5th Battalion, 11th Sikhs, in action against the Japanese at Yong Peng, 1941

Pencil by Gunner Leo Rawlings (1918-1984), 137th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, 1941 (c).

A Sikh soldier is poised to bayonet a Japanese soldier whilst two other Sikhs pursue a fleeing Japanese infantryman during the Battle for Malaya. The Japanese had invaded on 8 December 1941 and despite brave resistance from Indian, British and Australian troops they quickly forced Commonwealth forces to retreat from the Malay Peninsula to Singapore Island. Nearly 50,000 Commonwealth troops were captured or killed during the battle. In his book 'And the Dawn Came Up Like Thunder', Rawlings writes about his experiences as a Far Eastern Prisoner of War.