The dramatic conclusion to the Malaya 1941 series is here! If you enjoyed it, please do consider buying a poster: historigraph.creator-spring.com/listing/the-battle-for-malaya Or support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/historigraph Or just watching more videos about Malaya from the playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLk2daSTx1RZutv3b8jZl1AOdq0PNZ8JQl
If they had HE rounds for the guns they might have held out longer and killed more Japanese but still lost in the end but there simply weren't enough bodies to defend the the entire island. I'm thinking maybe 1/2 the island and he'd have to get the civilians to lend a hand.
Nothing to do with men. They just needed to use barbed wire and ditches. Let's put it this way : Japanese soldiers who were starved put up much stiffer resistance against the might of the USMC and USN. Having everything under constant battleship fire is not fun, but soil is a perfectly good armor / concealment. The Japanese tanks were also very light. A 50 cal would go straight through the armour, the only thing that's required is to stop it. Unfortunately very little defenses were built since December... To avoid alarming the populace.
We all know imperial Japan committed horrible war crimes. Did China and/or North Korea commit similar atrocities during the Korean war or against Vietnam during China's 1979 punitive expedition?
interesting fact: During the occupation period,the first PM of Singapore narrowly escape death by bluffing a Japanese soldier that he want to get his belongings first.
LKY played Jedi mind tricks on him and that was crucial to history of my country. “You don’t need to see my identification … I’m not the one you’re looking for. I may go about my business. Move along!’ And move along he did!
The more I learn about Winston Churchill, the more I realize that, while an inspiring figure, he wasn't necessarily the sharpest knife in the drawer. Moreover, he was hindered by a philosophy of imperialism which by the mid-20th century was outdated and unsustainable.
@@3vimages471 Just because a fault is easy to spot doesn't make it above criticism. Also, I don't consider imperialism a "fault." It's a racism-based philosophy that one consciously chooses to embrace.
@@3vimages471 Churchill’s many faults spanned decades and led to many unnecessary deaths. Not only outdated Imperialism. Churchill was a liar and manipulator. He knew Singapore (meaning Britain) was weak in East Asia. Also, he lied about the true status of Australia, as an independent nation to Roosevelt. MacArthur realised what was going on, and told Roosevelt, who was furious with Churchill and apologised to Curtin, who been sidelined from big decisions, owing to Churchill’s misrepresentations.
So good to see a properly researched and historically balanced perspective. Much of the 'narrative' of the surrender in Singapore museums (and self-flagellating British documentaries) casts the surrender as an almost cowardly 'giving up', largely ignoring the overwhelming Japanese force facing the island, coupled with its naturally difficult-to-defend terrain (before post-war land reclamations, the island was far too small, flat, and swampy to maintain any kind of defensive high ground). The local narrative overlooks the fact that the Japanese were all but unstoppable at this phase in the war, pouring an estimated 3 million men down across S.E. Asia, with the kind of naval and air support that the British could not muster while Britain itself was under bombardment by the Germans on the other side of the world. A final overlooked aspect you have done well to highlight is the atrocities -- again here, the Fall of Singapore 'narrative' focuses on the thousands of Chinese men and boys who were rounded up and massacred following surrender, almost blaming the British for allowing this to happen. This overlooks the atrocities committed against Malay, British, Australian, Indian, and other troops and civilians, and fails to place enough blame on the Japanese for actually committing the war crimes. The fall of Singapore was a horrific tragedy and the men who fought bravely to defend the island deserve recognition; ultimately, defeat was no more preventable than the fall of Hong Kong had been, given Japanese capabilities at the time and the lack of British air and naval resources in the region.
Strange how the Japs considered themselves "honourable", but their first reaction to anyone besting them in battle or inflicting heavy casualties was to commit war crimes to satisfy their impotent rage.
(his body was hung on a cherry tree and also he was stabbed many times) { lieutenant Adnan Bin Saidi } So, respect our country's heroes who have fought to the death for our country.
Britain in World War 2 was a damn joke man. Lost the Western Front and all of their colonies instantly at the start of the war and were trapped on their island for five years until America arrived to do D-Day.
@Wallace Carney non American football is garbage and Asian products what a vague statement as I wasn't talking about Asian and a specific group the Japanese. Britian doesn't buy mostly Japanese products.
@@lovablesnowman I would bet good money that the majority of Brits have never heard of Percival, the Malaysia campaign or could even locate Singapore on a map.
@@historigraph yeah, it was so smooth, i realized it only at the next february.. "wait, what" Anyway, amazing job, keep up the good work! The style and quality made this one of my fav channel regarding 20th century, hope you have nice plans lined up :)
This event marked the end of Britain as a first class world power, a defeat so traumatic that Britain's ruling class has excised it so completely from it's memory that in 2021 the UK is sending a single aircraft carrier to the South China Sea to challenge a dominant Asian power....
Well they also don't have to participate much when Big Daddy USA is going to do all the heavy lifting if things get loud. But it's the thought that counts lol
@@iamgreat1234 They lost over 30 million people fighting FOUR MILLION Japanese soldiers, after the defence of sihang warehouse you can't say the Chinese are afraid to die. Im not the biggest fan of communism, but there can be no doubt they fought just as hard as the Soviets did.
