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 Singapore 1942

On the evening of 10 February, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, cabled Wavell, saying:

I think you ought to realise the way we view the situation in Singapore. It was reported to Cabinet by the C.I.G.S. [Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke] that Percival has over 100,000 [sic] men, of whom 33,000 are British and 17,000 Australian. It is doubtful whether the Japanese have as many in the whole Malay Peninsula... In these circumstances the defenders must greatly outnumber Japanese forces who have crossed the straits, and in a well-contested battle they should destroy them. There must at this stage be no thought of saving the troops or sparing the population. The battle must be fought to the bitter end at all costs. The 18th Division has a chance to make its name in history. Commanders and senior officers should die with their troops. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. I rely on you to show no mercy to weakness in any form. With the Russians fighting as they are and the Americans so stubborn at Luzon, the whole reputation of our country and our race is involved. It is expected that every unit will be brought into close contact with the enemy and fight it out .

Wavell subsequently told Percival that the ground forces were to fight on to the end, and that there should not be a general surrender in Singapore.

On the 11th Feb with supplies running low the Japanese Commander Yamashita decided to bluff and called the Allied Commander Percival to "Give up this meaningless and desperate resistance"  . By this stage the fighting strength of the 22nd Brigade was down to few hundred men and the Japanese had captured the Bukit Timah area including most of the Allied ammunition and fuel and with it the control over the water supply.

 On the 13th of Feb with the Allies losing ground  , senior officers advised Percival to surrender in the interest of minimising civilian casualties , Percival refused but unsuccessfully sought authority from Wavell.

That same day, military police executed a convicted British traitor, Captain Patrick Heenan, who had been an Air Liaison Officer with the British Indian Army.

 

 Japanese military intelligence had recruited Heenan before the war, and he had used a radio to assist them in targeting Allied airfields in northern Malaya. He had been arrested on 10 December and court-martialled in January. Heenan was shot at Keppel Harbour, on the south side of Singapore, his body was thrown into the sea.

The following day, the remaining Allied units fought on; civilian casualties mounted as one million people crowded into the area still held by the Allies, bombing and artillery fire increased. Civilian authorities began to fear that the water supply would give out.

 

By the morning of 15 February, the Japanese had broken through the last line of defence; the Allies were running out of food and ammunition. The anti-aircraft guns had also run out of ammunition and were unable to repel any further Japanese air attacks which threatened to cause heavy casualties in the city centre. Looting and desertion by Allied troops further added to the chaos in this area.^[31]

At 09:30, Percival held a conference at Fort Canning with his senior commanders. He proposed two options: either launch an immediate counter-attack to regain the reservoirs and the military food depots in the Bukit Timah region and drive the enemy's artillery off its commanding heights outside the town; or capitulate. All present agreed that no counterattack was possible. Percival opted for surrender.

A deputation was selected to go to the Japanese headquarters. It consisted of a senior staff officer, the colonial secretary and an interpreter. They set off in a motor car bearing a Union Jack and a white flag of truce toward the enemy lines to discuss a cessation of hostilities.^[2] They returned with orders that Percival himself proceed with staff officers to the Ford Motor Factory, where Yamashita would lay down the terms of surrender. A further requirement was that the Japanese Rising Sun Flag be hoisted over the tallest building in Singapore, as soon as possible to maximise the psychological impact of the official surrender. Percival formally surrendered shortly after 17:15.

Lt General Yamashita seated center thumps the table to emhasise his terms of unconditional surrender , Lt General Percival sits between his officers , his hands clenched to his mouth.

 

The terms of the surrender included:

• The unconditional surrender of all military forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) in Singapore.
• Hostilities to cease at 20:30 that evening.
• All troops to remain in position until further orders.
• All weapons, military equipment, ships, planes and secret documents to be handed over intact.
• To prevent looting, etc., during the temporary withdrawal of all armed forces in Singapore, a force of 1,000 British armed men to take over until relieved by the Japanese.

Earlier that day Percival had issued orders to destroy before 16:00, all secret and technical equipment, ciphers, codes, secret documents and heavy guns. Yamashita accepted his assurance that no ships or planes remained in Singapore. According to Tokyo's Domei News Agency Yamashita also accepted full responsibility for the lives of British and Australian troops, as well as British civilians remaining in Singapore.

 
Lt,General Gordon Bennett

Photo from :- British Empire & Commonwealth Forces in the Far East-SE Asia 1937-1946

Bennett, Australian Army Commander caused controversy when he handed command of the 8th Division to a brigadier and—along with some of his staff officers—commandeered a small boat.They eventually made their way back to Australia. He was saved court marshal purely on the bases it would have caused even more embarrassment to the Army.