NEGLECT CAUSED SINGAPORE’S FALL: PERCIVAL’S STORY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22947, 16 May 1949, Page 6

NEGLECT CAUSED SINGAPORE’S FALL: PERCIVAL’S STORY

LONDON, April 26.

“Singapore fell because Britons at home had forgotten the responsibilities of Empire-” This, says the Daily Mail reviewer, is the conclusion reached by Lieuten-ant-General A. E. Percival in the story of the campaign, now fully told for the first time in his book, “The War in Malaya.” Recalling that Lieutenant-General Percival, as Commander in Malaya, was one of the scapegoats found for the fall of Singapore, the Daily Mail summarises his reasons for the disaster which rocked the Empire as: Firstly, Britain, in peacetime, failed to provide adequate protection for her vast and fat possessions, of which Malaya was one of the richest. Secondly, there was no co-operation between the civil administratiofi and the services in Malaya. The. Army’s presence was resented as an intrusion on business activity. When, in 1937, in preparation for possible war, it was proposed to fortify Penang, a local newspaper said that a military population near the town would not be a pleasant experience for, “without meaning any offence, we know what soldiers are.”

Even at the height of the campaign in 1942 there were strong protests when the Army wanted to fell rubber trees in order to make gun-sites. Relied on Navy

According to - Lieutenant-General Percival, a third reason for the defeat was that British strategy was based on the assumption that the Navy would always be available and would control sea communications.

This strategy was not modified when nearly all British resources were needed to meet the threat from Germany and Italy. Fourthly, Army dispositions in Malaya were dictated largely by the necessity of defending aerodromes from which large air forces were expected to operate. The Daily Mail says: “LieutenantGeneral Percival’s painstaking report unfolds a melancholy story, relieved only by the gallantry of his men — British, Indian, Australian and Malay. "Nothing was ever in proper strength or supply. Nothing was ever adequately prepared. "Untrained Men” “The troops were insufficient, mostly new and untried, and utterly untrained in jungle warfare- All they had was valour. , “The fleet was unbalanced and the Air Force small and out-dated. “Everythng went wrong. The troops’ camps, built in rubber plantations to give air cover, were so dark and damp that fighting efficiency was affected by “rubberitis.’ “The unhappy tale is told without recriminations by the man who bore much of the blame. One thing is plain —the British. Australian and Indian soldier, as ever, acquitted _ himself honourably in battle and his commanders did their duty. No fault attaches to them.”