Malay Regiment under Lt Adnan gave the Japanese a good fight before being perished..Should the British trusted the Malays before, Japanese occupation should not happened so fast..After all the Malays are the natives in Singapore and Malaya.
I remember being an Australian Army Reservist doing a training exercise in Singapore a few years back and where they had the training area was where the Australians had been set up during the defence of Singapore in WW2. It was surreal from where I was positioned I was overlooking the water separating Malaysia from Singapore. I could of been very much placed in the exact same place/foxhole that my forebears had fought in WW2. I can imagine that area was very hard to defend. I remember my colleague who is a historian in his day job telling me how far the units where spread out and what they where up against. I was shocked, they just had skirt around the individual defensive areas and push inland forcing us to withdraw.
'Singapore was Britain's worst defeat during the second World War' - well, I think it's easy to contest this statement. I see the entire WW2 as a British defeat for a plethora of reasons. While this can easily be contested itself, since, after all, we were gifted an occupation zone by the US. But the Battle of France, with its climax at Dunkirk, certainly was a defeat on an unprecedented scale. Only heroism of the French 12th Regiment prevented a total collapse of the British 'Empire' already in 1940. The guys in SG had no place to evacuate to, so we should not stigmatise them.
When a conqueror was beaten by another conqueror. No love lost there. Neither British nor Japanese should be in Singapore. It’s like a Hyena getting interrupted by a lion from eating a helpless gazelle.
General: "but Mr prime Minister, can't portions of the island be hit with coastal artillery shells from the mainland?" Churchill: "it's cool I used console commands."
This is Churchill who also thought that Galipoli was the perfect place for an invasion of Turkey, he clearly is not adept at assessing the defensive strength of positions.
There are indeed two different “we“ in the Malaysian language: “Kami" does not include the person addressed (eg: Kami sudah berpindah minggu lepas) "Kita" does include the person addressed (eg: Mari kita pergi)
@@herosstratos In Ilakano, a Philippine language, there are three forms of "we": 1. including the listener, 2. excluding the listener, 3. just those two-the speaker and listener only.
12:00 You didn't mention, the Japanese also attempted to bypass the defense of LT Adnan by disguising themselves as Sikh Troops with turbans and blackface. Only to be caught by LT Adnan because they marched in 4 columns instead of the British 3.
@@muwuny It isn't war crime to disguise as enemy troops as long as you don't wear enemy uniforms. Japanese didn't wear British uniforms, so it's all fair.
I recommend the book 'The Jungle Is Neutral' by Freddie Spencer Chapman DSO on how he survived years behind enemy lines in Malaya. One of the most intriguing books i have ever read.
Don't recommend this book, because it basically details just how embarrassing the defeat of Malaya and Singapore was. The brits and guerrillas couldn't be hunted down, and could deal meaningful damage so long as supplies could be shipped, via submarine. The japanese should not have even stepped past the malaysian border.
I've read the book Jungle Soldier as well, which goes into Freddie's past as well and explains about his time in the Arctic as well before WW2. The guy was an absolute beast.
Actually I found Chapman's book fairly boring. I preferred THE RISING SUN- John Toland, JAPAN'S GREATEST VICTORY-Masanobu Tsuji BATTLE FOR SINGAPORE-Peter Thompson DISASTER IN THE FAR EAST-Grehan & Mace
My great grandfather fought in the British Malay forces. Last my family heard of him was a letter retrieved in 1946 written in 1943 discussing how he alongside other Malay/Singapore born Brits were fighting a guerrilla campaign behind the Japanese lines. Thank you for this video series Historigraph, this means a lot to me.
Japan: Please sign the dotted line to formalize your surrender. UK: Before I do, I have just one condition that I’d like to add. Japan: What would that be? UK: PLEASE DON’T TELL FRANCE ABOUT THIS!
@@Marinealver tbf Vichy France are in no position to laugh at the UK they literally gave up their entire Indo-china + Chinese concession without a fight just via Japanese ultimatum and were cucked. At least the Brits actually fought back as shambolic as it was.
@@scarletcrusade77 True, but the French weren't really in a position to do much with the European axis occupying their mainland. If France had been able to place its full focus on defending Indochina, then Japan certainly would have had a much harder time of it.
As a Malaysian person, this is one of the history that we missed sometimes in history book. Since i find out you making content about Malay and Singapore, it is nice to see what have happened and what is outnumbered and by who. Also, we all know Adnan bin Saidi were stab to death multiple time. That was the bravest man in history of Malayan and Singapore.
@@Tsar_NicholasIII Hi, Lt. Adnan was in C Company of Malay Regiment's 1st Battalion. Tasked to defend the Pasir Panjang Ridge. He felled at the Opium Hill. He was awarded, posthumously, 3 medals by British government for the gallant efforts. Widely considered a war hero by both Malaysia and Singapore.
@@1chai not we cover more about South east asia, the only arabian history we cover is arrived of islam and that only half of chapter. the rest starting from kedah tua to independent.
