The pill-boxes (kubu pertahanan) are still around especially along roads in Penang and the East-West highway near Pulau Banding. I took a look inside one in Kota Bharu - it is really small inside, claustrophobic too. Sometimes I wonder whether we should build these pill boxes instead of the regular homes since WWIII is inevitable. The recent Japanese quake & tsunami should make us think.
Back to WWII. From the stories told about these pill-boxes in Kelantan, the British filled these pill-boxes with Indian soldiers who were also chained so that they could not run away. These chained Indian soldiers did all the firing at the Japanese soldiers when they advanced on land and they died in the pill-boxes in Pantai Sabak while defending Kelantan. They ate whatever supplies they had and they peed and lived in their own cesspool. Nothing is written about these Indians who died in the pill-boxes. I don't have their names but I think we should all be thankful that they fought to defend our country. Only the people who chained them must answer why they resorted to such actions.
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| Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim |
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| Pill-box at a T-junction in Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim, Bayan Baru, Penang |
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| Pill-box in the open-air display at WWII Memorial in Kota Bharu, Kelantan |
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