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A strong criticism of English conduct of European affairs, but no desire to take active share (except that one man said that U.S.A. would never allow England & Empire to go under! America thinks England's day is done.) Real friendliness. Glad to meet you. Good-tempered. Kindness of heart. The Fall of Singapore: While the United States reeled from savage blows in Hawaii and the Philippines, the Japanese unleashed a multiple offensive on the Asian mainland. The Indochinese colonies of defeated France had already been occupied; now it was Britain's turn. Native populations under the Empire were restive, if not a actually hostile, and as the hitherto dominant white tuans faltered, the Asiatic peoples proved willingly subject to Japanese propaganda. The Royal Navy adhered to obsolete tactics. Hong Kong was entirely isolated and fell on Christmas Day. Singapore, vaunted island citadel of the Orient, had all its guns and fortifications facing seaward and lay open to the Malayan land side, from which the attack developed. Wearing sneakers, carrying small sacks of rice, venerating their Emperor and believing implicitly in their commanders, some two hundred thousand Japanese soldiers rushed like lizards through the Malayan jungle. The British kept falling back, only to find their enemy already installed behind them. "It's like trying to build a wall out of quicksand," said one despairing officer. Within six weeks the Japanese had taken the peninsula. The British withdrew into Singapore, swarming with refugees, but Sir Arthur Percival, the commanding general, found himself outnumbered and outmaneuvered. With more than seventy thousand men, he surrendered on February 15, 1942. It was the worst military disaster ever suffered by any European nation in the Orient. Great Britain: Military Personnel--4,683,000; Killed & Missing--271,311; Wounded--277,077; POWs--172,592 |
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