My great grandfather, grandfather and their brothers (there's 15 of them all) all fought for the British from Jitra all the way to mainland Singapore. When Singapore fell, rather than surrender with their units, they took off their uniform and blended back into the local community. They then tried their very best to continue the resistance by undermining the occupation force by hiding dissidents, helping clandestine ops, providing Intel and supplies. It was by the grace of God that 13 survived the war with 2 granduncles succumbing g to illness for lack of proper medication for their tuberculosis
My g-grandfather was a British soldier who was a captain in the resistance in the Malay peninsula. He went MIA and little was known about what happened as they had to say very little about their circumstance to avoid the Japanese learning anything strategic. A letter was found written by him in 46 dated to 43, a year after the fall
Intelligence is knowing that an island is easily defensible. Wisdom is knowing that it's fucking pointless to fortify an island if it is within artillery range of the mainland. Charisma is convincing your chiefs of staff that it's a good idea regardless.
@@talleywa5772 Also knowing that swamps are a terrible defensive position and you're much better served moving further inland where you can actually set up positions and fire at the enemy as they try to cross the swamp.
Like Hitler who during the last stage of the war in Europe often designated this city or that city as a "fortress" to be defend to the last man by German troops. As if his will power alone could stop the Allies.
This is indeed a great humiliation and defeat, the world empire lost most of its land and forces in maritime SE in a mere 3 months, EVEN when they had more troops
@@kms_scharnhorst Singapore could not hold without sufficient air power, it would require at least 500 air craft to even think of defending from the Japanese.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Point is, the Brist tough they would need no effort to fence aganist Imperial Troops... The whole mistake is about underestimate the enemy.
@@scarletcrusade77 Would be good to see some allied victories for a change, sick of seeing Singapore every where, it's not like the Japanese won the war, i want to see Kohima and Imphal where the British saw off 100,000 Japanese soldiers.
Japan army in pearl harbor:japan army when you fight them as the final boss and its took half of your friend lives and half a year to defeat it!!!! Japan army in midway:japan army when you unlock as a playabls character
You know, American submarine unit alone sunk more almost 1000 Japanese warship and merchant ship. In 1944 alone, US Submarine destroyed 7 Japanese Aircraft Carrier and 560 Japanese ship
However, the death toll of the Manila Massacre includes the number of civilians killed by the Allied bombing, so it does not mean that the Japanese army killed 100,000 people.
13:38 Tsuji was probably the most evil man in the Japanese military. Almost every major Japanese atrocity in the early war has him involved somewhere. And the worst part is that he fled justice in the end to disappear...
@@jawbreakingcandy836 Yeah that part... Obviously I don't think Japanese culture in general is automatically embracing of war crimes like that. So I guess you're right. That one was kinda offensive to Japanese ppl & culture, which is mostly good with a lot of good parts in my opinion. But still, I think it's reasonable to say that within the Japanese military, at that specific historical period, or at least within the Japanese military stationed abroad as occupying forces, they seemed to have developed a 'culture' (or subculture) of tolerating, or even embracing violence and atrocities?
@@davidfreeman3083 So then mainly British, and other European countries had the same ‘culture’ then, considering how they did the same thing under the name of racism to not only Japanese but natives in the battlefield or around the battlefield.
@@jawbreakingcandy836 It was though. The Japanese committed war crimes on a scale not rivaled even by Germany and the Soviet Union. Even when IJA commanders didn't sanction or order it, their soldiers did it of their own volition. The Japanese sense of honor at the time held that soldiers who had surrendered were dishonorable and therefore deserved no mercy or pity. This is something that the policy of State Shinto and military education had been drilling into their heads since the Meiji Restoration. Japanese soldiers demonstrated this in their brutality towards POWs and civilians, and Japanese civilians themselves demonstrated this by beating captured pilots and aircrew to death when they were shot down over the Home Islands. That doesn't mean all Japanese soldiers did it, nobody is claiming that. Rock music is a part of American culture but that doesn't mean every American listens to it. Likewise, the war crimes committed by Japan in WWII were very much linked to their culture, but that doesn't mean all of them did it. Thankfully State Shinto and martial education is no longer an aspect of modern Japanese culture.
Congratulations! You must have put a lot of effort to cover the Malayan series. There is a life lesson to be learnt between Percival and Adnan. One surrendered so that the British can return stronger later; the other fought to death because Malaya was his only home. Eventually, Percival's name is forever attached to failure in the history books while Adnan became a legendary hero for generations of Malaysians and hopefully future ones as well. To surrender or to fight is a most difficult question to answer. I'm not sure if I'd make the right choice if I was in these men's shoes at the time.
One fought the long game and risked his name being tarnished to secure a true victory, the other had damn good reasons to fight for his home because if there is no home... what's there to fight for? You cannot argue which one did the right decision, because the right decision is where your heart lies. One couldn't care about how people would see him for his decision if and when they'd win with the help of it, the other one couldn't care if his life would be lost that day because he couldn't fathom the idea of losing his home.
