Selarang Barracks Incident The Selarang Barracks Incident also known as the Barrack Square Incident or the Selarang Square Squeeze , was an event during the Second World War started on 30 August 1942 . The barracks was sited in Changi , Singapore and were used by the Japanese to hold 17 , 000 Anglo - Australian prisoners - of - war ( POWs ) . After the Japanese recaptured four escaped Allied POWs , the Selarang Barracks POWs refused to sign a pledge not to escape , and were forced to crowd in the areas around the barracks square for nearly five days with little water and no sanitation . The executions of the recaptured POWs failed to break the men . The commanders however finally capitulated on 5 September when their men started to fall ill and die from dysentery . Upon signing the pledge , the men were allowed to return to the barracks buildings . History . Changi . Built in 1938 , the Selarang Barracks was part of the Changi Garrison , a heavily fortified coastal defence where most of the British forces were based during the Battle of Singapore . The Selarang Barracks housed the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders , a British Army infantry regiment which recruited its soldiers mainly from North East Scotland . The Royal Engineers and the 9th Coastal Artillery Regiment of the Royal Artillery were based in nearby Kitchener Barracks and Roberts Barracks respectively . After the British surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942 , Allied POWs were ordered by the Japanese to march to Changi for internment . As the British - built Changi Prison was already crowded with Allied POWs and civilians , the surrounding barracks including Selarang Barracks were used by the Japanese as a holding area for Australian and British POWs . On 30 August 1942 , as a pre - emptive measure , the newly arrived Japanese Commander General Shimpei Fukuye wanted the wholly British and Australian POWs interned at Selarang Barracks in Changi to sign a " No Escape Pledge " after the recapture of four escaped prisoners from Changi Prison earlier . The four escapees were Australian Corporal Rodney Breavington and Private Victor Gale , and English soldiers , Private Harold Waters and Private Eric Fletcher . The pledge reads : " I the undersigned , hereby solemnly swear on my honour that I will not , under any circumstances , attempt to escape . " With three exceptions , everyone refused to sign . This was unacceptable to the prisoners as they saw it as their duty to escape if they could . Under the Geneva Convention , POWs had the right to attempt to escape and they were not supposed to be punished if they were recaptured . However , at that time , Japan was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention . General Fukuye was furious at the mass display of insubordination and the following day , he ordered all prisoners except the three who had agreed to sign , to congregate at the parade square in Selarang Barracks . What ensued was to become known as the " Selarang Barracks Incident " . The Selarang Barracks , originally built to accommodate 800 men , consisted of a parade ground surrounded on three sides by three - storey buildings . A number of smaller houses for officers and married couples were spread out in the spacious grounds . Nearly 17 , 000 men crammed into a parade ground of about 128 by 210 metres and in the surrounding areas . An Australian POW , George Aspinall documented the situation : The Murders . When there were no signs of the POWs backing down on the third day , General Fukuye ordered the Commander of the British and Australian troops in Changi , Lt - Gen E . B . Holmes , and his deputy , Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Galleghan , to attend the killings of the four recent escapees — Breavington , Gale , Waters and Fletcher . One of the Australians , Breavington , pleaded to no avail that he was solely responsible for the escape attempt and should be the only one executed . Their murders were carried out by the Indian National Army guards with rifles on 2 September . The initial volley was non - fatal , and the wounded men had to plead to be finished off . Despite the murders , the prisoners remained firm as the days ensued . Without food and little water available and coupled with latrine pits , kitchens and hospital beds crowded into an area of about a square kilometre , dysentery broke out quickly and the sick began to die . Realising that more would die needlessly , the prisoners ’ commanders decided that they and their men would sign the pledge " under duress " . On 4 September , Lt - Gen Holmes issued a written order to his men : As the Japanese weren ' t familiar with British names , the POWs signed using false or meaningless names . One of the most common signatures among the Australians was Ned Kelly , a famous Australian folk hero . After the signing was completed , the Japanese allowed the prisoners back to their former areas on 5 September , thus ending the incident . During the Singapore War Crimes Trial in 1946 , General Fukuye was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad at the spot where the four POWs had been shot three years earlier . The four shot POWs were later honoured and buried at the Kranji War Memorial after the war . Selarang Barracks today . After the war , the Selarang Barracks became the home for most of the Australian Army units of ANZUK , a tripartite force formed by Australia , New Zealand and the United Kingdom to defend the Asia - Pacific region , until its disbandment in 1974 . Today , Selarang Barracks is the headquarters for the 9th Division of the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ) , and access to the camp is restricted . Remembrance . In order to honour the deeds and inspirational stories that unfolded in Changi during the war , the Changi Chapel and Museum was built in 1988 as a dedication to all those who lived and died in Singapore during the years of World War II . It also serves as an important educational institution and resource centre with documentation of significant events of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore . The " Selarang Barracks Incident " , " Double Tenth Incident " and other similar stories that were mentioned by the survivors of Changi Prison are retold on the storyboard displays for posterity . There are also showcases containing tools , materials and personal belongings of POWs and other artefacts related or used during World War II . The items displayed in the showcases were donated from organizations , POWs and their families , as well as other visitors . On 19 April 1996 , Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his wife , Nicky , made a personal pilgrimage to Changi Prison , to see the cell his father was kept in as a prisoner - of - war during World War II . His father , Sir Alexander Downer , was interned in Selarang Barracks from 1942 to 1943 and then in Changi Prison from 1943 to 1944 . Downer also visited the Changi Memorial Chapel , where Sir Alexander had worshipped during his internment , the Selarang Barracks , and the camp parade square , where 17 , 000 Allied POWs were ordered to assemble in 1942 .