the Japanese offensive: the Malayan Campaign.

Two weeks ago, the campaign came to its near-end with the final retreat of the Allied soldiers

towards the British fortress of Singapore.

The Malayan Peninsula had been invaded back on December 8, and the defense of the colony

had shown a total lack of readiness on the side of the British government.

Suffering defeat after defeat and making a critical string of blunders, the Allied forces

had rapidly been conceding territory; and only after two months since the invaders first

landed at Kota Bharu, they had been thrown back to the island settlement, which had been

transformed into a fortress.

But the British would see that their belief that Singapore was an impregnable fortress

was as much a lie as their idea that they could intimidate the Japanese by employing

a small naval force in the Pacific.

Now, the campaign is finally coming to its end, as the Japanese prepare to execute one

of their most important operations of the war.

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Back on the morning of January 31, the last of the Allied units, the 2nd Battalion of

the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, had crossed the Causeway bridge into Singapore

with its two pipers playing a lament for an empire on which the sun was setting.

From this moment onwards, the colony that had been at the great commercial crossroads

of the British Empire had but a fortnight to live.

General Percival faced two challenges to defend Singapore: the first was to contest and defeat

any Japanese invasion of the island's north coast, while the second was to protect the

vital central portion of the island, where most of the population and key infrastructure

of Singapore was located.

In an effort to strengthen the western and eastern ends of this vital ground, two defensive

lines were envisaged to allow for a quick switch of forces between east and west and

to make possible a rapid shortening of the front . These lines had been surveyed and

drawn on a map, but were completely unprepared; and the northern shore of the island had a

similar story.

There were no plans for the defense of this critical front, so Percival quickly developed

a plan: to defend the coast with posts prepared for prolonged resistance.

If the posts were surrounded, they were to hang on and wait for relief by a counter-attacking

force, even though the defenders didn't have sufficient men or material to stage any

counterattacks.

With this plan in mind, Percival organised the defense of Singapore in four areas , with

the Southern Area of Major-General Keith Simmons under the protection of the 1st and 2nd Malaya

Brigades, the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force and the fortress garrison troops; the

Northern Area defended by the British 18th Division under Major General Merton Beckwith

Smith, which was at full strength, but lacked experience and appropriate training, and the

11th Indian Division, under the overall command of Lieutenant-General Lewis Heath, who had

previously overseen the two Indian divisions during the Malayan campaign; the Western Area

, manned by the 8th Australian Division of General Bennett and the semi-trained 44th

Indian Brigade; and a Reserve Area where Brigadier Paris had the undermanned 12th and 15th Indian

Brigades.

As we can see, Percival chose to appoint more forces to the Northern Area, believing that

the main Japanese attack was going to come over here, although the invaders had other

plans.

Identifying a significant flaw in the Australian sector , where the depleted defenders were

hopelessly dispersed, General Yamashita prepared the highly-trained and well-led 5th and 18th

Divisions to cross the Johor Strait on the western side, where it was at its narrowest

and therefore could diminish the chances of suffering heavy casualties.

Meanwhile, he also deployed the Imperial Guards Division to the east of the causeway at the

Tebrau River, where it was to stage a feint followed by a secondary attack.

This plan was very ingenious, because, as the Imperial Guards occupied the island of

Pulau Ubin and concentrated artillery fire over the east coast positions, Percival's

conviction that the Japanese were going to invade the Northern Area would be fortified.

On February 4, the Japanese began artillery barrages upon Singapore Island, with their

aerial superiority allowing them to have excellent knowledge of the Allied positions.

On the other side, the British had to send small reconnaissance patrols on February 6

to cross the Johor Straits and gather intelligence on the Japanese positions.

The patrols successfully reported large concentrations of enemy troops facing the Western Area, but

saw only a few landing craft on the Malayu River; this caused Percival to discard the

gathered intelligence as insignificant, with the Malaya Command still believing that the

main attack of the invaders was coming towards the Northern Area.

Finally on February 8, the Japanese launched a heavy barrage of the Australian positions;

the invasion of Singapore was just mere hours away.

Shortly before night, the Japanese forces started the crossing of the Strait of Johor

in 300 vessels , aiming to land between Cape Buloh and Cape Murai and capture the Tengah

airfield with haste.

On the northwest coast, Brigadier Harold Taylor of the Australian 22nd Brigade had deployed

his three battalions across a front approximately 14.6km wide; he didn't have sufficient men

to cover every piece of ground, he had recurring communication problems and his water obstacles

were almost non-existent.

As a result, his position was very vulnerable.

On the right, the 2/20th Battalion was about to face the full strength of the Japanese

5th Division ; while to the left, the 18th Division would split to assault the two remaining

Australian battalions: three Japanese battalions against the 2/18th Battalion and four Japanese

battalions against the 2/19th Battalion.

During the night, the Japanese soldiers continued their crossing of the straits . Upon detecting

their approach, the defenders waited until they were within 40 meters to rain upon them

a withering hail of machine-gun and artillery fire.

The vanguard of the invaders suffered enormous casualties as a result, but the Japanese barges

kept coming and they started to pinpoint gaps in the coastline where they could land virtually

unopposed.

Soon, great concentrations of enemy soldiers began to outflank the scattered Australian

machine gunners, forcing them to destroy their guns and retreat during the early hours of

February 9.

Although some units managed to withdraw in order, most did so in disarray, with many

getting completely cut off or fighting a series of hand-to-hand struggles to escape.