I understand the need to surrender to save the lives of his men, and I don’t blame him for this. If I’m a commander, I’m willing to live in infamy as long as my men lives
Tbh I don't think carrying on the fight would have done any good, doing so would essentially condemn the citizens of Singapore to die of thirst together with the soldiers and there was nothing to be gained from fighting on, the Japanese would win eventually anyways and there was no help arriving, without water the defenders would probably falter in less than a day anyways. Carrying on the fight just because of "honor" or whatever would be selfish and would condemn the city and the soldiers to total destruction, it'd be similar to how Nazi Germany refused to surrender and as a result Germany was almost completely destroyed in the war because now the Allies had to invade every single house. Or maybe a better comparison would be the 6th Army in Stalingrad which wasn't allowed to surrender, it accomplished nothing for the Wehrmacht in fact they just wasted tons of supplies on a doomed army and condemned them to starvation and hypothermia. I don't think Percival is to blame here, yes he definitely made mistakes but ultimately there is nothing he could have done to win this battle, with how many failures there was in this campaign the blame has to go all the way to the top. The governments of the UK are ultimately to blame for this defeat as they failed to properly prepare and reinforce Malaya and failed to properly equip their troops with radios, the organization of British troops in general is also to blame with no cross communication between units on the field. The generals in this campaign definitely fucked up but mistakes by the generals should not be able to cascade into such a catastrophe in the first place and in the second generals that make these mistakes shouldn't even exist. Adnan might be a legend but he also didn't have the responsibility that Percival had, he only had to worry about the battle and could sacrifice himself but Percival had to worry about an entire army and a huge city.
@@hedgehog3180 Japanese at that time already hated the Malayan and Singapore. They were already brutally massacre many innocent life. Surrendering or putting up a hard fight made no difference. Adnan has no capability at all to change any of the outcome and that's why sticking to his honour is totally respectable.
@@moochoopr9551 You're right, the Japanese were furious as a handful of the Chinese in Singapore provided support to China's defence against the Japanese and set out to hunt those they deemed to have given support. Although to be honest, with the amount of tactical errors that the British had committed, a surrender was probably the best way to go. Kind of sad considering that the remaining Malay Regiment and allied forces really gave their all to defend the island.
As a Singaporean and a bit of a historian, I approve this episode and I am proud of you to make a video of my country’s history. :) Keep up the good work and don’t stop making videos about World War Two! :D
Having worked in Singapore, I was surprised that, sadly, I could not find any statistics for the local victims. I have friends in Sing whose families know of significant numbers of family members that suffered at the hand of the invaders but these casualties were never acknowledged or accounted for.
@@AndyWoodmanthe atrocities that the Japanese did during the occupation of Singapore (syonan-to) cannot be measured as nobody kept track. All there is left are stories from the older generations, which based on those accounts, show the amount of murder the Japanese did especially to the chinese residents of Singapore. From massacres on the beaches, many people went missing or were killed within just 3 years.
I like how in every history video about the battle of singapore, LT Adnan is always mentioned. And rightfully so! A well known hero in both Malaysia and Singapore
Please do a dutch defensive action against japan in indonesia (if there any). This south east asia front in WW2 is less exposed for documentary than another front like europe,asia pacific etc. Thank you
The biggest Dutch achievement when fending off Japanese during WW2 was blowing up the oil refineries in East Indies. (Japanese never managed to fix those facilities, forcing them to ship raw oil back to Japan to refine)
@@kyrozephyr8628 we actually did a lot more than everyone thinks, we still had a lot of submarines active in the east indies. And there was this dutch submarine commander and the Americans gave him the nickname "ship a day" because he sank more ships in the span of 2 months than the Americans and brits combined.
The more I hear about Churchill, the more he seems like other "great leaders commanding their armies" (Hitler, Stalin) with his many failed "brilliant ideas": Singapore, Greece, Italy...
@@captintinsmith3774 It had good intentions at knocking out one of the central powers, but yeah it was misjudged heavily and very poorly planned and coordinated. Though to be fair the idea of contested naval landings (especially involving modern armies) was very new.
You left out the fact that at the Alexandra Hospital, the Japanese officers and soldiers, after killing patients on operating tables and beds, tied the female nurses to those same beds and gang raped them through the night and into the next day until they decided they were tired of rape, whereupon they bayonetted them all - Some women being bayonetted from their genital region up through their thorax. The creatures that did this were demonically evil and to this day I marvel that a people could be so sadistically cruel to their fellow human beings.
I find ironic alot of parts of Malayan Peninsula presents itself as a strategic choke point, like Kuala Lumpur city, the Titiwangsa mountain ranges that stretch from the middle of the peninsula close towards the south of the region. But i guess the British really underestimated the Japanese and its use of speed and aggression.
Totally agreed. Having travelled between northwest and central Peninsular Malaysia lots of times, large swathes of the region between Penang and Kuala Lumpur, i.e. today's Perak state are very mountainous, with places such as Ipoh, Kampar and Slim River being located inside valleys and among mountains. Coupled with the dense rainforests across the region, the geography actually worked well for the defending British and Commonwealth troops. In the end, it's due to the ill-prepared and incapable military leadership of the British and Commonwealth troops in Malaya, alongside insufficient preparations of defences, lack of proper weapons, tanks and absence of aerial support for the defending troops that really doomed Malaya.
@@kayamakii7370 yup currently those area were fill with army bunker and some part of it only able enter if you part of army with army line. Part of malaysia army defense doctrine
the British strategy in Malayan Peninsula was to hold airfields and secure major road (Route No.1, No.5) from being used by Japanese. Large conventional army like Japanese need a good road for a speedy advance to south. To defend this road, British selected few choke points along the road with defensible features such as high ridges or river . That's why you don't see major Malayan campaign battles fought deep in the jungles or mountains as there no major roads running through it. British were correct in predicting the Japanese main axis of advance. The only problem is that they put a belated effort in preparing the defensive positions in the north and eastern Malaya. When these primary defenses crumbled in the first week of invasion, other defensive lines were hastily prepared, with tired, exhausted retreating troops manning it.
