| Original caption: “Two women sit on the street among rubble and debris, wailing and crying, showing their grief for the small child whose dead body lies nearby in front of a damaged rickshaw after a Japanese air attack.” Original caption: “Singapore fell, and the British lost thousands of troops, a strategic bastion. But this Malayan mother has lost her child. Beside a battered jinrikisha, she wails her grief; the naked body of her baby lies before her amid the ruins of the city. A Jap[anese] bomb fragment struck the child dead in one of the last raids before the surrender, and the camera recorded one of the most tragic scenes of the Far Eastern conflict.” The Associated Press reported that 4 air raids occurred by mid-morning on February 3, 1942. Commonwealth and Japanese artillery exchanged fire. These women, probably a mother and grandmother, mourn the death of their child in the bombings near Jinrikisha Station. A rescue worker stands helplessly nearby. Photographer Clifford Bottomley (1904 – 1980) was an Australian Government war correspondent. He escaped from Singapore on 1 of the last ships to get out and brought out this photo and others. During his time as a war photographer Bottomley covered the Pacific extensively. His work included the landing of US General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines, and the Malayan and New Guinea campaigns, covering events from the frontline. It was during this time that he took the thousands of images now held by the Australian War Memorial. On his return to Australia, Bottomley continued working for the Department of information and later the Australian News and Information Bureau. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1499.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.72 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5300 x 3350 |
| Photographer | Clifford Bottomley |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 3, 1942 |
| Location | Tanjong, Pagar |
| City | Singapore |
| State or Province | Straits Settlements |
| Country | Singapore |
| Archive | Australian War Memorial |
| Record Number | 011529/22 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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