75 years since Singapore fell

Scorch of the rising sun

Britain's failure - due to its war commitments in Europe - to dispatch armed reinforcements and replacement troops, and the Allied troops' inadequacy in jungle warfare in the Battle of Malaya consigned them to a bitter defeat in just 55 days. Singapore's meek capitulation in Japanese hands followed swiftly in mid-February 1942.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 13, 2017, with the headline Scorch of the rising sun. Subscribe