Excellent presentation, answers several questions and seems the route from Singapore to the mainland, which apparently hadn't been blown up properly possibly due to a lack of explosives, may not have been as important as has been portrayed given the landings further West. Seems Percival calling the landing area incorrectly and then not responding fast enough to the reality unfolding before him was critical. As a historical aside, Percival was once based in the Irish town, where I now live, during the Irish War of Independence. He was then a Major, had a dreadful reputation and was responsible for burning down of Michael Collins' home. Pervical had several close calls including when the man standing next to him was shot dead by an IRA sniper, often wondered how history might have turned out if Percival had met his end in Ireland but it seems from your video that the entire British command structure was unfit, possibly softened up by decades of easy living in the region.
The problems with British military command in the Far East extended all the back to London, and had for a very long time. They had treated the area as a backwater from the beginning of formation of the 'Singapore Strategy' which Churchill was by the way was heavily implicated in- he was Secretary of State for War and Air from 1919 to 1921 and then Secretary of State for the Colonies:1921-1922 under Lloyd George when the whole thing was put together, and then later in his period of being the !st Sea lord under Chamberlain. From the top down the whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen. They never through Japanese would or have the capacity to attack and seemed to thing if the Japanese simply saw the Union Jack flying they would turn around or give in. Percival was certainly completely out of his depth, but frankly he wasn't exactly given any real backup with modern weapons, supply and in particularly air cover.
The Malay Regiment showed what esprit de corps and discipline can achieve. Garrisons of posts held their ground and many of them were wiped out almost to a man. - Lieutenant General Arthur Percival if there are 10 lieutenants adnan, it is not certain that malaya will fall into japanese hands -General Tomoyuki Yamashita aka The Tiger of Malaya
I would not be bothered quoting Percival. He is the most discredited , useless fool to ever command. he completely botched the defence of Singapore. It is sad that the sacrifice of a batallion of Malays was made in the face of widespread collaboration with the Japanese.
Oh, worth mentioning you can visit the old ‘Former Ford Factory’ at Burkit Timah, the sight of the signing of the surrender. There’s also the ‘Battlebox’ at Fort Canning and the Fort Canning hotel is the old British Army HQ … if only walls had voices, these would have seen a lot
Less than one year from this point, the Japanese 41st regiment would find itself in a similar situation as that of the Allied forces in Singapore. Close to the northern coast of New Guinea, in the battle for Oivi-Gorari, it's final remnants were annihilated by the Australians. The Australian setback in Singapore and Malaya have been avenged.
As an American, I hoist a beer to that, but I would say that it was a start - not completed until Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as extreme as that may sound.
in New Guinea the Australians had some of the earliest on land successes against the Japanese, that were used as a model by the British for how they'd take the fight to them in Burma. It's a story not often told
Although fighting in the service of the British Empire, Lieutenant Adnan and his soldiers fought hard for their home to the very end. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten by us Malaysians and Singaporeans.
@@Ameer-is3dh Look, with or without their help, we Malaysians would've developed national consciousness and a sense of freedom from imperialism anyways. Just like Indonesians, Filipinos and Vietnamese.
@@aimansafwan1997 lol... do you really think that conning British empire would let you guys go easily. It was ww2 which made these empire very weak to control india or other parts of the world.
@@Ameer-is3dh They were very weak after WW1, dumbass, they just don't like to show it. The Japanese may be helping the natives, but they, like every other European empires, have imperialist mindset. They're not just going to give up minor administrative position to the natives. Do you really believe that, by their very origin and skin colour, they would immediately become allies and friends? Ask the Vietnamese, Filipinos, Indonesians and Malaysians at that time this question.
My great grand uncle was a 2Lt. In the Australian 2/20th Battalion. He died on the 9th of Feb 1942 from wounds received while leading 11 Platoon in a small counterattack on Tengah Airfield. RIP all who died from the 8th Division and other Allied units in the Fall of Singapore.
RIP to your greatgrand uncle.My grandpa was a singapore policeman during the invasion. He narrated to me they were hiding in the barracks during japanese airstrikes.
Damn, my grandpa was actually part of the force 136 resistance, some of my family members were shot during the massacres too. Honestly the whole defeat was due to the incompetencies of the british to have an actual strategy to defend tiny singapore.
Terrible leadership and lack of aggression by the Brits. Surrendered their troops into years of brutal prisoners of war treatment. Percival should have been stripped of rank and drummed out of the service when he was recovered. The Malaysian troops fought like tigers despite the terrible British leadership.
What is misstery when churchil said that singapure is a fortress, yes if artilery targets naval base its bad, but still its possible to stock pile suplies and hold position. How did russians hold out more than 12 mounths in crimea? Additinaly japanese are not germans, japan had little to no heavy weapons, and even though japan had navy britian had even better navy So what is mistery?Mistery is how bad british generals are.
