| 15 February 1942 British forces surrender Singapore |
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| The British colony of Malaya, dominated by the city
of Singapore at its southern tip, was rich in rubber and tin, both of which were essential resources
for the Japanese war effort. By 1941 the Japanese military had devised a plan to invade the peninsula,
and the task was entrusted to the Twenty-Fifth Army, under the command of General Yamashita Tomoyuki.
The first landings too place in early December, and on the 10 th the two most important British
ships in the region—the battleship Prince of Wales and the cruiser Repulse—were
sunk by Japanese aircraft. By the middle of January nearly all of Malaya was under Japanese control.
Singapore itself was ringed with coastal batteries, and considered virtually impregnable against a naval invasion. Few expected that the Japanese would advance on the city by land, since the jungles of southern Malaya were considered practically impassable. However, in early February Yamashita’s Twenty-Fifth Army arrived at Singapore’s doorstep, and the British authorities surrendered the city on February 15. Nearly 130,000 Allied soldiers were captured in the operation, leaving the resource-rich peninsula entirely in Japanese hands. Histories: Campaign Maps: |
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