SCOTLAND FEPOW TRUST · HISTORY & EDUCATION
Crossing of the Johore Causeway
In the early hours of 31 January 1942, the last British and Commonwealth troops left mainland Malaya behind them. At the rear, holding the road open to the very end, were the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders — marched across to the sound of their pipes.
1924
CAUSEWAY OPENED
~1 km
LENGTH ACROSS THE STRAIT
31 Jan
LAST TROOPS CROSS, 1942
15 days
UNTIL SINGAPORE FELL
The Last Withdrawal
By the end of January 1942, after seven weeks of almost continuous fighting and retreat down the length of the Malayan peninsula, the defenders of Malaya had run out of room. With Japanese forces pressing through Johore, the order was given to abandon the mainland and fall back on Singapore Island.
The only fixed link between the two was the Johore Causeway — a stone-and-earth embankment a little over a kilometre long, carrying a road, a railway and the water pipeline on which much of Singapore depended. Through the night of 30–31 January, tens of thousands of men, along with guns, trucks and the wounded, streamed across it in a carefully timed withdrawal.
The task of holding the northern end until everyone else was over fell to the 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Badly reduced by the fighting at Slim River and elsewhere, the battalion formed the final rearguard. When the last of the other units had passed through, the Argylls marched across themselves, led by their surviving pipers — an act of defiance and pride that became one of the most remembered moments of the campaign.
Shortly after 8 o'clock that morning, Royal Engineers detonated charges and blew a gap in the Causeway. The breach slowed the Japanese, but not for long: at low tide the water in the gap was shallow, and the Strait of Johore itself was narrow. Singapore — the so-called fortress — was now under siege.
Scottish Regiments at the Causeway
Two Scottish battalions were among the last to leave the mainland before the siege of Singapore began.
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
The 2nd Battalion held the final bridgehead and were the last formed unit to cross, piped over by their surviving pipers. Once on the island, the much-reduced battalion was rebuilt with Royal Marine survivors of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse — the famous “Plymouth Argylls”.
Gordon Highlanders
The 2nd Battalion, part of Singapore's pre-war garrison, had been sent up into Johore to help hold the line. They withdrew across the Causeway with the rest of the force and went on to fight in the defence of Singapore Island.
Key Dates
1919 – 1924
The Johore Causeway is built to link Singapore with the Malayan mainland by road and rail, and to carry fresh water south from Johore.
MID-JANUARY 1942
Japanese forces break through in north-west Johore after heavy fighting around Muar and Bakri. The defence of the mainland begins to collapse.
27 JANUARY 1942
Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival orders a general withdrawal from the mainland to Singapore Island.
NIGHT OF 30 – 31 JANUARY 1942
The main body of British, Indian and Australian troops crosses the Causeway under cover of darkness, covered by an outer and inner bridgehead.
31 JANUARY 1942 — MORNING
The 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the final rearguard, march across to the sound of the pipes. Soon afterwards the Causeway is blown, cutting the link with the mainland.
8 – 9 FEBRUARY 1942
Japanese troops cross the Strait of Johore and land on the north-west coast of Singapore, followed by attacks in the Kranji and Causeway sector.
15 FEBRUARY 1942
Singapore surrenders. Tens of thousands of Allied servicemen, among them many Scots, become prisoners of the Japanese.
Why the Causeway Mattered
• It was the only fixed link between the mainland and Singapore Island.
• It carried the road, the railway and the water pipeline on which Singapore depended.
• Blowing it slowed the Japanese — but at low tide the gap was shallow.
• From 31 January Singapore was under siege. It fell just fifteen days later.
At a Glance
The Causeway opened in 1924 and runs about a kilometre across the Strait of Johore. The last troops crossed on 31 January 1942 — and just fifteen days later, Singapore surrendered.
The Pipers of the Causeway
At about 7:30 on the morning of 31 January 1942, as the 2nd Argylls marched off the mainland as the final rearguard, two of the battalion’s surviving pipers played them across — Piper James McLean and Piper Charles “Boy” Stuart. The tunes were “A Hundred Pipers” and the regimental quick march, “Hielan’ Laddie”. Once the last men were over, the Causeway was blown behind them.
Piper James McLean
Born in Rutherglen in 1915, James McLean enlisted in the Argylls in January 1934. Taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore, he was later shipped to Japan aboard the hell ships, reaching Moji in January 1945, and was put to work in the Mitsui coal mines at Omuta (Fukuoka 17B camp) until he was liberated in September 1945. He died in 1984 and was buried in an unmarked grave; a headstone has since been placed through the efforts of his granddaughter, Serena Gear.
Piper Charles “Boy” Stuart
Born in Calcutta in November 1923, Charles Stuart was just eighteen when he piped the battalion across the Causeway. After the surrender he was sent to Thailand, worked on the Mergui Road and was liberated on 30 August 1945. He stayed with the Argylls after the war, serving in Germany, Korea and Hong Kong, and died at Erskine Hospital in December 1990.
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The Battles of Malaya | Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders | Gordon Highlanders | Life as a FEPOW