Churchill fanning his dismay at the state of defences of Singapore, both during the war and after in his extensive recount of the War come into stark ignominy once you realise his past roles prior to the war in Pacific starting. Churchill was Secretary of State for War and Air from 1919 to 1921 and then Secretary of State for the Colonies:1921-1922 under Lloyd George when the whole Singapore strategy was formulated, so he directly knew that Singapore was never meant to be defended as an island fortress. His protests become even more unforgivable when you know he was first Sea Lord from the outbreak of WW2 to May 1940 so would have been directly briefed about the Far East and the major problem with defense in the region. Despite this all through his time being in number 10 he repeated lied to the Australia and New Zealand governments about the state of Singapore's defense and the strategy if Japan entered the war on the Axis side.
He also ordered the RN to abandon an Australian division at sea to leave them undefended, then ordered every Commonwealth country and colony to refuse Australia any assistance in its war against Japan.
Except McArthur was ordered out because his supervisors were competent enough to recognize the untenability of the situation. Because of this he was able to turn around and liberate the Philippines instead of having his capture and/or corpse be used for Japanese propaganda.
That's a funny way to spell Stilwell, General had a magically habit to take allied troops throw them away lose, flee from consequences and feck off from command for a week without telling anyone
@@talleywa5772 ordered or not he was a coward to leave his men in the lurch. A real leader of men would have led his men into captivity. I guess running (following orders) is better in that situation than eating a bullet, but not by much. The inchon landing was genius, but in WW2 he was only one small step better than Stillwell and about even with Mark Clark
It is said that Lt Adnan ordered his man to retreat while he and few volunteers stayed and hold the line. They did but came back, some were badly wounded but refuse to retreat and intended to fight to the end. Such brave men fought under remarkable leader.
My great uncle was an engineer in motor transport in the Indian Army. He was ordered to take what soldiers were available to head through Malaya to bolster the Singapore garrison. It was pointless and they were captured before they ever got to Singapore and were incarcerated until end of hostilities, working also on the Burma Railway.
My Aunt’s husband was a Captain in the British Army and was captured at Singapore. He later wrote a book about his career, mostly commanding Indian troops, eventually rising to the rank of Major. He helped work on the Burma railroad and when I talked to him about it, he said he was almost captured in Korea and said “I never ran so fast in my life!” Sadly both of them are gone now, but I have fond memories.
With this knowledge they did fight to the death at the Battle of Kohima 1,500 British and Indian troops held off a Japanese army of around 15,000 for several weeks.
I agree. I think this is a difference between Malay and the Guadalcanal and Kokoda battles in the summer of 1942. The troops knew the true nature of the enemy and knew how hard the fight was going to be...and surrender was not really an option. If Singapore troops had fought hard, they would have eventually lost anyway, as there were no reinforcements. Their fate would be the same...an early death, but they could have killed or wounded many thousands of Japanese weakening the army for the future operations. It might even have impacted the Burma campaign.
@Wallace Carney that is dumb. It is better to fight and die than surrender and die. It isn't better to fight and die than to surrender and live. If you are a soldier I will apologise though. But you have probably never been in the armed forces
Death being preferable to a Japanese POW camp really makes me think of a video by LindyBeige. He once discussed how you WANT to treat captives well, because more of your guys survive if more enemies surrender. Apparently, few countries in WW2 recognized that...
There is a commemorate hall on Kent Ridge Park (previous Opium Hill) in current day Singapore to mark the bravery of the Malay soldiers defense that day. A nice visiting spot recommended.
Chiang kai shek:I am so happy British finally let us join the Allies.Hang on boys, Churchill will help us.right? Churchill:.............. Chiang Kai Shek:Wait.... Churchill：Actually,we just lost Singapore to Japanese,you can help us defend Burma,Right? Chiang?(wink wink) Chiang Kai Shek:WTF!!!!
This was one of the times in ww2 when British leadership crippled Australian soldiers, leading many to lose their lives and somehow getting our soldiers shit on by brits afterwards even though ours were devastated by their leaders orders to surrender just as the Japanese were surprised by it.
In recent years, I have seen more and more Australians claim that the British make out that the Aussie troops were to blame for any failures, or that the Brits made them the scapegoats. I have never heard a British person ever say this. I think some Aussies forget that the average British tommy was treated just as badly by their own leaders as they were.
Many australian troops were wasted in middle east especially Balkans Defending british interests They jumped into ww2 and didnt consider the japanese threat closer to their country when manchuria was invaded in 1937!
What is not said was, the British thought that no asian power could defeat a european power like them. Also not state the last ships that left Singapore was only for Europeans. Those Asians who believe in the British Empire ended there.
In 1905, the Japanese had annihilated the Russian fleet at the Battle of Tsushima. The Russians lost 126,000 tons to just 450 of Japanese and a British historian in 1906 called it the most decisive victory since Trafalgar. It was the first time an Asian power had decisively defeated a European one. But the British military dismissed it at the time, and later after the Russian performance in the Great War and later after the rise of the Soviet Union. Their bigotry toward both the Russians and Japanese really knew no bounds. Their arrogance would be their downfall. And yet, some of my countrymen still remain equally arrogant and believe fervently that being British makes you inherently superior. They live in a dream world.
