SCOTLAND FEPOW TRUST · HISTORY & EDUCATION
Battle of Singapore
For a single week in February 1942, British, Indian, Australian and Malay troops fought to hold the island that had been called the Gibraltar of the East. When it fell on 15 February, tens of thousands of men began three and a half years of captivity.
A Fortress Besieged
With the Johore Causeway blown on 31 January 1942, the defenders of Malaya were concentrated on Singapore Island. On paper the garrison was large, but many units were exhausted and under strength after the long retreat down the peninsula, and others had arrived only weeks earlier, barely trained and without their equipment.
Singapore's great coastal guns had been sited chiefly to meet an attack from the sea. The threat now came from the north, across the narrow Strait of Johore, where the defences were thin and spread along a long, mangrove-fringed coastline. Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, uncertain where the blow would fall, dispersed his forces to cover the whole shore.
On the night of 8 February, after days of heavy shelling, the Japanese 25th Army under Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita crossed the Strait in assault boats and landed on the north-west coast, held by the Australians. Over the following days they pushed inland, seized the high ground at Bukit Timah with its food and fuel depots, and drove the defenders back towards the city.
By 14 February the defenders were packed into a shrinking perimeter around Singapore town, crowded with a million civilians, under constant bombing and shelling, with the water supply failing. On the afternoon of 15 February — Chinese New Year — Percival surrendered. It was the largest capitulation of British-led forces in history.
At a Glance
The fall of Singapore in numbers.
7 days
OF FIGHTING ON THE ISLAND
70 days
SINCE THE FIRST LANDINGS IN MALAYA
~80,000
ALLIED TROOPS TAKEN PRISONER
15 Feb
SURRENDER, 1942
Key Dates
31 JANUARY 1942
The last troops cross from the mainland and the Johore Causeway is blown. The siege of Singapore Island begins.
1 – 7 FEBRUARY 1942
Japanese artillery and aircraft pound the island while Yamashita prepares his assault. A feint landing on Pulau Ubin draws attention to the north-east.
8 FEBRUARY 1942 — NIGHT
Two Japanese divisions cross the Strait of Johore and land on the north-west coast, overwhelming the thinly spread Australian 22nd Brigade.
9 – 10 FEBRUARY 1942
The Imperial Guards attack at Kranji, near the Causeway. The defensive line between the Kranji and Jurong rivers gives way.
11 FEBRUARY 1942
Japanese forces capture Bukit Timah, the island's high ground and site of vital food and fuel stores. Yamashita calls on Percival to surrender.
13 – 14 FEBRUARY 1942
The Malay Regiment makes its stand at Pasir Panjang and Bukit Chandu. On 14 February Japanese troops kill staff and patients at Alexandra Hospital.
15 FEBRUARY 1942
With water and ammunition running out, Percival surrenders to Yamashita at the Ford Motor Factory at Bukit Timah. The ceasefire takes effect that evening.
“The worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history.”
— WINSTON CHURCHILL, ON THE FALL OF SINGAPORE
Scottish Regiments in Singapore
Two Scottish battalions fought in the final defence of the island, and their survivors went into captivity together.
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
Rebuilt after the Causeway crossing with Royal Marines from HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, the 2nd Battalion — the “Plymouth Argylls” — was thrown into the fighting around Bukit Timah and the Dairy Farm, where it was again badly cut up.
Gordon Highlanders
The 2nd Battalion, part of the island's pre-war garrison, held positions in the defence of Singapore through to the end. Most of its men were taken prisoner at the surrender and later sent north to labour on the Burma–Thailand Railway.