Fall of Singapore

FALL OF SINGAPORE
An Introduction
After the horrendous defeat down the Malay Peninsula, the allied forces finally crossed into
the Fortress of Singapore and prepared for the worst.
When Lt. Gen Arthur E Percival was planning for the defence, he had two options. The first
option was to place the 18th British Infantry Division which was the strongest division at the
western sector of the island. The strait was much narrower there so there might be a
possibility of the Japanese landing there. The second option was to put the 18th division at
the western sector of the island which was right next to the naval base. The naval base by
now was pretty much useless as the combat ready ships had either been sunk or sent to
Java to fight with the Unified Allied Command ABDACOM. Percival chose the second option
as he thought the Japanese would want to capture the naval base but there was a trick.
Yamashita the commander of the Japanese troops fooled Percival by driving trucks with the
headlights on to the place where Percival thought the Japanese would land and driving back
without headlights on. Percival ultimately fell for it and it was a huge mistake. Singapore
wouldn’t have fallen that quick if he didn't make that mistake.
As Percival placed the 18th Division on the east sector of the island, the 8th Australian
Division was covering the western sector. The 18th division was pretty much understrength
at this time because they had been doing rearguard actions for the retreating troops and the
soldiers were low on morale.
Here is a map of where the main force of the Japanese landed:
As you can see from above, most of the Japanese troops were concentrated on the western
sector of the island were planning to attack the understrength Australians.
Where the battle begins..

As the Japanese were preparing to attack, they launched a huge artillery bombardment for
over 15 HOURS. Yamashita’s gun fired almost 88,000 shells. Percival currently was still
really naive. He still thought that the Japanese were going to attack the eastern sector. As
the other generals around him were persuading him to move the 18th Division to the western
sector, he still refused because he thought the artillery bombardment was a distraction for
him to move the 18th division.
At 8:30pm, the Australians spotted Japanese landing crafts approaching. They manned their
positions and tough fighting ensued. The first few waves were initially repelled by the
Aussies but more landing crafts started to appear and they were overwhelmed. The Aussies
were so separated until the fact that they couldn't see other friendly units. This opened a gap
and the Japanese started flanking the Australian positions. In the end the Australians had to
retreat. By the next day all the Japanese troops were ashore. As the Aussies were
overwhelmed, Percival placed his only reserve, the 12th Indian Brigade to help the 22nd
Australian Brigade. Both of the brigades later fell to the Line that was built a few weeks ago
called the Jurong Line. This line did not last long as the communications were horrendous.
The cables were all cut and the line was soon lost. Over in the north, the 27th Australian
Division fought the Japanese landing crafts coming ashore ferociously but ended up failing
like the other brigades because they were outnumbered. Percival took 1 battalion from each
of the strongest British brigades and formed TOMFORCE. TOMFORCE was to fill gaps
between the outnumbered brigades.
A map of the battle.
After that, the Japanese pushed for Tengah Airfield and it was lost quickly. Consequently,
Percival launched a counter attack with 3 battalions but that ended up failing because of
heavy fire. Up in the north the Imperial Guards Division made itself felt and attacked. The
27th Aussie Brigade, 8th Indian Brigade and the 28th Indian Brigade was defending and the
27th Australian Brigade fell back unannounced and it left the left flank of both the Indian
Divisions horribly exposed. Then, both the Indian Brigades fell back later. Percival was
forced to make another brigade sized force after that called MASSYFORCE. On the Western
side of the island there was good news. The 22nd Australian Division repelled two counter
attacks by the Japanese.
Soon, the good news disappeared. The Japanese captured all 3 reservoirs and completely
cut off the water supply to Singapore City. Later, the Japanese 18th Division engaged the 1st
Malaya Brigade. It was slow progress but steady progress until they reached the high point
of Opium Hill. For two days, the Japanese tried to capture the hill but they couldn’t. One of
the platoons led by Lt. Adnan Bin Saidi, fought fiercely and the defence carried out with
bayonets despite being out of ammo. Adnan was found badly wounded and was bayoneted
to death. Shortly after that, the Japanese arrived to Alexandra Hospital where the Japanese
rampaged and murdered doctors, nurses as well as wounded soldiers. The surviving ones
were sent to a warehouse and half of them were killed. The following day, the japanese
came back and murdered the rest of them. This was to show Percival that a ruthless force
was coming.
A map of the battle.
The surrender
By this time, looting and desertion was common. The following day all ships in the harbour
were sent to Java. By 24 hours the water supply would have collapsed. Percival held a
meeting and all the generals agreed to a surrender.
A flag party was sent out and Percival soon met Yamashita for a surrender. This was one of
Percival’s last battles as he wanted one thousand men to be armed to control law and order
but was refused by Yamashita. He later agreed to a surrender and Singapore was
surrendered.
This was one of the worst British military defeats of all time. Never have a General
surrendered this many troops before. Winston Churchill later said “I ought to have known”.

Fall of Singapore

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Fall of Singapore

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Fall of Singapore

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

FALL OF SINGAPORE

Here is a map of where the main force of the Japanese landed:

Where the battle begins..

A map of the battle.

A map of the battle.

You might also like