So I really really liked your Hungary series (and I'm not usually into the late war period-goes to show how good you are at making documentaries) and I went absolutely berserk over your Norway series from Altmark to Glorious, and now this
The prestige of Great Britain world never recover. The fall of Singapore and the Dutch capitulation in the Dutch East Indies would deal a catastrophic blow to the standing of the Europeans in Asia. Independence leaders would routinely bring this up thereafter.
Claims of cowardice and desertion by Australian troops in Singapore surfaced in 1993 when a secret report by the British general Sir Archibald Wavell was discovered in London. It baldly said: "For the fall of Singapore itself the Australians are responsible." Sydney Morning Telegraph The day the empire died in shame page
When the British encountered Japanese combat planes in Malaya and was outfought by them, they refused to believe that the Japanese could fly their own planes and thought that German pilots must had been hired by the Japanese to fly their warplanes. The British believed that Japanese men were all short sighted and could not see in the dark.
@@strongbrew9116 There was deep seated racism on the British side. One instance when a top British official was informed that the Japanese had landed at North East coast of Malaysia, he simply replied something like "just push the little men back to the sea".
@@chuaweipengrandom3812 For future use. In December 1941, virutally all British aricraft were needed in the UK to defend against German air attack, to defend Malta, defend North Africa, or were sent as supplies to assist Russia. They had no aircraft left for Singapore.
@@strongbrew9116 the best British aircraft like the Spitfires and Hurricanes were being sent to help the Russians fighting the Germans. Ironically, quite a number of the aircraft were sunk with the convoys when they were attacked by German U-boats.
I remember reading a book (can't remember the name) that a British general refused to construct any defences on the northern shores of Singapore as it would be "bad for morale"!
During the First World War, the British dugouts (bunkers) in the trenches were only made of dirt and wood because of the same reasoning. The generals believed if they had more permanent shelter, they would be less inclined to attack. Generals who were usually ten or twenty miles behind the front line in a French or Belgian chateau. Meanwhile the Germans built concrete bunkers, which were strong at the front and weak at the back so that if they were taken, they could be destroyed from their new positions. These bunkers were so well built that the week-long artillery barrage before the British launched the Battle of the Somme caused very few casualties among the Germans who when the barrage ended, left their bunkers and manned their ruined trenches to face the British who had been told that only a few Germans would have survived the bombardment. 50,000 casualties in 24 hours later... Likewise, the British were the last army to equip their troops with steel helmets.
@@deliciousnoodles5505 Ok, since you said so. I took sometime to go through my collection and this is the title "The Defence and Fall of Singapore by Brian Farrell" You look for the review of this book by in the web. 😀
Churchill's culpability is even greater than you suggest. It was Imperial Defence Policy that Singapore was the second priority after Britain itself. Churchill however only had eyes for the European theatre and the Middle East and despite the clear trajectory of Japanese behaviour, Singapore was neglected and starved of material which went to the Middle East instead.
In mid 1941, defence of the Far East was not only behind British forces in Europe and the Middle East on the list of priorities, but also behind the Soviets too after Churchill promised to help Stalin shortly after the start of Operation Barbarossa. Tanks earmarked for Malaya and Singapore were sent to the Soviets instead and so Percival ended up with no tank at all.
You obviously don't know much about British defence policy between the wars, and in particular from the late 1930s, when a potential triple threat, of Germany, Italy, & Japan, emerged. The worst case assumption, of war with all three, still assumed to support of France. British (and French) planners expected that a western front, similar to that of WW1, would emerge, the small German fleet would be penned in the North Sea, and the Northern Blockade of WW1 would be re-imposed. The sizeable French fleet would support the British in the Mediterranean, and the Italian North African empire would be threatened by the French from Tunisia & the British from Egypt. This would enable a sizeable British fleet to be sent to the Far East. No-one at all anticipated the collapse of France. After June, 1940, the British found themselves needing to retain most of their fleet in Home Waters, whilst at the same time needing to maintain a powerful fleet in the Mediterranean, as well as reinforcing the Western Desert Force against attack from Italian Libya. Of course Churchill's main concern was events in the west. The one positive fact of 1941 was that Japan was still neutral. Even so, there were around 140,000 British & Commonwealth troops stationed there by the end of 1941. Singapore was not starved or neglected. There was a substantial army in Malaya already. After the Japanese attack, incidentally, the C-in-C Middle East offered to sent some of his light tanks to Malaya, only to be told that they were not needed as Malaya was unsuited to tank warfare. This decision was made from Singapore, not from London, by the way. Of course Churchill was more concerned about the situation in the west. Axis success in North Africa, and even the possibility of an invasion of Britain herself, would have a greater effect on the prospects of survival than the possibility of a Japanese attack in the Far East. You seem to forget that Britain and the Commonwealth & Empire were actively fighting two major military European powers. Resources were not infinite.
