The Veteran Issue 5

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Mark was posted to Rawmarsh Police Station, Rotherham in 1989 and later transferred to Barnsley Police Station in 1996 where he saw out his service and retired in 2015 after 26 years as a front line officer. Flying the Flag in Spain After retiring to Spain, Mark was approached by a Spanish teacher friend and she asked if he was interested in giving some presentations in English to Spanish students about 'The British Bobby'. Mark approached his previous employer, South Yorkshire Police for some assistance regarding obsolete headgear unfortunately they could not help. Not giving up Mark purchased a Custodian helmet, a flat cap and a female officers hat to use in his presentation. Mark explained "The normal age groups were from about 8-14 years and the kids were shown various photos to interact with. They liked the 'panda car' and 'jam sandwich' motorway patrol car. They were then asked to think of a black and white animal to describe the black and white vintage police car. The favourite answer was cow followed by penguin. We finally arrive at panda. The Spanish have problems in differentiating and then pronouncing correctly 'ham' and 'jam'. We discussed this and afterwards they soon realised that the traffic car resembles a 'jam' sandwich' in profile. The highlight of the presentation for them was to have their photos taken wearing the hats and to bash their friends with my truncheon'. Mark with his potential new recruits
The Fall Of Singapore On February 15, 1942, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival surrendered unconditionally to the Japanese forces led by Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita. The fall of Singapore was one of the worst military disasters in modern history and heralded the demise of the British Empire. It came at the end of a 55 day long campaign in which Japanese forces swept down the Malayan peninsula, brushing aside or massacring the opposing British, Indian and Australian forces. The Battle of Singapore, also known as the Fall of Singapore, was fought in the South East Asian threatre of the Pacific War when the Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East". Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in South–East Asia. It was the key to British interwar defence planning for the region. The fighting in Singapore lasted from 8 to 15 February 1942. The Japanese victory was decisive. It resulted in the Japanese capture of Singapore and the largest British surrender in history. General Tomoyuki Yamashita had led a force of about 30,000 down the Malayan Peninsula in the two months leading up to the battle. The British had considered the jungle terrain impassable and had prepared few defences. Yet the Japanese were experts in jungle warfare, and raced down the peninsula. Arthur Percival led the 85,000 British troops, although many units were understrength, and most units lacked experience. Despite this, they enjoyed a significant numerical and positional advantage on the island of Singapore. In the lead up to the battle the British destroyed the causeway into the city, forcing the Japanese to embark on a naval crossing. The island was so important that Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered Percival to fight bitterly to the last man. Some of the British, Australian, Indian and Chinese forces captured by Japanese forces during the fall of Singapore The Japanese had a difficult task: the British outnumbered them three to one. But superior Japanese leadership and many failings on the part of the British allowed the Japanese to establish a beachhead starting on 8 February. Percival had grossly misallocated troops on the island, and the Japanese attacked the weakest part of the lines. Percival also failed to reinforce the attack in a timely fashion, allowing the Japanese to establish a beachhead. Communication and leadership failures beset the British. The poor pre-battle planning left few entrenchments or reserves near the beachhead. 27
Page 1 and 2: December 2021 - February 2022 Issue
Page 3 and 4: John Pratt Alicante Branch Chairman
Page 5 and 6: T November-February 2022 he Chairma
Page 7 and 8: Awards and decorations of the Unite
Page 9 and 10: District awards 2022 Mr Jack Kemp t
Page 11 and 12: Tchangeover in District Chairmen. h
Page 13 and 14: The custom of receiving ‘royal’
Page 15 and 16: Bob During his time in the Irish Gu
Page 17 and 18: Alicante Branch Poppy Appeal 2021 I
Page 19 and 20: Veterans' Gateway RBL is proud to b
Page 21 and 22: Branch News Welcome to 2022 On the
Page 23 and 24: Alicante Branch Royal British Legio
Page 25: 'We Served' The force was formed in
Page 29 and 30: 'We Served' A Personal Account Part
Page 31 and 32: Forecast of Events Alicante Branch
Page 33 and 34: Branch Christmas Lunch It seems age
Page 35 and 36: Burns 2022 Branch Member Joan Molli
Page 37 and 38: Barry the builder was going through
Page 39: The Alicante Branch of the Royal Br

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