046 - The Fall of Singapore

Much as British commanders had done in New Britain and the rest of the Malayan Peninsula, RAF planes had been withdrawn to the Dutch East Indies for future battles. This left a small Air Force of 10 Hawker Hurricanes to protect all of Singapore against a Japanese invasion fleet of 84 planes. Still, the Hawker Hurricane pilots pressed on, destroying 8 Japanese planes while only losing a single plane.

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Even though the Hawker Hurricanes were vastly better than the Whirraways, British Command once again withdrew the planes to the Dutch East Indies with other RAF inventory. Although Churchill wanted his men to fight the good fight, Commanders had already prepared for defeat.

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As the last of the planes were removed, the Royal Engineers demolished their last bridge in British Malaya: The Singapore Causeway linking Singapore to the rest of British Malaya. Still, the Japanese Army unloaded tanks on the shores of north central Singapore.
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Unopposed, these forces quickly broke through the sparsely populated British lines and invaded the city itself. The “rough and rugged” Brigadier General Bennett and his men were responsible for guarding North Central Singapore, but they had already retreated to Australia. In their place was a division of Japanese tanks steaming south towards Singapore City.

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Singapore had been a main headquarters for both the British Army and Royal Air Force. That made it a prime target for the Japanese because of its strategic location and one of the best airfields throughout the Southwest Pacific.

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However, as Percival and his men stood firm against the Japanese Army who were crossing the marshy swamps of northwest Singapore, they just were no match for battle-hardened Japanese.

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Without RAF planes to defend Singapore, the Japanese could fly an observation balloon over infantry and gun emplacements. After five days of fighting, Yamashita sent his planes over Singapore one last time. Now, they bombed the city with leaflets, demanding Percival’s surrender. On February 15^th, Percival agreed to meet with Yamashita to discuss terms of surrender.