Fall+of+Singapore+1942

** British soldiers surrender to the Japanese. **
 * The battle of Singapore was fought between February 7 1942 to February 15 1942. The event witnessed the empire of Japan invading the major British military base in South East Asia.
 * The fall of Singapore according to historian C.M. Turnbull can be labelled as the '//greatest disaster in British Military History'// and this statement was agreed upon by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. On 15 February 1942, British General Arthur Percival surrendered 138,000 British and Commonwealth forces under his command. This decision was made when it was apparent that the low water and food supplies was not enough to sustain the army. Senior officers had also advised Percivel to surrender in the interest of minimising civilian casualities and they could no longer prolong the battle with limited ammunition.                  Disease as well as the 35,000 attacking Japanese army who were also running short of supplies became a threat.
 * British defeat also occured due to the complete lack of defensive fortifications.The British had confidently predicted that the Japanese would attack from the sea. Hence, not a single trench or strand of barbwire had been prepared and huge defensive guns used were pointing out to sea instead of on the land. This gave the Japanese army an opportunity to begin their assualt with speed and ferocity on what had been considered an //'impregnable fortress'.//
 * Britain had a strong naval presence at Singapore. However, reapeated attacks from Japanese torpedo bombers caused two major warships to sink thus it had devastating impact on British morale.
 * The fall of Singapore was a humiliation for the British Government. The Japanese had been portrayed as useless soldiers only capable of fighting the militray inferior Chinese. However the events at Singapore proved this assessment wrong. Winston Churchill stated //'The honour of the British Empire and the British Army is at stake'.//