The Situation Worsened for Singapore

I forgot to add this part, so here it is. Sorry if i messed up the sequence.

The Japanese soldiers, however, were well-trained in jungle warfare, and so the jungles of Malaya were not a problem to them. While the Japanese were invading Malaya, they also dropped bombs on Singapore. The British fighter planes were outnumbered by the Japanese "Zero" fighters. Soon, the British moved their planes from the airfields in Singapore to Sumatra. The airfields in Singapore were abandoned before the Japanese soldiers landed on the island. The British air defence failed to protect Singapore. In addition, the Singapore Naval Base was destroyed by the British themselves to prevent the Japanese from making use of it. The air and sea defences of the British had thus been crippled. By 31 January 1942, the Japanese were already in Johor Bahru - the doorstep of Singapore. Only a damaged Causeway separated Johor Bahru from Singapore.


1. The Japanese Headquarters

The Japanese Commander, General Yamashita, set up his headquarters at the Sultan of Johor's palace. The choice was a clever one because the palace had a five-storey high tower. From this tower, General Yamashita could see every key target in northern Singapore. Although the tower was an easy target for the British, Yamashita was confident that the British would not fire at the home of their old friend, Sultan Ibrahim. He was right.


2. The Fake Attack

To mislead the British, the Japanese in Johor made intense bombings at Changi. To make it even more convincing, the Japanese attacked Pulau Ubin on 7 February 1942. Thinking that the Japanese intended to invade Singapore from the northeast, the British moved precious stocks of defence supplies like petrol and explosives from the northwest to the northeast. This was exactly what the Japanes had wanted the British to do.


3. Landings from the Northwest

Since the narrowest point of the Johor Strait was at the northwest of Singapore, it was easy for the Japanese to cross the Strait there. But the British had not stationed a large number of troops there. The Japanese found it easy to send divisions of soldiers across from Johor to Singapore in rubber boats and on rafts. Some of their tanks were also floated across the Johor Strait. The Allied soldiers, who had too large an area to defend, opened fire at the Japanese but could not stop them.


4. The British Blunder

The Japanese quickly repaired the Causeway so that both men and equipment could move easily into Singapore. To prepare for the worst, the British Commander, General A.E. Percival, made plans for the British soldiers to withdraw to protect the town centre if the situation called for it. When Percival issued the secret plans in the midst of the battle, they were interpreted as a command to withdraw immediately. Thus, many of the British soldiers on the western part of the island withdrew even before the Japanese soldiers moved into the area. When the mistake was discovered, orders were given to counter-attack, but these were carried out half-heartedly. By then, the Japanese had gained control of Bukit Timah.


5. The Battle of Bukit Timah

On 11 February, the Japanese reached the Bukit Timah area. It was an important place as the British had stocked up food and ammunition as well as vehicle and machine parts there. The north-eastern slope of the hill faced a reservoir, which was vital source of water supply. It was here that the fiercest fighting took place. Armed only with swords, grenades, rifles and guns that they used for hunting birds and animals, the Chinese Volunteers fought bravely, side by side with the Allied soldiers. Many on both sides were killed. The Japanese later took revenge on the Chinese by killing all the Chinese men, women and children found in the village.


6. The Battle of Pasir Panjang

By 13 February 1942, the Japanese had already reached Pasir Panjang Ridge (Kent Ridge Park). It was close to the Alexandra area where the main ammunition stores and British military hospital were located.
There, some men of the Malay Regiment, led by Lieutenant (Lt.) Adnan bin Saidi fought bravely. Many of the Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded. The next day, some Japanese soldiers tried to disguise themselves as Indian soldiers in the British army. It was Lt. Adnan who was sharp enough to noticed that those familiar turbaned figures were marching in fours instead of the usual threes in the British army. He ordered his solders to open fire, killing several of them. This cause the rest of the Japanese to flee down the hill.
But, the Japanese were soon able to surround the hill. The Malays were heavily outnumbered. Fierce hand-to-hand bayonet fighting took place. Many soldiers on both sides were killed. Lt. Adnan was also hit by the enemy's fire. In spite of his wounds, he kept on fighting. He was later captured by the Japanese and stabbed to death.


7. Decision at Fort Canning

15 February was Chinese New Year's day. A meeting was held in the underground bunker of Fort Canning. Percival wanted to discuss ways to counter-attack but his commanders were against the idea. There were too many problems. The soldiers were tired. The prospect of street fighting meant more would be killed. Their supplies of food and water were running out. To prevent further bloodshed, they decided to surrender.


8. The Bluff That Worked

The British surrendered to the Japanese at the Ford Motor Factory in Bukit Timah. It was a cheerless New Year's day for the Chinese. Unknown to Percival, Yamashita had also used up most of his ammunition. Whatever weapons he had were those which the British had left behind in their hasty retreat. Yamashita's soldiers were outnumbered by more than three to one.

Here's a short video during the Japanese Occupation. Enjoy!! =]

Consequences

Although the British had been welcomed back into Singapore, the fact remained that the British had failed to defend Singapore, and in the eyes of many Singaporeans this had cost them their credibility as infallible rulers. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of nationalist and anti-colonial sentiments. Hence, the Japanese Occupation caused the path to eventual independence to be greatly accelerated, as public confidence in the ability of their British leaders in protecting them and their ways of life crumbled.

