- SGH War Memorial
The SGH War Memorial is located within the grounds of the
Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in Outram. This memorial marked the tragedy and the burial site of a group of medical students from the King Edward VII College of Medicine, who were killed during theSecond World War inSingapore . In 2005, the memorial, along with eight other historic sites of SGH, was incorporated as part of the Outram Campus Heritage Trail that allow visitors to explore the important historical landmarks that are closely linked with the history of medical education in Singapore. [ Singapore General Hospital, "Outram Campus Heritage Trail Guide". ]History
Etymology
Built in 1882, the Singapore General Hospital used to occupy the site of a Sepoy Camp ("Sepoy" is from the
Hindi "Sipahi" for "India n troops") of theBritish East India Company . As a result, the hospital grounds is known to the Chinese to this day as "sipai poh", meaning "Sepoy plain" in the Hokkien dialect. [Savage, "Sepoy Lines", pp. 346-347.] Located nearby was the Outram Prison (now demolished), which was the site of the public executions of the1915 Singapore Mutiny .College of Medicine
The
College of Medicine Building , fomerly known asKing Edward VII College of Medicine, was opened on15 February 1926 by SirLaurence Nunns Guillemard , then Governor of theStraits Settlements and Patron of the College."College of Medicine Building" - Information obtained from on-site heritage plaque ] The College had been the seat of medical education in Singapore.The building was designed by Major P.H. Keys, who also designed the Fullerton Building in 1928. The architectural design of the building is reminiscent of classical Greek monuments such as the
Acropolis inAthens . There are 12 columns of the RomanDoric order ,bas relief of a Roman eagle and sculptures depicting the teaching and practice of medicine.King Edward VII Hall
Built in 1957, King Edward Hall comprises a main block and two four-storey buildings serving as a hostel for medical students. Many leading doctors and dentists from Singapore and
Malaysia such as Professor E. S. Monteiro, DrBenjamin Henry Sheares (2ndPresident of Singapore ), and DrMahathir bin Mohamad (4thPrime Minister of Malaysia ) have passed through the hall and forged lifelong friendship during their stay here. [cite web | url = http://www.sgh.com.sg/NR/rdonlyres/40E7E746-A682-48F1-8819-F510CA64EFD5/2741/CampusHeritageTrail.pdf | title = Outram Campus Heritage Trail | accessdate = 2007-08-30 | publisher = SGH Museum ]
Double tragedy
On the morning of That same evening, his fellow friends, about 25 students from the medical and dental faculties of the College of Medicine decided to give Yoong a proper burial within the grounds of the hospital. One of the five trenches dug out earlier for air raid purposes was converted into a grave for Yoong. As the grave was being prepared, they were spotted by Japanese gunners which began pouring a heavy barrage of shells at the defenceless students. Some quick-footed students managed to flee to safety towards the College building. However, those left behind only had time to leap into the trenches and Yoong's grave. As a result, 11 of the students were killed, three were wounded and only two managed to escape injury in the aftermath. Those who were killed instantaneously were given a burial on the morning of "In Memoriam" After the war, the British Colonial Government erected a memorial to commemorate the British soldiers and civilian war dead along College Road near the spot where the slain students were killed. The memorial consists of a painted wooden cross affixed to a pyramidal Together with the slain students, the Commonwealth military casualties were buried in a mass grave site on the hospital grounds (beneath the memorial) due to the intense shelling and lack of burial space in the last days before the fall of Singapore. [Bose, "The Civil Hospital Grave Memorial", p. 15.] On ee also * References Notes Bibliography External links * [http://www.sgh.com.sg/AboutUs/SGHMuseum/Museum_main.htm SGH Museum — Outram Campus Heritage Trail]
Wikimedia Foundation.
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*Other WWII Memorials in Singapore
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