Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1942. SINGAPORE'S FALL.

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 February 1942, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1942. SINGAPORE'S FALL.

i O NE of the gravest setbacks suffered by the cause of Hie ! Allies since the outbreak of the j war is the fall of Singapore, which lias gone down after a gallant but hopeless resistance, before the ruthless attack waged by the Japanese on the lines of a Nazi blitzkrieg. This loss of one of the Empire’s strongest outposts is but another demonstration of the tragic consequences attaching to the lack of adequate aerial forces. The small band of Allied airmen performed prodigies of valour, taking their full toll of the enemy, but found the odds too great, and the Japanese bombers and fighters (were thus able to have their way in mercilessly strafing the ground I defenders. To the Allied sea and land forces, also, high tributes are due; they did their utmost with the resources available, and no men could have done more. The enemy have been made to pay dearly for their triumph, and the ranks of the “honourable ancestors” have received many recruits. When the full story of the defence of Singapore is written, the men of the defence forces will have no cause for shame.

It has often been said that “pride goeth before a fall,” and a regrettable example of this is the fall of the great naval base of Singapore. Devastated and useless,

it is now the subject of bitter memories. The millions of pounds sunk in it might as well have been thrown into the island’s swamps, and the confident statements regarding its impregnability have been rapidly disproved. It was always expected that, should Singapore be called upon to play its part in a Far Eastern conflict, any attack would come from the sea. As “The Times’s” correspondent has said, the naval base was “tucked away at the back of the island, as though a possible attack from the mainland never occurred to its designers.” Enemy aircraft, in possession of bases in Malaya, sealed the fate of Singapore. There may be some slight consolation in the thought that, taking a long view of the war, it never pays to hold on to military positions when they have lost their value. The Soviet armies retreated, but saved their strength for a successful counteroffensive. If Allied reinforcements are rushed to the scene, there is still hope that the Japanese advance will be stopped, and the present danger to the remainder of the Pacific area removed. Mr. Churchill has described the loss of Singapore as a “-heavy and far-reaching defeat.” It has been alleged that he was responsible for the diversion of air reinforcements, intended for the Far East, to the Middle East, and, in that case, he must accept a good deal of the responsibility for the latest reverse to Allied arms. There is an increasing tendency in Britain to regard the Prime Minister as inclined to carry too large a portion of the enormous war burden, and the opinion is growing that he should delegate some of his duties to competent assistants. It is doubtful, however, whether the secretary of the London Trade Council will receive much support for his view that the nation is being “stupified by the Churchillian oratory, and drugged by highsounding phrases after every reverse.” The Prime Minister’s latest broadcast,is a clear call for greater efforts by Britain and her Allies, to which the Singapore setback gives added point. An all-in effort is more than ever essential, and any defects in the conduct 01. the war must be ruthlessly eliminated. Meanwhile, Japan is gathering the early fruits of her welltimed entry into hostilities; but the final shot in the Pacific conflict has not yet been fired.