Singapore Volunteer Corps

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The Singapore Volunteer Corps ( volunteer corps Singapore ) and Singapore Special Constabulary ( special Gendarmerie Singapore ) called, was one in 1854 as Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps established (Voluntary Rifle Corps Singapore) colonial militia . In the course of its history, the structure of the corps has been subjected to various reorganizations. With the independence of Singapore it became the national People's Defense Force from which the Singapore Armed Forces emerged .

history

The idea of ​​a voluntary association to support the local gendarmerie had existed in the British Straits Settlements, and thus Singapore, since 1846. The Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps was then set up in May 1854 in response to riot-like unrest triggered by Chinese secret societies the entire island as well as the high violence potential of the societies, which led to many deaths, had the gendarmerie ask the colonial military for support. This used seamen, sepoys , special police made up of Europeans and even armed criminals. At the end of the unrest on May 17th, there were around 300 houses burned down and over 400 dead.

For fear of further riots and since troops were to be withdrawn after the outbreak of the Crimean War , the colonial administration decided to set up a militia made up of Europeans and British officers to ensure internal stability. The militia was originally financed from private funds, which meant that its members had to provide their own weapons. Financial support quickly followed, however, from the Governor of Singapore, William John Butterworth . With the formal establishment date of July 8, 1854, the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps was one of the first colonial militias in the British Empire . The Volunteer Ordinance , passed in 1857 by the British colonial government of India , placed the Corps under Indian control.

In December 1887, the Volunteer Rifles were disbanded as a shortage of volunteers had meant that it was only just under half a company in strength. The Singapore Volunteer Artillery, set up two months later in February 1888, was in the tradition of the Volunteer Corps and, when it arrived in 1889, was the first colonial unit in the British Empire to be equipped with the Maxim machine gun. These were financed by private donations, the most important of which was made by the Sultan of Johor .

By 1901, the Volunteer Artillery grew rapidly and consisted of many non-artillery parts, which made it necessary to rename it to Singapore Volunteer Corps . It insisted on artillery, infantry, engineers and rifle detachments. During the First World War , it participated in the suppression of a Sepoy uprising in Singapore in 1915 , in which 11 militiamen were killed. In 1922, the Corps of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force was subordinated and formed the 1st and 2nd Battalion there.

In the early stages of the Pacific War , the Corps took part in the unsuccessful defense of Singapore and was disbanded with the surrender of the Commonwealth troops. After the end of the war, a new organization took place in 1949 before the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force was finally dissolved in 1954 . The Singapore Volunteer Corps formed the core of the newly emerging national armed forces of the state of Singapore in the years that followed. As part of Malaysia, it formally participated in the suppression of communist uprisings and during the Konfrontasi it protected important infrastructure and industrial plants in southern Johors from acts of sabotage.

People's Defense Force

After the separation of Singapore from Malaysia and the country's independence in 1965 took place in the same year the adoption of the People's Defense Force Act which the Singapore Volunteer Corps in People's Defense Force renamed. The Defense Force became a regular part of the Singapore Armed Forces and formed the battalions in which conscripts were trained. Many of their former officers became part of the regular army. Many former militiamen played an important role as active reservists in the training of voluntary military service, which was possible from 1967 onwards. The introduction of compulsory military service, however, made the former volunteer corps increasingly less important. The last battalion to emerge from this was disbanded in March 1984.

literature

  • Martin Choo (Ed.): Singapore Armed Forces. Public Affairs Department, Ministry of Defense, Singapore 1981, OCLC 8552277 . Pp. 34-39.
  • Walter Makepeace, Gilbert E. Brooke and Roland St. John Braddell (Eds.): One Hundred Years of Singapore ( Oxford in Asia Hardback Reprints. Volume 2). Oxford University Press, Singapore 1991, ISBN 0-19-588571-6 , OCLC 830929150 . P. 590.
  • R. Menon: Volunteers' efforts are recognized in their own right. In: The Straits Times , March 14, 1992, OCLC 16929344 .
  • M. Akbur Peer: Policing Singapore in the 19th & 20th Centuries. Singapore Police Force, Singapore 2002, ISBN 978-981-04-7024-1 . Pp. 20-21.
  • TM Winsley: A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps 1854-1937, being also an historical outline of volunteering in Malaya. Singapore Government Printing Office, Singapore 1938, OCLC 30021586 .

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