The Veteran Issue 5

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.
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