Picto Diary - 11 April 2017 - Part Two - Singapore
Above: Bishop at Battlebox. Fort Canning Hill, Singapore. 11 April 2017.
Battlebox housed the command of British Forces in Malaya in February 1942. It was from this site, after seventy days of fighting on the Malayan peninsula, that on 15 February 1942, British forces surrendered to the Japanese command. Per Winston Churchill, the surrender of Singapore was the darkest hour in British military history.
Parallel. Battlebox and Corregidor, the island fortress in Manila Bay where Jonathan Wainwright, US commander, held out until his surrender of US forces to the Japanese on 06 May 1942. TIMDT and Mwah (sic) visited Corregidor more than once during our stay in PI from 1979 to 1982.
Above: Arthur Ernest Percival, Lt. General in charge of UK forces in Singapore marches out of the Battlebox, 15 February 1942, with the Union Jack under a white flag of surrender to the Japanese. 11 April 2017.
Above: Three images from Singapore National Museum. 11 April 2017.
1. Comparison of strengths of British and Japanese forces at the beginning of the Singapore campaign.
2. Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese commander Singapore campaign. Image at time of surrender.
3. Arthur Ernest Percival, British commander Singapore campaign. Image at time of surrender.
Brits had double the troops of the Japs (war time lingo), but lost Singapore after 70 days of "resistance" on 15 February 1942. To be fair, the Brits had far less aircraft and tanks than did the Japanese. The British naval complement, led by the battleship Prince of Wales was knocked out by Japanese air power early in the skirmish for Singapore.
At the risk of type casting, shots of the winner (Tomoyuki Yamashita) and the loser (Arthur Ernest Percival) generals at surrender proceedings seem stereotypically apt. Just this quick look at Percival reminded me of Ian Hamilton, commander of another failed British military effort, Gallipoli, during 1915. No doubt about it... Yamashita had the tougher look about him.
Yamashita's troops rode bicycles 500 miles from the Malaya landing beaches to reach Singapore.
Yamashita was a seasoned field commander with victories in Manchuria and Korea. "Percy" and the Brits just weren't up to the job.
Churchill called Singapore a low point in British military history. Some would call Churchill audacious for making this statement, considering Churchill's personal engineering of Britain's fail at Gallipoli during 1915.
There is also a parallel between Percival and US general Jonathan Wainwright, who, almost simultaneous with Percival's defeat, was the senior US officer at the time of Japan's defeat of US forces in the Philippines. Both Percival and Wainwright spent the duration of the war in a Japanese prison camp. Both Generals, wan and emaciated, were invited by Douglas MacArthur to join the Japan surrender proceedings on the US Missouri battleship after the war. Yamashita was one of the Japanese representatives at the surrender, and there, Percival refused to shake his hand.
Addendum:
Thank you for sharing these wonderful pics...can see you both are having a great time!
Maui and 'Cake
Maui, HA
Thanks Steve. I knew that mission president and sometime when you get back it would be fun to compare notes. He was his own worst enemy.
The Monk,
Salina, UT
Quite a story. Torquemada should be present for the discussion.
Karen and I I don't recognize the Singapore of your visits. Its far different from the one we frequented 69-82 when living in Jakarta, Manila and Kuala Lumpur. Indonesia in 69 was a 3rd World county with few amenities and Singapore was a welcome escape. During one of our trips Singapore was hosting a Conference of the Commonwealth of Nations . We had to leave our hotel for another one as then U.K.Prime Minister Heath was to stay there. Additionally, we saw the distinctive profile of Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus as his car was passing the Intercontinental Hotel. While Ugandan President Milton Obote was attending the Conference.he was deposed by General Idi Amin in a coup.
Thank You.
Spook,
Reston, VA
Debbie and I lived in Singapore ~ 1980-1982.
David Gibson was S. Asia Division Head(reported to him while pushing "Electronic Banking"
aka as Cash Management in NY, in his countries.
No Internet then so Citi corporate built, from scratch, it's own electronic network.
Bought international lines from country telcos, setup router/modems etc and built the network.
A memorable visit to show the Sultan of Brunei, while in his Palace basement, that he indeed had $110 million in his new Citi
account in Switzerland.(Dick Huber referred to this story before).
Tom Dunton was CCO Singapore then.
Oldest kids, Anjuli and Kimberly were born there.
Hand,
San Jose, CA
Steve
In 2015, I went to Myanmar. We visited Mandalay and Bagan. We took a small bus between Mandalay and Bagan so we saw a lot of the countryside. In Bagan, we saw some of the most magnificent temples that I have ever seen. They were so much more impressive than Angkor Wat. The hotel in Bagan was on the Irriwaddy river.
I did not make it to Yangon or Inle Lake. Everyone said we should see Inle Lake. What was Yangon like.
I am attaching a couple of photos from Bagan.
The Pope,
Tallahassee, FL
Pope. We went to Yangon and Bago... but my writing is behind. See current notes on Facebook or wait a few days for the diary version via email.