ABSTRACT
Singapore was impregnable, a legendary fortress so strong as to make an attack unthinkable and a siege pointless. The island of Singapore, a great low-lying oblong seventy-two miles around, is separated from the Malayan peninsula by the narrow Strait of Johore. Most of the population was concentrated to the southeast in the city of Singapore. While the population of Singapore went about business as usual, the Japanese domination of the air came as swiftly as their successes on land. Radio Singapore continued broadcasting plays and music “to build an audience.” The British High Command in Singapore had been very slow indeed to react to the growing urgency of the military situation. So long nurtured on illusion, the civilians hated to grasp the fact of defeat. Immediately the Japanese began to direct heavy fire on the Changi Fortress. When the Japanese point reached the Tengah airfield, the British gunners fired their fortress guns at point-blank range and withdrew.
