In the midst of the First World War, on 15 February 1915, the Right Wing (Rajput) of the 5th Madras Light Infantry (Indian Army) revolted, killing more than 40 British officers, British residents and local civilians. The mutiny came to be known as the Singapore Mutiny, and locally as the Sepoy Mutiny or Indian Mutiny. But is not to be mistaken for the Indian Mutiny 1857 – 1858 also known as the Sepoy Rebellion which occurred on Indian soil.
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Sareen, in his book “Secret Documents on Singapore Mutiny 1915″, records that 12 British officers and 15 civilians were killed as a result of the mutiny. Can anyone confirm which of the numbers are true, 27 or more than 40?
I’m not sure why Sareen mentions that in all 12 British officers and 15 civilians were killed as a result of the mutiny. Did a quick count of the actual names listed in Sareen’s book and even without including the Alexandra Barracks, the number has already shot past 27.
As for the actual number, this link, http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Overseas/SingaporeMutiny.html states that 33 British military and 14 civilians were killed. But, do note the lack of citations.
Sareen did indeed mention in his book on p.16 that there were 12 British officers and 15 civilians who were killed in the event. It is not known though how he arrived at the figure. He also mentioned that the London official documents listed a total of 25 killed, of which 8 were British officers.The documentation of the hearing also provides varying numbers.
Besides Sareen, there are other varying accounts of how many died in the Singapore Indian Mutiny of 1915.
For example, the memorial tablet in remembrance of the casualties located at the Victoria Memorial Hall states the following numbers- Singapore Volunteer Corp (11) , Royal Garrison Artillery (5), Johore Military Forces (1), HMS Cadmus (1), Cadet (1).
Another account is that found in the Straits Times on 20 Feb 1915, which states the following numbers- Royal Garrison (5), Naval Forces (1), Army Services (1), Singapore Volunteer Corp (8), Malay States Volunteer Rifles (2), Johor Forces (3), civilians (14), and missing and believed to be dead (2).
It may be difficult to verify the differing accounts. Figures may have been ‘massaged’ for reasons such as maintaining political stability, chastisement from higher authorities, etc etc. One would need to look at primary documents on the the event to know.
Found article from Straits Times, dated 28 March 2000, on report to make Sepoy Mutiny for a TV series, and mentioned on some figures:
‘On Feb 15, 1915, at Alexandra Barracks, 400 Indian soldiers from the 5th Light Infantry led a bloody surprise attack against British troops and families, leaving 32 dead and 18 injured…’
This could be another example of varying accounts of victim number.
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