At the Murai River in particular, the Japanese moved down the river in strength and surrounded

the retreating defenders of the 2/19th with a series of roadblocks at their rear; while

on the northwest coast, the 2/20th's men were overwhelmed by the nine battalions of

the 5th Division, losing their commanding officer and suffering several ambushes that

inflicted heavy casualties upon the defenders.

From both of these battalions, only about a company each would manage to escape towards

the Tengah airfield.

Meanwhile, the 2/18th would successfully reach Ama Keng with half of its forces intact; yet

despite this, the 22nd Brigade had been effectively rendered combat ineffective.

With the invaders securing their position on the northwest coast of Singapore, Bennett

sent the reserve 2/29th Battalion to Tengah to support the defenders, while Percival also

prepared the 12th Indian Brigade to move to Keat Hong and occupy the Jurong Line for the

incoming Japanese attack.

In the meantime, the remnants of the 22nd Brigade sought to defend a line running east

of Tengah through the village of Bulim, trying to give time for their compatriots to get

to Jurong.

By nightfall, the Allied forces had completed their assembly at the Jurong Line, being further

reinforced by the 15th and 44th Indian Brigades.

But at the same time, after an increase of Japanese artillery fire, the Imperial Guards

Division started to cross the 1.1km-wide Kranji River at the Causeway Sector.

This time, the Australian machine gunners not only caused enormous losses on the invaders,

but they also managed to hold their ground.

Yet despite this, Brigadier Duncan Maxwell of the 27th Brigade decided to withdraw from

the critical Causeway Sector by midnight; it appears that he wanted the Malaya Command

to surrender to avoid a senseless slaughter.

Thus, after destroying their oil tanks, the defenders began to retreat to a perimeter

behind the Mandai Road and the Woodlands Road, allowing the Imperial Guards Division to safely

land without any further interference.

At this point, it would seem clear that the Japanese had completely concentrated at the

west of the island, but Percival would fail yet again to denude his other areas to adequately

reinforce the Jurong Line.

By the early morning of February 10, the Imperial Guards Division was still consolidating their

position at Kranji, and they were threatening the 11th Indian Division of General Key.

Immediately, Key sent the reserve 8th Indian Brigade to counterattack and recapture a position

just south of the former perimeter of the Australians.

This attack would fail, causing the death of many Indian defenders; and so, Percival

assigned the 27th Brigade under Key's command so he could use it to contain the Japanese

invaders.

Further south, the remnants of the 22nd Brigade finally abandoned Bulim to occupy the central

position of the Jurong Line, between the 12th and 44th Brigades.

In case this line fell to the enemy, Percival had also issued orders to take new positions

on an inner posn [point?].

Brigadier Taylor completely misread these orders upon receiving them, retreating towards

Reformatory Road while the Japanese started their attack on the 12th Brigade of Paris

. With the threat of getting outflanked by the Japanese to the north and west, Paris

then had no choice but to withdraw towards Bukit Pajang . This left a considerable hole

in the Jurong Line, and by midday, the invaders began to move down the road to attack the

southern end of the line.

In response, some Allied units undertook a limited withdrawal, causing a domino effect

that ended with both the 15th and 44th Brigades retreating eastwards . By afternoon, the Jurong

Line had been completely abandoned to the surprise of the Japanese, who hadn't even

engaged the defenders there . At the same time, General Wavell arrived at

Singapore and, after being informed of the British blunders, ordered the creation of

a fresh reserve , composed by three battalions of the yet-unused 18th Division, to help the

Allied units in their defense of the key Bukit Timah area.

He also ordered Bennett to launch a counterattack to regain the Jurong Line , using the 12th

Brigade to the right , the 15th Brigade in the center and the 22nd Brigade on the left

flank . By midnight, this operation would prove a disaster.

On the right, Paris lost half his forces due to desertions and the efficacy of tenacious

Japanese soldiers, while the 2/29th Battalion was pummeled by a strong tank attack that

forced them to retreat to Tengah.

Hot on their heels, the Japanese tanks would follow on and would capture the road junction

at Timah, severing the 12th from the rest of the Allied forces and forcing Paris to

retreat towards Tanglin.

Meanwhile, the 15th and 22nd Brigade had made some progress , but they were to be cut off

by the 5th Division, which was very close to taking Tengah.

The defenders would then be subsequently decimated by the 18th Division in the early hours of

February 11 , with few survivors escaping towards Pasir Panjang and Reformatory Road.

With his battlefront completely lost, Bennett desperately ordered the reserve Tomforce to

recapture Bukit Timah and then Bukit Panjang against the full might of the 5th and 18th

Divisions, who had now consolidated their positions.

Under the black clouds of burning oil, the British soldiers were, as expected, rapidly

repelled by the elite Japanese divisions, suffering heavy casualties and being forced

to retreat . Bennett now only counted with the Tomforce

at the Racecourse and with the 44th Brigade around Pasir Panjang, joined by the 1st Malaya

Brigade, the remnants of the 22nd Brigade and the 2nd Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders;

while east of the Racecourse, Percival ordered General Heath to organize the defense of Singapore

Town, who then established the Massy Force in a line that extended to Thompson village.

But to the north, Brigadier Maxwell yet again committed a terrible decision when he ordered

his 27th Brigade to launch a counterattack towards Bukit Panjang.

By the morning of February 12, the brigade had been surrounded and had to retreat, yet

again leaving Heath's left flank in great peril.

The general then acted accordingly and evacuated the Northern Area to better positions further

south , yet the Imperial Guards Division rapidly attacked the 8th Brigade near Nee Soon and

achieved a devastating victory.

At the same time, the 5th Division started its assault over the Racecourse, overcoming