Singapore!

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Singapore, 1942!!

Here with a series of blog entries, extracts and comments from the List Verse web site, articles that have a military dimension.

"10 Of The Most Embarrassing British Military Blunders"

"# 2 Singapore, 1942"

"They called the naval base at Singapore 'impregnable.' That seemed to be the extent of the British defensive strategy—hoping nicknames like 'the Gibraltar of the East' obscured the glaring vulnerabilities of a naval base two decades in the making."

The NAVAL base deemed as impregnable. And perhaps it was. But that over land route down the Malay Peninsula much less so!

* 80,000 troops of the British Empire surrendering to a Japanese force of about 40,000. That latter contingent[Japanese] almost out of ammunition and low on rations, nearly starving.

* Percival said to be less than inspiring from the military bearing standpoint but regardless considered as a worthy and competent officer. His command performance however to be either lacking or exceedingly lacking. It was even perceived somewhat correctly that Percival was UNIQUELY QUALIFIED for that Malay command position from his prior years as Chief of Staff [CoS] of the Singapore garrison.

* Battle of Britain experienced and very competent English combat aviators flying Spitfire warplanes having a very rough time when encountering the Japanese piloted Zero for the first time.

* At that exact moment [December 1941] the Malay Peninsula the greatest CASH COW for the British Empire, the English war effort supported in the main by the sale of exported rubber.

NOTHING DURING THE MALAY CAMPAIGN SEEMED TO GO RIGHT FOR THE BRITISH!

Land, sea, air, it did not matter. ALL BAD!

Let me also suggest that it was not so much that the English were BAD AS THE JAPANESE WERE GOOD!!

coolbert.