King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,003
Hi Guys,
The Fall of Singapore was the single biggest defeat in British military history...
The reason and causes of this tragedy were many and varied...and there is plenty of blame to go round from top to bottom and all points in between.
It’s true General Percival was a particularly uninspiring leader and a fair proportion of blame can be attached to him. However, Churchill, great man though he undoubtedly was, can also carry more than his fair share of blame for this debacle...
He consistently underestimated the fighting and leadership skills of the Japanese and until the actual attack thought he could outbluff them. Sending “Force Z”...HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse to Singapore was an error of the highest order. The RAF aircraft available to Malaya Command were seriously understrength...even with Australian and New Zealand Squadrons attached. And the planes themselves were often obsolete and flying deathtraps for their unfortunate crews. Certainly no match for the nimble and deadly Jap Zeros.
After the sinking of the two British Capitol ships and the abandonment of forward airfields in central and northern Malaya the British and Empire forces were consistently on the defensive or “retiring to prepared defenses” i.e. retreating. The Japs continuously outflanked them...in many cases outfought them and generally out-soldiered them in no uncertain manner.
Many of these British...Indian and Australian units were relatively fresh conscripts and some had never even fired their rifles!!! Many of their officers were too conventional in their military tactics and totally confused and disoriented by fighting in a jungle environment. Too many of the best officers and NCO’s had been “siphoned-off” to the Middle East leaving a very “mixed bag” in their place.
And as for the Colonial Government in Singapore...it was inept in the extreme and only, far too late in the day, realized the extreme danger they were in and the harsh and drastic measures that needed to be taken to put Malaya and Singapore on a proper “War Footing”.
As for the Japs themselves, they were battle-hardened veterans from the war in China with years of experience in the harsh realities of total war and how to exploit their skills and their enemy’s inexperience, over cautiousness and lack of aggression.
As I wrote earlier much of the blame for the Fall of Malaya and Singapore can be rightly laid at the feet of Churchill and his “War Cabinet”...Inadequately trained troops, no matter how many of them, cannot stand up to battle-hardened professionals. Look at the Falklands War of just twenty-five years ago for proof of that.
A serious lack of fast, well-armed modern fighter aircraft (such as the Spitfire) allowed the Japanese to gain almost total control of the air very rapidly. Allied to this a dearth of anti aircraft guns provided no protection for either the civil population or the British and Empire troops. Add into the mix no tanks of any kind only a relatively few armoured cars and the ubiquitous “bren gun carriers” and the situation darkens by the minute. Plus, after the sinking of “Repulse” and “Prince of Wales” the enemy controlled the sea lanes and the ability to operate and land their forces anywhere they chose up and down the East and West Coasts of Malaya.
It’s easy to see now how a bad situation became steadily worse and all the pieces were in place for a first-class, military disaster.
A couple of other points worth mentioning...although General Arthur Percival was not a personality or a general any of us might follow willingly into the jaws of hell...he was personally a brave man. His military record and decorations during the Great War attest to that. Which is more than can be said of one of his foremost commanders...the Australian General, Gordon Bennett. After the Fall of Singapore, Percival stayed with his men and shared many of their hardships and deprivations as “guests of the Emperor Hirohito”.
Bennett however, against orders and at the last moment, handed over command of his troops to a deputy and, to save his own skin, exited “stage left” and, eventually, escaped with a few of his immediate staff back to Australia.
As a long time expat living and working in the Far East I have always been fascinated by the Fall of Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941 and the Fall of Malaya and Singapore in February 1942. I’ve even been privileged to meet and talk with a few men and women who experienced these disasters...and the following terrible three years as prisoners of the Japanese. It’s a humbling experience...one of these days I would like to portray in miniature just some of the dramatic moments in these two campaigns.
Until then...best wishes and...happy collecting!
Andy C.
The Fall of Singapore was the single biggest defeat in British military history...
The reason and causes of this tragedy were many and varied...and there is plenty of blame to go round from top to bottom and all points in between.
It’s true General Percival was a particularly uninspiring leader and a fair proportion of blame can be attached to him. However, Churchill, great man though he undoubtedly was, can also carry more than his fair share of blame for this debacle...
He consistently underestimated the fighting and leadership skills of the Japanese and until the actual attack thought he could outbluff them. Sending “Force Z”...HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse to Singapore was an error of the highest order. The RAF aircraft available to Malaya Command were seriously understrength...even with Australian and New Zealand Squadrons attached. And the planes themselves were often obsolete and flying deathtraps for their unfortunate crews. Certainly no match for the nimble and deadly Jap Zeros.
After the sinking of the two British Capitol ships and the abandonment of forward airfields in central and northern Malaya the British and Empire forces were consistently on the defensive or “retiring to prepared defenses” i.e. retreating. The Japs continuously outflanked them...in many cases outfought them and generally out-soldiered them in no uncertain manner.
Many of these British...Indian and Australian units were relatively fresh conscripts and some had never even fired their rifles!!! Many of their officers were too conventional in their military tactics and totally confused and disoriented by fighting in a jungle environment. Too many of the best officers and NCO’s had been “siphoned-off” to the Middle East leaving a very “mixed bag” in their place.
And as for the Colonial Government in Singapore...it was inept in the extreme and only, far too late in the day, realized the extreme danger they were in and the harsh and drastic measures that needed to be taken to put Malaya and Singapore on a proper “War Footing”.
As for the Japs themselves, they were battle-hardened veterans from the war in China with years of experience in the harsh realities of total war and how to exploit their skills and their enemy’s inexperience, over cautiousness and lack of aggression.
As I wrote earlier much of the blame for the Fall of Malaya and Singapore can be rightly laid at the feet of Churchill and his “War Cabinet”...Inadequately trained troops, no matter how many of them, cannot stand up to battle-hardened professionals. Look at the Falklands War of just twenty-five years ago for proof of that.
A serious lack of fast, well-armed modern fighter aircraft (such as the Spitfire) allowed the Japanese to gain almost total control of the air very rapidly. Allied to this a dearth of anti aircraft guns provided no protection for either the civil population or the British and Empire troops. Add into the mix no tanks of any kind only a relatively few armoured cars and the ubiquitous “bren gun carriers” and the situation darkens by the minute. Plus, after the sinking of “Repulse” and “Prince of Wales” the enemy controlled the sea lanes and the ability to operate and land their forces anywhere they chose up and down the East and West Coasts of Malaya.
It’s easy to see now how a bad situation became steadily worse and all the pieces were in place for a first-class, military disaster.
A couple of other points worth mentioning...although General Arthur Percival was not a personality or a general any of us might follow willingly into the jaws of hell...he was personally a brave man. His military record and decorations during the Great War attest to that. Which is more than can be said of one of his foremost commanders...the Australian General, Gordon Bennett. After the Fall of Singapore, Percival stayed with his men and shared many of their hardships and deprivations as “guests of the Emperor Hirohito”.
Bennett however, against orders and at the last moment, handed over command of his troops to a deputy and, to save his own skin, exited “stage left” and, eventually, escaped with a few of his immediate staff back to Australia.
As a long time expat living and working in the Far East I have always been fascinated by the Fall of Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941 and the Fall of Malaya and Singapore in February 1942. I’ve even been privileged to meet and talk with a few men and women who experienced these disasters...and the following terrible three years as prisoners of the Japanese. It’s a humbling experience...one of these days I would like to portray in miniature just some of the dramatic moments in these two campaigns.
Until then...best wishes and...happy collecting!
Andy C.
