Defence and Fall of Singapore 1941-1942 Book

Shortly after midnight on the 8 December 1941, two divisions of crack troops of the Imperial Japanese Army began a seaborne invasion of southern Thailand and northern Malaya. Their assault developed into a full-blown advance towards Singapore, the main defensive position of the British Empire in the Far East. The defending British, Indian, Australian and Malayan forces were out manoeuvred on the ground, overwhelmed in the air and scattered on the sea. By the end of January British Empire forces were driven back onto the island of Singapore itself, cut off from further outside help. When the Japanese stormed the island with an all-out assault, the defenders were quickly pushed back into a corner from which there was no escape. Singapore's defenders capitulated on February 15th, to prevent the wholesale pillage of the city itself. Their rapid and total defeat was nothing less than military humiliation and political disaster.

The surrender of Singapore was described by Winston Churchill as "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British military history." Based on the most extensive use yet of primary documents in Britain, Japan, Australia, and Singapore, Brian Farrell provides the fullest picture of how and why Singapore fell and its real significance to the outcome of the Second World War.

Author Biography: Brian P. Farrell is Associate Professor in Military History at the National University of Singapore where he has taught for over 10 years. He is the acknowledged world expert on the military history of Singapore and, in particular, the fall of Singapore in 1942. His other books include co-authoring Between Two Oceans: A Military History of Singapore.