LEST WE FORGET : CPOSM ABD KADIR BIN SAID

CPOSM (R) Abd Kadir bin Said

• Started serving with the Malay Navy in early 1940.
• Served on the HMS Kudat during World War II.
• On December 30, 1941, HMS Kudat was attacked by the Japanese military in the Strait of Malacca.
• ABSM Abd Kadir continued to fight single-handedly, using a Lewis Gun to shoot toward Japanese fighter jets.
• For his bravery, ABSM Abd Kadir was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) in 1947 by the British Government.
• He was the first Malay to receive that medal.
• CPOSM (R) Abdul Kadir Bin Said took his last breath on September 19, 1986, in Singapore.

HMS Kudat was a vessel requisitioned from the Straits Steamship Company by the British Royal Navy for service during World War II. In January 1942, the auxiliary ship was bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft while stationed in Klang Harbour, Malaya.

ROYAL NAVY SHIPS CASUALTIES IN MALAYAN WATERS DURING WW2

During the frantic 1942 Malayan campaign and the subsequent evacuation of Singapore, the British Royal Navy and its local Malayan units suffered severe losses to Japanese air and naval forces: 

• HMS Kelana : a motor launch vessel attached to the local fleet, bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Enday area, Pahang on 8 December1941. 
• HMS Prince of Wale & HMS Repulse : Sunk by the Japanese land-based torpedo bombers on 10 December 1941 off Kuantan, Pahang. 
• HMS Lipis: an Armed Merchant Cruiser ambushed and severely damaged / sunk by Japanese forces early in the campaign on 13 December 1941. 
• HMS Pelandok: the training facility was heavily bombed by Japanese aircraft in December 1941 and entirely destroyed by January 1942. 
• HMS Thanet: This WWI-era destroyer was sunk by Japanese gunfire on 27 January 1942 during the fierce Battle off Endau, while attempting to disrupt enemy troop landings off the eastern coast of Malaya. 
• HMS Laburnum: on 11 February 1942, HMS Laburnum was heavily damaged by enemy fire and subsequently scuttled four days later to prevent it from falling into Japanese hands. 
• HMS Dragonfly and HMS Grasshopper: were ruthlessly hunted down, bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft on 14 February 1942. 
• HMS Scorpion: An insect-class gunboat heavily engaged by Japanese surface warships (the light cruiser Yura and destroyers) and blown apart while fleeing Singapore. 
• HMS Surveyor & HMS Kampar: Auxiliary vessels serving the Royal Navy Malay Section that were targeted and sunk by Japanese forces in January 1942. 
• HMS Matahari & HMS Larut: Auxiliary ships bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft around 13 January 1942 off Sabang Island as they withdrew from Malaya. 
• HMS Dragonfly & HMS Grasshopper: Both river gunboats were struck by Japanese aircraft bombs and sunk on 14 February 1942 while carrying evacuees away from Singapore.
• HMS Kelana: A motor launch vessel sunk by Japanese air strikes on 16 January 1942. 
• HMS Pelandok & HMS Laburnum: Auxiliary naval training installations and ships based in Singapore that were destroyed or severely crippled by heavy air raids in early February 1942. 
• HMS Stratagem : a S-class submarine depth-charged and sunk by a Japanese destroyer on 22 November 1944 off the coast of Malacca, Southwestern Malaya. 
• HMS Stonehenge: an S-class submarine that went missing and was presumed lost in March 1944 while conducting patrols between the Nicobar Island and the Malacca Straits. 

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

27 July 2026: 12.45 a.m