Malay States Volunteer Rifles (MSVR)

Ernest Kenneison, Bandmaster, Federetaed Malay States Volunteer Force (FMSVF)

Violet, Wife of Ernest (left) and Ernest Kenneison (right) cir. 1930s

Ernest Kenneison joined the army on 10 August 1895 and was enlisted in the Leicestershire Regiment, to become a Sergeant Drummer. The battalion was sent to the Boer War and was involved in the siege of Ladysmith.

Ernest left the army when the regiment was in India – Fort St. George, Madras in 1905 where he joined the Indian Police and then to the Railways. He also served with the Kolar Goldfield Rifles and the Mahratta Railway Rifles.

1911, he went to Malaya and promptly joined the Malay States Volunteer Rifles( MSVR).He was mentioned in dispatches for actions in Singapore during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1915.

From 1917, he began to develop the Band and Drums of the MSVR. By end Dec 1920, the MSVR became the MSVF ( Malay States Volunteer Force) and the band was disbanded in 1925 due to fall in number of European drummers, not before being inspected by the Prince of Wales.

In 1924, Ernest got to work in the band of the Malay Volunteer Infantry ( MVI, a non European force which became part of the FMSVF). The MVI was given 11 drums in 1936 which were painted by Hugh Le Fleming. Besides building up the volunteer’s band and replacing drum skins at home, Ernest worked in the cement works and progressed to running his own cement business in 1921 – the Kenneison Brothers.

On 3 June 1933, Ernest was awarded the MBE. When the Malay Regiment was formed in 1933, Ernest gave them a gift of 6 silver bugles and every year, he would judge a regimental music contest at Port Dickson.

During the Malayan Campaign, Ernest and his wife evacuated Singapore by HMS Giang Bee on 12 February 1942. They were to leave by Devonshire on 5 Feb 1942, but owing to chaos at the waterfront and the streets, they missed the departure.

Ernest had left his business at Batu Caves since December 1941on the wake of the invasion, to Singapore. However, he believed that Singapore would hold and that he has to ensure his family were safely evacuated before he left.

HMS Giang Bee was blocked by a Japanese Destroyer 160m south of Singapore near Banka Island and was shelled after the occupants was lifted away by limited lifeboats.

Ernest was in the waters, hanging on to his granddaughter, Betty who was on a lifeboat. Unfortunately, his strength eventually sapped and he slipped away into the waters.

Extracted from “Playing for Malaya - A Eurasian Family in the Pacific War” by Rebecca Kenneison