@doveton sturdee The claim that the decision for not using tank in the defence of Singapore/Malaya being made from Singapore, not from London, was simply not credible. It was in 1937 when the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Malaya Command, Major General William Dobbie, who sent in request of tanks for the defence of Malaya and Singapore. He made the request based on assessment prepared by his then chief of staff, Colonel Arthur Percival. General Dobbie's successor Major General Lionel Bond repeated the same request for tanks again in 1939. In April 1941, Arthur Percival was appointed as the GOC replacing Major General Bond and Percival again requested for 100 tanks in August 1941. His request was again denied. The British forces defending Malaya received Lanchester armoured cars and Marmon Herrington armoured cars instead, probably because no other British forces wanted them and they were proved to be entirely unsuitable for the difficult terrains of Malaya.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 I am not sure what point you are trying to make for you fail to address my point, despite yours ostensibly being a reply. I didn't comment on virtually anything you then go on to raise, for none of this was my point. You seem to think I am ignorant when I didn't proffer an opinion on any of the irrelevant points you go on to make so apart from being needlessly insulting, you are also ignorant as to my position on these points. Wouldn't it be better to ask my views before launching into an attack on me, especially when you totally fail to address my actual point? To remind you, I noted that Churchill did not follow Imperial Defence Policy in relation to Singapore and from this, Britain suffered the worst military defeat in it's history. The policy, developed between the wars, identified that after Britain, Singapore was to be the second priority for defence. By any fair reading of history, Churchill didn't make Singapore any thing like 2nd priority. Finally, your post seems to be in response to my criticism of Churchill and you seem to be an apologist for him as a consequence but surely you don't mean to suggest that Churchill made no mistakes, that somehow he was infallible? The British management of the war was shambolic not least because of Churchill's erratic behaviour and wild mood swings. I strongly recommend two books to help: Corelli Barnet's "The Audit of War", and Alan Brooke's memoirs - Alan Brooke spent most of the war trying to rein in Churchill's outlandish and dangerous ideas, taking this role so seriously that he forewent the opportunity to lead the D Day and subsequent French campaign so as to weaken his grip on Churchill. Churchill's perpetual interference in the North African campaign led to the failure to take Libya in 1940 and two more years of bitter fighting there, with concomitant losses; his treatment of his commanders was appalling.
@@montecarlo1651 I am not an apologist for Churchill. Where did I say that 'Churchill made no mistakes, that somehow he was infallible?' I know about his insistence on 'Back Seat Driving.' I also know about the almost impossible military and strategic situation with which he had to cope. I am simply explaining why the pre-war Imperial Defence Policy became totally irrelevant after the collapse of France in 1940.
The whole of history when it comes to British and Australian battles, lets put the more experienced British troops out of harms way and put the colonies (Australia and India) right in the firing line
I am amazed the British could do anything. They were fighting Germany plus Italy all alone at the time. Germany plus Japan was too much for a small country like Britain
@@Neil-yg5gm the Germans and Austrians weren’t exactly naval powers Battleships and aircraft carriers had few reasons to be around for them, and the Italians by 1942 weren’t exactly a battle fleet
The British army was pretty terrible during the early war tbh. They got rolled over pretty much everywhere. Outnumbered japanese chased them out of east asia, meanwhile Rommel only needed a handful of tanks to almost conquer Egypt.
@Count Noctilus Rommel did get stopped at El Alamein twice though. And also pretty much all the Allies suffered defeats in the early stages, France was conquered, America was kicked out of the Philippines, Russia had entire armies encircled at Kiev and Smolensk and was pushed all the way to the gates of Moscow etc. Let's not pretend that the British army was the only army that had defeats.
@Intergalactic Dust Bunny Russia had the worst defeats of any military power, in just the first year of 1941, they had over 5 million men captured by the Germans. Dunkirk, Singapore in comparison are nothing to those numbers.
@@orpheonkatakrosmortarchoft4332 Not in the first battle they didn't. And it was a mostly British commonwealth affair, the Americans ended up fighting only the Vichy French.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Material support, as in war material. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_El_Alamein Just look at the numbers, the Axis was outnumbered 2 to 1 while attacking.
The more I read about Churchill, the more my opinion of him goes south. I mean this story, Gallipoli, his obsession to keep meddling in the Russian Civil War, his plan to launch World War III with German soldiers. This man thrived on war... I guess the Black Sabbath song 'War Pigs' is about men like him 😅
The hanging and stabbing of Adnan Bin Saidi got me thinking that Japans mindset of the conquered was one of their biggest downfalls. I think they skipped the part of "how to treat the conquered to fight for your side" in their military doctrine. Basically, they wandered off the notion of "Asia for Asians" to the "liberated" countries. They committed horrible atrocities and acted like the people were second class citizens or even animals. They also instilled a genetical superiorioty view to other Asians. Asian countries are very prideful for their individual culture so this would have never worked. It wasn't "Asia for Asians" anymore and Asians didn't feel like they were being liberated. Instead, it was just another imperialist country that had a far worse mindset of extreme exceptionalism taking over.
Aww C'mon you know the Japanese really don't commit much about "Asia is Asian" quote, it's more or less a propaganda tool At least from what the teacher told me in online classes, don't remember much, the teacher lagging XD Also, The imperial Japan basically want to change social structure in their conquered land, making them more Japanese, Nationalized them, you know, like any other Empire throughout the history did?
@CKS1949 The film Defiance has a line that sums up the feelings of Eastern Europeans at the time. (Paraphrasing) 'In the east, there's the man with the big moustache. In the west, the man with the little moustache.' Hard to say who treated the Ukrainians worse; the Nazis or Soviets.
I am not sure anyone wanted Britain to lose this except the Japanese and Nazis. Japanese occupation was extremely unkind (and thats putting it nicely...) to the ethnic Chinese and Malays.
