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archaeologist are investigating a lawn that ’s thought to cover the mass grave of the victims of a wartime carnage in Singapore , forward of the construction of a hospital extension on the site .
The clear surface area behind the independent buildings at Alexandra Hospital is thought to hold back the remains of about 200 victims killed after Japanese flock rampaged through the hospital ’s wards and operating theater of operations on Feb. 14 and 15 , 1942 . The killings were part of the Nipponese intrusion of the island , according to aSingapore political science internet site .
Archaeologists are investigating a football field behind Alexandra Hospital in Singapore that is thought to cover the mass grave of victims of a massacre in 1942.
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At that time , Alexandra Hospital was known as the British Military Hospital and run by a social unit of the British Army Medical Corps ; Singapore was then part of the British colony of Malaya , which also governed several land on the southern Malay Peninsula .
The hospital became a authorities - owned civilian adeptness after the British withdrawal from Singapore in 1971 ; and the arena that ’s thought to cover the mass grave accent will be part of a major renovation of the web site schedule for windup in 2030 .
Data from a survey of the site by ground-penetrating radar is being analysed and archaeological trenches could be dug if it reveals underground features that should be investigated further.
In visible radiation of the historic import of the infirmary chemical compound , authorities will now " conduct research and archeological assessments , as well as to document the heritage of the site ahead of its design redevelopment , " a voice for Singapore ’s National Heritage Board ( NHB ) and the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute , an educational system lam by the government , told Live Science .
Hospital massacre
The Nipponese intrusion of Singapore from the occupied Malayan Peninsula was one of the worst defeats for the British inWorld War II . Japan invaded Malaya in December 1941 , and Japanese soldiers drive British troop from the peninsula after just 70 days of fighting .
With blanket bread and butter from warplane and artillery , Nipponese violation troops thwart the Strait of Johor , which separates the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula from Singapore , on Feb. 8 , 1942 , and after a calendar week of sulphurous fight it became empty the Japanese would take the island .
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The massacre at what is now Alexandra Hospital began on Feb. 14 and concluded on the morning of Feb. 15 , only a few hour before the British forces in Singapore cede to the Japanese — the largest British surrender in history , as reported by BBC .
The infirmary was for a time on the frontline between the invading Nipponese military unit and the retreating British . Witnesses say it was clearly mark off with red crosse and that a British military officer carrying a white flag had tried to officially surrender it — rather , Japanese soldiers jab him to last with a bayonet . Some Japanese soldiers after claimed that they had been shot at from the infirmary grounds .
Onewitness was Arthur Haines , a British soldier being deal formalariaat the hospital who was spar in the massacre . accord to Haines , Japanese troops rampage through the infirmary and bayoneted or frivol away more than 200 patient role and staff in the wards and theater .
Others were taken outside and systematically killed , Haines wrote in a four - page letter of the alphabet key the butchery that was auctioned by his daughter in 2008 .
The bodies of the dead are thought to have then been inhume in a mass grave behind the hospital construction , which is now underwrite by the lawn being look into by archeologist .
Archaeological investigation
Archaeologists begin the investigation of the site in December 2020 , the spokesperson for the Singapore government agencies said .
So far , the team of six has surveyed the lawn with solid ground - interpenetrate radiolocation ( GPR ) equipment , which can reveal where the territory underneath has been disturb in the past from dig or construction .
" The survey seek to turn up and determine the extent and the nature of any anomalous undersoil features , such as honest-to-goodness building foundation and bulwark , soil cavities , backfill and service that may be attributed to past activity , " the representative said in an electronic mail .
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The team has wind up the GPR sight , and they are analyzing the findings to see if further investigations are ask . " If so , and if materials are found , they will be further assessed by the archaeological surveyors and NHB . "
agree to theStraits Times , further investigation could include digging trench at placement where the GPR equipment has shown anomalies , while leave most of the region untouched .
Archaeologist John Miksic of the National University of Singapore told the Straits Times that the study could bring to cognition of the colonial period in Singapore by unveil more about the human relationship between the British armed forces and the local society of Singapore . But " it will be difficult to assign specific archaeological discoveries to the result of the slaughter itself , though it might be possible to find a mass grave of the victims , " he said .
to begin with published on Live Science .