The British defeat by the Japanese (who were Asians) showed that the Europeans were not superior to the Asians. After the war, many Asians did not respect the British as much as they had done before the war.

The sufferings that the people went through during the Japanese occupation also taught the people to see the need to get rid of their foreign masters. In the words of Lee Kuan Yew, who later became the first Prime Minister of Singapore,

"My colleages and I are of that generation of young men who went through the Second World War and the Japanese Occupation and became determined that no one - neither the Japanese nor the British - had the right to push and kick us around. We were determined that we could govern ourselves and bring up our children in a country where we can be a self-respecting people."

End of the Occupation

On the 6th and 9th of August, 1945, US B-29 bombers dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It had been about 3 years and 8 months since the Japanese first bombed United States naval base, Pearl Harbor. The United States had remained a neutral party during World War II until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a decisive move in ending the Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia. By this time, the Japanese forces had lost their will to continue the war and allowed Allied forces to send in reinforcements and food supplies. Prisoners-of-war were checked by the medical officers and arrangements were made to send them home.

On 12 September 1945, huge crowds gathered at the Padang and cheered for the return of the British. In the Municipal Building (now City Hall), Jpanese military leaders signed a surrender document which was accepted by the Supreme Allied Comander for Southeast Asia, Lord Louis Mountbatten.

After the surrender, there was a state of anomie in Singapore, as the British had not arrived to take control, while the Japanese occupiers had a considerably weakened hold over the populace. Incidents of looting and revenge-killing were widespread. Much of the infrastructure had been wrecked, including the harbor facilities and electricity, water supply, and telephone services. It would take four or five years for the economy to return to pre-war levels. When British troops finally arrived they were met with cheering and fanfare. Lord Louis Mountbatten came to Singapore to receive formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the region from General Itagaki Seishiro on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi on September 12, 1945 and a British Military Administration was formed to govern the island until March 1946.

Operations against the Japanese

The people of Singapore resented Japanese rule. Anti-Japanese groups were formed to fight against the Japanese. For example, the Malayan Communist Party formed the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). Members of MPAJA would carry out sudden attacks on the Japanese military whenever they had the chance.

Another group which aimed to help the British recapture Malaya and Singapore from the Japanese was Force 136. The British set up this secret organisation to gahter information about the Japanese and organise sabotages activities. Members were secretly trained in India and sent secretly to Malaya to help the MPAJA in its fight against the Japanese. One of the leaders of Force136 was Lim Bo Seng who was betrayed by a fisherman named Chua Koon Eng, who revealed to the Japanese the location of the spies without even being tortured. Most of the men were captured, tortured and mistreated, and eventually Lim Bo Seng was killed. He never revealed any information about Force 136 while he was tortured.

Life during the Japanese Occupation

The Japanese Occupation is generally regarded by Singaporeans as the darkest period of Singaporean history. The Japanese had claimed that they were liberating Southeast Asia from colonialism, but in reality they were far harsher rulers than the British ever were.

To remove Western influence, the Japanese promoted the Japanese spirit. Every school, government building and Japanese company began with a morning assembly. Those present at such gatherings had to stand facing the direction if Japan and sing the Japanese national anthem. Teachers had to learn Japanese several times a week. The students received their daily Japanese lessons on the schools' broadcasting service. Radio stations were controlled by the Japanese and people could only listen to local broadcast. Those caught tunning in to foreign broadcasting stations were severely punished or killed.

Resources were scarce during the Occupation because Singapore's entrepot trade was disrupted and all available resources were used to support Japan's war efforts in other parts of Asia.

Rationing was introduced to control the sale of essential items like rice, salt and sugar. Once a month, people would line up at the kumiai shop (distrubution association) for hours to purchase whatever retions that were available.

Many people lived in poverty and suffered from malnutrition and disease. Essential foodstuffs

like rice were sold at high prices in the blackmarkets.
The Japanese issued banana money as their main currency, giving them further control over the economy as Straits currency became rare. Whenever the authorities needed more money they simply printed more notes. The 'banana notes' were also printed on inferior quality paper with no serial numbers and could be forged easily. As there were a lot of 'banana notes', the value of the notes dropped leading to soaring prices. Hence life became harder.

How were the people of Singapore treated under the Japanese?

At the slightest offence,punishment was swift and severe.Many anti-Japanese suspects were subjected to terrible torture or put in prison camps.

The Europeans were interned.

The Eurasians were treated harshly because the Japanese felt they were a threat to them.They were either interned or executed.

The Japanese tried to win the Indians and Malays by convincing them that Japan would free them from the British rule as they felt that they are not a threat to them.They were not spared either.Some Malays were drafted for forced labour at the 'Death Raliway' camp.

The Chinese received the harshes treatment.The Japanese perceived the Chinese as a threat to their rule because they sent money to help China's resistance and they also called for a boycott of japanese goods.Some even returned to China to join in the fight against the Japanese.They were also forced to contribute 50 million to Japn's war effort.

The Kempeitai carried out Sook Ching which aimed to identify and eliminate suspected anti-Japanese elements among the Chinese community.All Chinese men between 18 and 50 years old were told to report at certain centres.They were 'examined' by the Japanese.The lucky ones who were not identified were given a small piece of paper and were allowed to go home.Those who were identified were taken in lorries to Changi and other beaches to be killed.