James Baquet The Battle of Singapore is also called “the Fall of Singapore,” as it ended in what the British prime minister at the time, Winston Churchill, called “the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history.” Singapore had been nicknamed the “Gibraltar of the East” for its supposed impregnability. But in February 1942 that strength was tested — and found wanting. The Japanese had already taken Pearl Harbor, Malaya and Thailand the previous December, in addition to maintaining their stronghold in northern China. Unfortunately for Singapore, the Germans had intercepted a British communication (Britain held Singapore at the time) describing the weaknesses of “Fortress Singapore” and passed it on to the Japanese, who broke the encoded message and learned just how to take the island. After several days of shelling by artillery and aerial bombardments, the Japanese landed Feb. 8 unexpectedly on Singapore’s northwest side. The Australians protecting the island had expected them to land on the northeast. As darkness fell, the Japanese were able to use the area’s many waterways to sneak past or overwhelm the small pockets of Allied soldiers broken up by those same waterways. By 1 a.m. Feb. 9, all of Japan’s initial objectives were achieved. Fighting continued for several days, with a number of atrocities recorded, including a massacre of 200 unarmed doctors, nurses and patients at the Alexandra Barracks Hospital. On Feb. 15, the Allies surrendered. The blow was magnified by Singapore’s importance as a base for Allied operations in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. During the next 3.5 years, the Japanese army instigated many more atrocities, including persecution of thousands of Chinese residents in the Sook Ching massacre in February and March 1942. Other ethnic groups, such as Malays and Indians, were also maltreated. And Allied POWs were deported in so-called “hell ships” to serve as forced labor in Japanese projects around Asia. Singapore would not be free again until the Japanese surrender in September 1945. Vocabulary: Which words above mean: 1. taken while in transit 2. place where military people sleep 3. abused, treated poorly 4. cruel, brutal acts 5. inability to be taken 6. head of a parliamentary government 7. written in a secret language 8. started 9. lacking, absent 10. surrender | 