ETERNAL VIGILANCE

“Till late 1941, everyone believed that Singapore , the “impregnable fortress”, would not be affected by the war.  She was protected from the north by the war.  She was protected from the north by the thick Malayan jungles and from the south by coastal guns, spotted along the eastern and southwestern coasts of Singapore.  Troop reinforcements and the arrival of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse lulled the people into feeling that the British could easily drive off the Japanese.”

(Source: Fortress Singapore: The Battlefield Guide, by Maj. Yap Siang Yong et al., p. 12.)

“Such anti-Japanese activities bother the British who cannot see Japan as a threat even when there are reports of Japanese troop movements southwards.  British propaganda has it that Japanese planes are made of paper.  However, the bombs that fall on Singapore from Japanese planes in the early hours of 8 December 1941 are real bombs.  The British are caught unprepared.  The troops rushed here are untrained and without battle experience.  The two British warships, Repulse and the Prince of Wales, sent to defend Singapore, are sunk by Japanese planes.  The Europeans retreated hastily down the Malayan Peninsula to the safety of Britain’s invincible naval base in Singapore.  In truth, this invincibility is a myth.  Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita is undaunted by it.  In a matter of 70 days, he sweeps down from the first Japanese landing point in Kota Bahru across the hastily repaired Causeway and into Singapore.”

(Source: Singapore: Journey into  Nation