Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5, 1945. RETURN TO SINGAPORE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 237, 5 September 1945, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5, 1945. RETURN TO SINGAPORE.

"Japan is on the road to Singapore and nothing less than En rope can hold up the Emperor's advance." These forceful and prophetic words were spoken bj-- Sir lan Hamilton four years before Japan committed her treachery of Pearl Harbour and commenced the southward drive that took her armies to the gates of Australia and New Zealand. Singapore was one of the principal objectives of that drive., Possession of the great British naval base was essential to its success and on February 15, 1942, it fell to General. Yamashita after a campaign lasting a little more than two months. The Japanese triumph over the British race was complete, and throughout the Empire people were humbled at the thought that the structure erected at great cost, and embodying all the modern instruments of defence, had fallen so quickly in a staggering defeat to British arms. The enemy's victory and gloating were typified in the treatment accorded General Percival when he surrendered his forces to Yamashita. The shocking discourtesy of the fat and boastful Yamashita created a wave of feeling throughout the Empire that was reflected in the determined spirit of "back to Singapore," for Singapore was to the average British person what' Manila was to the average American. Both had to be avenged, to restore British and American prestige in the eyes of Asia's millions. General MacArthur's triumph in the Philippines has achieved _ the American objective. Now it is Britain's turn.

The Japanese have been ordered to deliver Singapore immediately and re-occupation will coincide with the restoration of Malaya in its entirety. The Federated Malay States have suffered severely under Japanese occupation. The enemy has been a hard task master and a bestial creature in his conquests. The marks of his foul 'presence will not be easily eradicated, and the natives and the prisoners who suffered and lived through a nightmare of torture and barbarism will never forget their existence in the past three and a half years. "Whether the peoples of Australia and New Zealand enjoy happiness depends on whether their Governments understand Japan's real intentions—a just attitude to them.' These words were spoken by the Prime Minister, Tojo, when addressing the Diet on the day after Singapore fell, and their meaning could not be disguised. The warning was explicit. Japan's "just attitude" has been seen in every country she despoiled and there is a note of profound relief in the victory over her. Nowhere was it greater than in these islands and in Australia when the tide turned. As the wheel revolves full circle in the Malayan States and elsewhere there" comes a great responsibility. General Percival has submitted a report on why Singapore fell. It" will go straight to the depths of the case and every British statesman will be calledupon to see'that misdeeds of the past are not repeated, that the fullest responsibilities of government are discharged for the natives' welfare and Empire security. Our return to Singapore ends an unhappy chapter in British .history.