Singapore to God

"We are all in the hands of God, from Whom we can get comfort in our anxieties and strength to play the man and help one another in all the ordeals which are to come."

Almost as the words were spoken by Singapore's Governor Sir Shenton Thomas, the fast moving Japanese piled ordeal upon ordeal for the besieged island.

In daylight hours enemy bombers smashed at the artillery which, with outnumbered manpower, was Singapore's chief hope of salvation. After nightfall enemy fire knocked out the searchlights that had fingered the shoreline, alert for infiltration. From then until late moonrise the enemy landed secretly and crept silently through shoreline marshes, headed for the Singapore end of the Causeway. They came in increasing numbers, careless of casualties. Machine gun bullets struck sparks on steel landing craft the Japs were using to cross from Johore. The defending troops fell back and fell back again.

When daylight came again the bombers recommenced their deadly work on artillery emplacements and lines that were held by courage, not strength. A khaki flood was pouring on Singapore along a two-mile front between Sungei Mandai and Sungei Kranji. The sprawling suburbs of Singapore heard the whine of machine gun bullets almost constantly above the roar of strafing planes. In the whole day there were only 31 minutes free from bombing from the air. Defending artillery fire still rumbled comfortingly, but it seemed to lessen. The skies were red with the flames of burning oil tanks, and then smoke palled the air. Singapore radio suddenly went dead.

Singapore's defenders knew the stakes. If they should fail all United Nations bases from Suez to Pearl Harbor would be in hazard. Japan's Malayan forces would be free to attack Java, Burma, perhaps Australia. With evacuation almost impossible, it would deal a heavy blow in manpower. Some 60,000 British troops were on the island. And it would give Japan a free passage to the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Knowing these things Singapore's defenders fought bravely and well, but bravery was not enough.

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