Communists launching a guerilla assault on the police station. It ended tragically in a bloody massacre with the aggressors killing almost all of the police officers stationed there. When they began the siege, the attackers strongly believed that they would be able to defeat the policemen and gained control of the police station within a short span of time. This is due to several factors in their favour: 1. Arms and numerical superiority 2. Relative isolation of the station. The battle began at about 4.15 am.
According to eye-witness accounts, there were about 200 communists attacking and they were led by Muhammad Indera, a Malay Communist. Despite the odds, the policemen led by Allahyarham (late) Sgt Jamil Mohd Shah, refused to surrender, although numerous calls by the communists for them to lay down arms were made. Several officers were killed as the shooting continues and two wives of the defending officers took up arms when they discovered that their husbands fell in battle. [1]
Desperate and alarmed at the defenders’ tenacity, the Communists captured one of the officers’ wives and threatened her at gunpoint to urge the policemen to surrender. The defenders replied that they would never surrender and continued fighting. Another wife of the officers and her daughter were also forced to do the same. Their refusal then resulted in their execution.
In the final hours of the fierce battle, the Communists set fire onto the officers’ barracks and station. Two women and their children were burnt to death in the married quarters. At that point only 3 policemen plus a village guard were still alive. They rushed out from the burning station, unable to withstand the heat. They then assaulted the Communists position, killing at least 3 of them.
Only about five hours after the first shot was fired did the communists manage to break their defences and set the place ablaze. They then retreated into the jungle, leaving a trail of destruction and bloodshed.
14 policemen, 4 village guards, 3 auxiliary policemen, wife of Abu Bakar Daud (one of the surviving policemen) and three of their children were killed in the incident. The total number of deaths is 25. Those who survived the bloody encounter are 4 policemen and 9 family members including their wives and children.
[edit] Reinforcements from Nearby Villages
During the attack reinforcement was sent from Kampung Tui as the battle reverbrated throughout several of the nearby villages. A band of villagers led by the village chief Ali Mustafa from Kampung Tui was escorted by 13 AP/HG (Auxiliary Police/Home Guard). They were ambushed by the Communists enroute about half a kilometre away from the station. They were outarmed by the Communists who were using automatic guns as opposed to rifles and shotguns equipped by the village group. Several of the village guards were wounded and killed. Although stopped halfway, their presence relieved some pressure of the Bukit Kepong defenders and forced a general Communist retreat.
Due to the lopsided situation, Ali Mustafa ordered his guards to retreat while the rest were asked to defend the perimeter around Bukit Kepong town. The Communists eventually retreated after setting fires onto the village office and robbing a few stores.
At the same time, another village guard group came from Kampung Durian Chondong using sampan heading towards Bukit Kepong to render aid. On the way, they were also ambushed by the Communists. Only half of the 7 villagers in the group survived to continue on to Lenga. They arrived there at 10am and that was when the first news of the attack on Bukit Kepong polica station was communicated. [2]
[edit] Aftermath
When the village guards entered the village, they were able to observe the carnage resulting from the brutal attack. The village chief took command of the outpost until relieved by a police team from Muar. The battle at Bukit Kepong is considered to be tragic defeat although it strengthened the Government and people’s resolve to fight the Communist insurgency. A small force defending against overwhelming odds gave the war against Communist insurgency a massive boost in terms of morale and honour. Some drew comparisons between the Bukit Kepong incident and the Alamo, where the Bukit Kepong policemen similar to the Texans came under overwhelming odds and fought to the last man.
- Names of the Survivors:
- Othman Yusoff (deceased);
- Abu Bakar Daud (deceased);
- Ahmad Khalid (deceased);
- Haji Yusoff Rono (78 years old in year 2000) (Passed Away on April 14th, 2005)
