The Fall of Singapore

Question: Compare the experiences and perspectives of different groups affected by the fall of
Singapore, such as British and commonwealth soldiers, local civilians and Japanese forces.
How did the events unfold from their respective viewpoints?

introduction: The task was to choose a question about World War two, I chose the invasion of
Singapore which started on the 8 to the 15 of February which is when the Japanese started to
invade the coast of Singapore Throughout the invasion, there were three fazes.plaine suicide
bombing, submarine bombing then mainland Rade and in this essay it will explain why, when
and what happened.

Paragraph 1
In WW1 there were 88,000 British and commonwealth troops including Australians, Indians and
Malay soldiers. Still, when the troops were to protect Singapore 85,000 were commanded to
defend Singapore with most units lacking experience. By the end of the invasion, there were
59.000 British and commonwealth troops left, and even though there were only 23,000
Japanese soldiers they did not care about what would happen to them so they would stir the
plane into the British and commonwealth troops, ending their life on in packed and whoever was
near. The defence of Singapore could have been better conceived and conducted. Despite clear
indications that the Japanese would concentrate their attack on the island's northwest, the
British commander Lieutenant General Percival sought to defend the entire coastline leaving
him with little depth and an inadequate reserve.

Paragraph 2
After the Japanese won the invasion the Japanese began the Sook Ching purge, killing
thousands of civilians, some of the lucky ones were able to run away and find a place to hide.
The people that were not able to run or hide were taken as prisoners, and over 100,000 civilians
were found trying to flee and put in prison, 9,000 of those people were British soldiers. After the
surrender, the Japanese started hunting down any people who were of European descent man
they were either killed on sight if any resistance was shown and others were imprisoned or
enslaved. Some women were killed on sight and others were raped, beaten, and forced to
become sex slaves. Throughout the whole time that the Japanese had control of Singapore,
they tortured 50,000 people and killed none of those people were troops they were just civilians,
over 80% of the females that were captured were used as sex slaves, and or killed then used
them, and the males that where capture where enslaved forced to care for the Japanese
soldiers and cook and tend to house choirs. Because the Japanese believed that they were the
superior race they felt that there was no reason to treat their captives as if they were humans
but more like animals
Paragraph 3
On 8 February, the Japanese landed in the north-west of the island and within six days they
were on the outskirts of Singapore city, which was also now under constant air attack. Despite
being heavily outnumbered, the Japanese moved quickly across the island. With one million
citizens trapped in the city and water supplies at critical levels, British commander Lieutenant
General Arthur Percival surrendered on 15 February 1942. More than 130,000 Allied troops
were taken, prisoner. Throughout the who or dill the Japanese felt nothing toward the
Singaporeans seeing them as lower beings, From a young age all of the Japanese were told
that they were of higher status then everyone else giving them a sense of superiority, allowing
the Japanese to kill other people with no remorse seeing the troops as something at the same
rank as pigs and other animals in the farm, comparing the scattering of millions to seem the
same as harvesting scene. One of the most common ways that they used the prisoners was to
rap the females that they had captured, In the past Japan has been seen as a country that raps
a lot of their female captives including the Chinese and the Koreans. Another thing that the
Japanese did was force any of the remaining Eurasians to re-examine and re-orientate their
ethnic identity. Without a doubt, they were now encouraged to see themselves as 'Asiatics'. In
retrospect, the Eurasians were subjected by their British and Japanese overlords to inconsistent
policies which often left them confused and helpless.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, based on the information above it is clear that the Japanese were better
prepared and ready to do anything to get control of Singapore. And even though the
British had more soldiers they were not prepared to give Japan the upper hand.
Throughout the whole that Japan was in control they made sure that everyone knew
that they were in charge To sum up everything that has been stated Japan's win over
England could have been prevented.

referencing
Ho, S. (2013). Battle of Singapore. [online] Nlb.gov.sg. Available at:
https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2013-07-19_113523.html.
Stewart, T. (n.d.). The Fall of Singapore. [online] Historic UK. Available at:
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryofBritain/The-Fall-of-Singapore/.
Historic War Tours. (2020). Fall of Singapore: The Real Reasons. [online] Available at:
https://www.historicwartours.com.au/blog/2020/5/28/fall-of-singapore-the-real-
reasons#:~:text=Others%20such%20as%20the%20incident [Accessed 22 Aug. 2023].
History.com (2009). Singapore falls to Japan. [online] HISTORY. Available at:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/singapore-falls-to-japan.