Japan & the 1915 Singapore Mutiny

[Andy H]

During the 1915 Singapore mutiny, Japan sent 'forces' to the colony to help the British quell this mutiny.

Can anyone tell me what forces the Japanese sent and any further info on this mutiny?

Kind Regards

Andy H

[Peter H]

Andy,
The 'protected' cruisers Tsushima and Otowa landed marines to assist in the quelling of the mutiny.Probably less than a hundred Japanese marines/sailors came ashore.Japanese casualties were nil.

All I can find on these cruisers:

http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyJapanese.htm

23.TSUSHIMA class, NIITAKA, TSUSHIMA (strait), 2 ships - 3,400t, 20 knots, 6-15.2cm, 320 crew, 1904

24. OTOWA - 3,000t, 21 knots, 2-15.2cm/6-12cm, 310 crew, 1904

OTOWA (mountain or river?), 1st August 1917, Japan, near Cape Daio or Taio, southern Honshu in Pacific Ocean (c 34-50’N, 137-00E) - ran aground and wrecked. Presumed serving as protected cruiser.

[Andy H]

Thanks Moulded for the Japanese involement.

I've found out that most of the Indian 5th Light Infantry Regiment mutineed, and some 100 mutineers were killed or executed as a result.

It seems strange that unless this mutiny was a lot larger than what I've found, that the resident British/Colonial forces couldn't have dealt with it without calling on Japanese help.

Andy H

[Kurt_Steiner]

According to the MacMillan Dictionary of the First World War (by Pope and Wheal), the 5th Light Infatry regiment of the Indian Army was the garrison of the naval fortress. So, they were the only troops present there. In fact, according to that source, "the rebels were prevented from entering Singapore itself by local police". Until British troops were sent with trackers from Borneo the last rebels resisted in the jungles. From my point of view, the British resident forces were so minimal that they needed foreign help (even Russia and France helped in the affair). And, according to this source, only 47 rebels were executed and 64 sentenced for life.

[David C. Clarke]

Why did they mutiny?

Best Regards, David

[Kurt_Steiner]

I think it was due to the attempts made by German and Turkish propaganda agencies to incite rebelion among Muslim troops in the British army along the war. However, I find difficult to explain the absence of further rebellions after this event, as it happened in 1915 and the war still went on for many years. Perhaps the efforts were not as succesful as one may think.

My best regards,
Jose

[Kaan Caglar]

Yes, Germans wanted to use Turkish Sultans caliphate power in order to incite rebellions in the Allied armies.
Kaan

[Kurt_Steiner]

Yes, but they weren't really successfull, were they?

Jose

[Kaan Caglar]

Yes, but they weren't really successfull, were they?

Jose

Nope,they werent successful at all. Even Arabs rebelled against Ottoman Empire..
Regards
Kaan

[Kurt_Steiner]

That's true! The experiment misfired in the end. Those guys weren't lucky! By the way, wonderful the Arab rebellion. Perhaps it couldn't win the war by itself, but helped in the end.

[Kurt_Steiner]

Curious that the British got stuck at Gallipolli and then used the back door with the arabs, isn't it? From my point of view, no matter how much the German Empire helped them, the Ottoman army was doomed from the very beggining of the war. Nevertheless, Gallipolli proved that the Ottoman Empire knew how to fight!

[Kaan Caglar]

Actually Ottoman Empire lost the battle in Palestine against English. It was poorly planned and it failed. English were beating the Turks very well on the southern front but for some reasons they just used Arabs...
Turkish Soldier knew how to protect their own soil,they showed it in 1919-1923 Independence War,of course we should mention Allied plan doomed to fail in Gallipoli.
Anyway I think we just slipped off-topic
Looking forward to continue.
Kaan

[Jeremy Chan]

The correct term for this event is the Sepoy Mutiny, as the perpatrators were Sepoys (Indian Muslim troops).
When Britain had declared war on Turkey in 1914, many Muslims turned against the British, as Turkey is a Muslim country. The Sultan of Turkey was regarded as the leader of the world's Muslims. Hence, when Britain declared war on Turkey, the Muslims in Singapore (then a British colony) felt obliged to rebel against the British. A prominent and wealthy Indian Muslim businessman, Kassim Mansur, invited sepoys to his home, and talked them into rising against the British. The Indian Muslim Imam also addressed sepoys, telling them it was their religious duty to rise against the British. The German PoWs held in Singapore also had a share in stirring up the sepoys. They told their sepoy guards that Britain was losing the war and they were figthing for a lost cause. In late 1915, the spoys heard they were to ship off to Europe into action. However, they heard rumours that they might be sent into action against Turkish Muslim troops in southern Europe or Palestine.
The sepoys attacked their British superiors and European businesses, killing about 100. The mutiny was soon crushed and about 36 seopys were executed in public.

[Lord Gort]

Germans used Jihad in first world war, Britian responded with Arab nationalism.



regards,

[Kurt_Steiner]

I only know of a Sepoy Mutiny, the one that took place in 1857. All the references about the events who took place in Singapore that I have found refer to it as Singapore Mutiny. Are you soure of that info? Very interesting info about that Muslim bussinessman. I haven't heard of him before.

Best regards.