After the British Had Surrendered Singapore to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, Lt. Gen. Yamashita, commander of the victorious 25th Army, ordered that male Chinese had to 'register' at various centres. The purpose was to discover 'anti-Japanese elements among the Chinese population', in particular Chinese guerrilla-volunteers who had fought courageously when the Japanese invaded Singapore. Thousands of Chinese were picked out at random by the Kempeitai, the dreaded Japanese secret police. The victims were taken to remote places, mostly beaches and shot.

A Bristish War Crimes Court in Singapore in 1947 sentenced several senior Japanese army officers to death or to long prison terms for their parts in the massacre, also known as 'Sook Ching' Massacre ('Sook Ching' meaning 'purification by purge' Chinese) The Japanese had admitted that 5,000 were executed while there were claims the number was about 50,000. The actual number is unknown.