General Service Medal (Palestine, Malaya), 1939/45 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939/45 (4611763 PTE. M.T.SCOTT. MANCH.R.) Edge knocks to the G.S.M.
4611763 M.T.SCOTT. Michael Thomas Scott, 2nd Bn. Manchester Regiment. WIA and taken PoW in Singapore by the Japanese.
Michael Scott had a hard war. Born on 10 December 1917, he was employed as a lorry driver, when he enlisted in the army with no. 46711763 on 16 January 1935 and was posted to the 2nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment as a Private on 9 August. After an initial period of training he was posted to the 1st Battalion on 14 October, departing for Egypt on the same day.
On 14 January 1938 Scott and the Battalion moved to Palestine where they remained until September, taking part in a number of actions against armed bands of Arabs. For his services in Palestine he was awarded the General Service Medal 1918-1962 with Palestine clasp – this was only issued to him in April 1948.
In September 1948 the Manchesters embarked at Haifa for Singapore but, due to the Munich crisis, they were disembarked in Egypt, before re-embarking for Singapore which is where the outbreak of WWII found them . Scott had been appointed Bandsman on 14 June 1939. Being a machine gun battalion, his regiment was deployed to provide beach defence in Singapore and was allotted a stretch of about twelve miles to hold on the east coast of the island. These defences consisted of concrete machine gun emplacements, about 600 yards apart, each post equipped with two MM guns. In 1940 an additional sector of beach on the island Blankang Mati was given to the battalion, which was manned by one company.
In order to equip these posts the battalion were given 104-MM guns, Motor Transport was in short supply and, once deployed to the beach defences, it was impossible to move the battalion without considerable outside assistance.
From the outbreak of the war until December 1941 the battalion worked incessantly on strengthening their position with wire, anti-boat obstacles and the construction of supporting posts. On the night of 8 December 1941 the Japanese landed at the northern end of the Malayan peninsula and advanced southwards in great strength. After fighting a number of engagements in which the enemy enjoyed every advantage, the Allied troops fell back on Singapore Island.
On 8 February 1942 the Japanese crossed the Straits and landed on the north-west side of the island, with more of their forces crossing over near the causeway on the following day. By the evening of the 9th at least three divisions were on the island, followed by two more in the next few days.
By the 11th February the Japanese, after three days of desperate fighting, had succeeded in reaching the road which connected the causeway to Singapore town itself. Orders were given for the withdrawal of British forces.
Scott and his Battalion were still manning the coastal defences, but they were now ordered to form a perimeter around their headquarters while “B” Company, which had been temporarily detached to the naval base on the north of the island, was attached to “James force, a special force which was formed in the Changi area. The battalion found itself in a new position covering the eastern approaches to Singapore. The enemy’s severest thrusts were made against the Western and Northern parts of the British line but by 14 February, considerable Japanese forces had worked their way round to the Eastern sector where the battalion was posted. Most companies were engaged all day and managed to hold their positions and to deal with the enemy infiltration, despite being woefully outnumbered.
The enemy had, however, made a serious breach in another part of the line and the positions the battalion was now ordered to occupy ran through the eastern suburbs of the city. While it was moving to them, the surrender was arranged and the battalion was ordered to assemble at the “Pineapple Factory”. On the following morning the officers and men received their first orders from their captors.
Private Michael Scott was posted as “Missing” on 15 February 1942 and it was not until 28th September that the Red Cross were able to confirm that he was being held as a Prisoner of War in Japanese hands, interned in a Malaya camp.
Initially he was held with the rest of his battalion in Changi but on 13th March 1942 he was moved to a camp under the control of Captain Edgar, R.E., remaining there until 10 August 1942, when he was most likely moved back to Changi.
Despite the increasing Japanese demands for more labour to work on the Burmese railway, Scott appears to have stayed in the Changi area, being transferred to the camp under the control of Captain McGee, Ghurkas, from 27 July 1944 until 8 August 1945.
The war over, he started the return journey to England on 8 October 1945 to a period of well-earned rest and respite. His repatriated PoW medical, conducted on 21 February 1946, noted that he had suffered “Shrapnel wounds, ulcers, malnutrition (normal 10st 6 lbs., lowest at 8st 2lbs) and beri-beri”. For his service in the war Scott received the 1939/45 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal and the War Medal 1939/45 – all of which were issued to him in October 1948.
Transferring to the Reserve on 16 January 1947, he discharge certificate described his service as “Conduct exemplary. A hard worker, interested, keen and willing. He is honest and reliable and well recommended for employment." Life out of uniform was not to his liking however, as, on 21 February 1947 he re-enlisted as a Bandsman to complete 12 years service and was posted to the Rhine on 28 July 1948. On 18 November he relinquished the rank of bandsman and became a Private once more.
Scott remained in Germany until 1955 and on 1 March he was transferred home to the Military Provost Staff Corps. Ten days later he was moved to the Military Corrective Training Centre at Colchester. He soon found himself back in the Far East in May that year – as part of the Changi barracks – life had come full circle for him and it must have been with mixed emotions that he reported for duty there.
For his time in Malaya and Singapore, Acting Sergeant Scott was awarded the Malaya clasp to add to his General Service Medal. He was finally discharged from the army on 25 July 1959 at the age of 44.
Michael Thomas Scott passed away on 19 August 1981.
