Louis Mountbatten

Q1. Who was Lord Louis Mountbatten?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Mountbatten

Admiral Louis Mountbatten (1900-1979)
(From Wikipedia: Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC (1900–1979) was a British admiral, Viceroy of India and statesman.) Photo originally from the UK Government.

He served in the British navy in the Mediterranean, Burma, and India. Along with his father, they were the only father and son to hold the highest post in the British admiralty. Sir Winston Churchill liked him but Mountbatten made one remark against Churchill and that severed their ties.


Q2. What role did he play in this region?
He was the last British Viceroy in India before India's independence. He helped India to unite while setting Pakistan free. He worked with Indian leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and also Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

At the end of World War II, Mountbatten returned to Singapore as the Supreme Commander of the South East Asia Command to receive the surrender of the Japanese at City Hall on 12 September 1945. Even though he attended to Singapore's freedom, he was serving the interest of Britain. The British returned to reoccupy Singapore after the war - for another 18 years!


Prince Edward had visited Singapore before he ascended to the British throne. In Prince Edward's entourage was Louis Mountbatten. [What year?]

Admiral Louis Mountbatten addressing the Japanese surrender in Singapore in 1945. He is at the mike and in white. Photo from Wikipedia Mountbatten_address%2C_Singapore_1945.jpg
Photo was originally from the Imperial War Museum, Britain.

Q3. What happened to him?
He survived a bomb blast (while on his boat with his family) but he died before reaching shore.

Q4. Who planned his murder?
The IRA.

Q5. Did he have a family?
Yes, he had a wife, Edwina (Lady Mountbatten), and 2 daughters, Patricia and Pamela.

Q6. Where was he from?
Battenberg, Hesse in Germany. He was related to the British monarchs.

The Japanese war in Malaya and Singapore 1941-1945

The Japanese war means different things to different people. I was born 13 years after the war ended so I wouldn't feel much but reading helps me to understand. I understand it was an ugly war. Which war was pretty?

I watched TV documentaries of the Japanese capture and officers. I haven't read any Japanese accounts because I can't read Japanese text (my late mother lived by her Japanese books instead of her English books. My mother never had Malay books).

From my research on the early Malay doctors, only three Malay doctors served in the Japanese Military Administration. They were Dr Mustapha bin Osman, Dr Che Lah bin Md Joonos and Dr Haji Abbas bin Haji Alias. There maybe more doctors who served the Japanese.

When I visited the Penang Museum in Georgetown, my husband said I must come and take a look at the Japanese documents and I did. I have never seen those Japanese documents before. They were travel documents, the same ones that Dr Abdul Wahab wrote about in his book which was published in 1987. 

When I was there a team of Japanese tourists had arrived and I could hear them conversed in Japanese which I didn't understand. I wanted to ask them about the war but decided not to as I had no first hand experience of that otherwise painful war.

I once had a Japanese grandmother in Penang when I was growing up. She was old and almost bent double. She spoke Malay. [Please refer to my post on Ami Aziz.]

These photos below are from the Penang Museum display at the Japanese section and also from the Governors section.

The Japanese surrendered at City Hall in Singapore on 12 September 1945. Another signing ceremony was held at the Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur on 15 September 1945. Thus, there are 2 dates recorded for the Japanese surrender in Asia.