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{{short description|Battle of the Malayan Campaign in World War II}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Gemas
| image = GemenchehBridge.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = [[Gemensah Bridge|Gemencheh Bridge]] in 1945.
| partof = the [[Battle of Muar]], — [[Malayan Campaign]] — [[Pacific War]] — [[World War II]]
| date = 14 January 1942
| place = [[Gemencheh|Sungei Gemencheh]], [[Negeri Sembilan]], [[British Malaya|Malaya]]
| result = Tactical = Australian tactical victory
| combatant1 = {{flag|Australia}}
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1 = [[Frederick Galleghan]]
| commander2 = [[Mukaide|Col. Mukaide]]
| units1 = [[2/30th Battalion (Australia)|2/30th Battalion]]
| units2 = [[5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|Japanese 5th Division]]
| strength1 = 1 battalion
| strength2 = 1 column
| casualties1 = 8188+ casualties total
8 killed, 80 wounded, unknown captured, unknown missing
| casualties2 = 1800 killed,000 casualtieswounded and totalmissing<ref name=Coulthard197/> <br>70 killed, 57 wounded during the initial ambush<ref>AllenWarren Warren2002, ''Singapore''p. 156, quoting the IJA 5th brigade's war diary (belonging to the Mukaide detachment){{page needed|date=November 2015}}</ref>
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Malaya}}
{{Campaignbox South-East Asian Theatre}}
}}
 
The '''Battle of Gemas'''—part of the wider [[Battle of Muar]]—took place during the Japanese [[Battle of Malaya|invasion of Malaya]] in the [[Pacific War|Pacific Campaign]] of the [[Second World War]]. The action occurred on 14 January 1942 at the [[Gemencheh]] Bridge near [[Gemas]] and saw aroundalmost 1,000800 troops of the Japanese [[5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|Japanese 5th Division]] killed, wounded or woundedmissing during a fierce ambush initiated by Australian soldiers from [[2/30th Battalion (Australia)|2/30th Battalion]], assigned to the [[27th Brigade (Australia)|27th Brigade]] of the [[8th Division (Australia)|8th Division]]. It was the second and last Allied victory of the Malayan campaign. Overwhelmingly heavy losses in the ambush shattered the morale of hundreds of Japanese soldiers.
 
==Battle==
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==Aftermath==
[[File:Kelamah River Memorial (Flagpoles and Monument) (280824) (cropped).jpg|thumb|A memorial [[obelisk]] dedicated to the fallen men in the Battle of Gemas, near the remnants of the old Gemencheh Bridge]]
The battle following the ambush, and a further action closer to Gemas during which the Australian anti-tank gunners destroyed six out of eight Japanese tanks, lasted another two days.<ref>Long 1973, pp. 140–141.</ref> The fighting ended with the Australians withdrawing through Gemas to the Fort Rose Estate. According to Coulthard-Clark, total Japanese casualties in the wider battle numbered over 1,000, while the Australians lost 81 killed, wounded or missing;<ref name=Coulthard197/> Allen Warren provides figures of 70 killed and 57 wounded in the initial engagement.<ref>Warren, ''Singapore'', {{page needed|date=November 2015}}</ref>▼
 
▲The battle following the ambush, and a further action closer to Gemas during which the Australian anti-tank gunners from the [[2/4th Anti-Tank Regiment (Australia)|2/4th Anti-Tank Regiment]] destroyed six out of eight Japanese tanks, lasted another two days.<ref>Long 1973, pp. 140–141.</ref> The fighting ended with the Australians withdrawing through Gemas to the Fort Rose Estate. According to Coulthard-Clark, total Japanese casualties in the wider battle numbered over 1,000800, while the Australians lost 81more than 88 killed, wounded or missing;<ref name=Coulthard197/> Allen Warren provides figures of 70 killed and 57 wounded in the initial engagement.<ref>Warren, ''Singapore''2002, {{page needed|date=Novemberp. 2015}}156</ref>
 
Despite the tactical victory at Gemas, as well as strong stands later at [[Battle of Muar#Siege of Bakri|Bakri]], the [[22nd Brigade (Australia)|22nd Australian Brigade’s]] ambush north of Jemaluang and the fighting withdrawal from Muar, the Japanese advance down the Malay Peninsula was only temporarily slowed.<ref>Dennis et al 2008, p. 342.</ref>
 
==Documentary==
The Battle of Gemas has remained a footnote in the broader Battle of Muar until a documentary by the same name expanded the importance of this battle.<ref>{{cite avAV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PFJe2rRXwM|title=Battle of Gemas|work=youtube.com|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2015}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>
 
<gallery>
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==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Coulthard-Clark |first=Chris |authorlink= |title=The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles |year=2001 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Sydney |isbn=1-86508-634-7 |oclc=48793439}}
*{{cite book |last=Dennis |first=Peter |title=The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History |publisher=Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand |location=Melbourne |year=2008 |edition=Second |isbn=978-0-19-551784-2|display-authors=etal}}
*{{cite book |last=Long |first=Gavin |title=The Six Years War: Australia in the 1939–45 War |publisher=Australian War Memorial |location=Canberra |year=1973 |edition= |isbn=978-0-642-99375-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Warren |first=Alan |year=2002 |title=Singapore 1942: Britain's Greatest Defeat |publisher=Hardie Grant |location=South Yarra, Victoria |isbn=9-81045-320-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Wigmore |first=Lionel |title=The Japanese Thrust |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070203/|series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1&nbsp;– Army |volume=Volume 4 |year=1957 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |location=Canberra|oclc=3134219}}
{{refend}}
 
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[[Category:Australia–Japan military relations]]
[[Category:January 1942 events]]
[[Category:Ambushes in Malaysia]]
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