A team of Society investigators visited the Guang Xiao Shan cemetery and managed locate some interesting tombs, specifically one with holes on it which somewhat resembles bullet / projectile holes. After doing some post-recee research on terminal ballistics, I have little doubt that the holes we see on the tombstones being bullet holes left over from the WW2 era.

According to Wisely’s interpretion of the tombstone’s writings, it was erected pre-WW2, and considering the position of it at Woodlands, it is highly possible that a battle could had taken place there. The location of the cemetery in the vicinity of the Bukit Timah area, and also nearby the M’sian railway, the Japanese would have probably fought the way down the railway, crossing the Guang Xiao Shan. Hence it was likely the hill top was used as a battle field during the Japanese invasion in 1942.

Depending on the caliber of the round, bullets can leave behind holes with different sizes of its crater and penetrated cavity. For e.g. higher caliber narrow-head round will leave behind less crater but deeper penetrated cavity compared to a low caliber flat-head round. The size of the cavities are also subjective to the surface material it hits on. However, we could not find any fragments of bullets / cartridge cases there. It is not a surprise though, as there is still human traffic at its vicinity.

Even if they are not bullet holes, we are certain that the characteristics of these holes are consistent with those caused by high velocity projectiles. Supposingly if these are really bullet holes from WW2, we have a few possibilities, considering that the holes are only found at the lower parts of the tombstones, i.e. below waist:

(1) Japanese attacked uphill, and part of the tactical movement would include firing at a proning position, hence explaining the bullets that are low-lying.

(2) Japanese rifle-style execution, meaning firing the rifle aimed at the head of the prisoner who is at a kneeling position. The angle of the rifle would have been somewhat pointing at a downwards 45 degree angle, hence the bullet that penetrated the prisoners’ heads will then ricochet on the low lying tombstones.

(3) The tombstones are mostly below waist-level… For that simple reason, bullets flying above them would land elsewhere…
Analysis photos:

Led by: Uranium
Team: Sunkiss, Wisely (Cultural Expert)

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