Fall of Singapore

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Fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore was a major attack from the Japanese in their South-East Asia Campaign. Singapore was an island on the Malay Peninsula, led by Prime Minster, Shenton Thomas, and British army commander, Arthur Percival. The British underestimated the Japanese and thought they were poor fighters. If they were attacked, the whole population of Singapore knew the only way in was by sea, so therefore heavy artillery pointed outwards from the coast of Singapore. Everywhere there was artillery, except on the Johor Strait, where there were mangroves and swamps. However, the Japanese attacked from that exact route to initiate a land attack. Singapore was a vital part of the British peninsula and therefore, the Japanese wanted to take control. First the Japanese leader, Tomoyuki Yamashita, lead them to beat Percival’s army in the battle of Jitra in Malaya from the 11th to 12th of December, 1941. Then the Japanese advanced down the Malay Peninsula on stolen bikes. No-one was to take prisoners; they were to kill the Allied soldiers straight away or burn them with oil. By January 11th, the Japanese had hold of the capital of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. On the 8th of February, 1942, 23 000 Japanese troops attacked across Johor Strait which took the British by surprise. Quickly the Japanese defeated the British and took an uncountable number of prisoners who were sent to construct the Death Railway. On the 14th of February, the Japanese went into the Alexandra Barracks Hospital armed with weapons. They murdered anyone in their track, including the wounded and the nurses. Only five people survived that massacre until the 15th of February when the British surrender the most important city. Most of the Allied soldiers couldn’t change the results of the battle. The Japanese had traveled 550 kilometres in 55 days and won while being outnumber three
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