TROOPS ON ISLAND

Waikato Times, Volume 130, Issue 21656, 17 February 1942, Page 3

TROOPS ON ISLAND

NUMBERS NOT CERTAIN EMPIRE SHARES LOSSES GOVERNOR’S TELEGRAMS (Official Wireless) (Received Feb. 17, 12.30 p.m.) RUGBY, Feb. 16 Allied forces in Singapore included ! the 18th British Division, two-thirds j of the Bth Australian Division, the | 9th and 11th Indian Divisions and j certain fortress troops. It is impossible to estimate the i number of troops involved as the i British forces have been constantly : engaged in the bitter Malayan fighting and probably were severely weakened by casualties. j A telegram received on Saturday in London from Sir Shenton Thomas, Governor of Malaya, said there were . 1,000,000 people concentrated within j a radius of three miles and the water supplies were very badly damaged j and unlikely to last more than 24 | hours. ! The last telegram received from j the Governor, probably sent about the time of the surrender, said the | civil population was quiet but be- j wildered, that the passive defence and fire services were carrying on ' and that telephone girls were still at j their posts. ! There is no official information j from British sources regarding the : evacuation of any Allied forces from i Singapore as the Japanese have been i stating. The policy at Singapore was | to fight to the last man, and it is i stated in official quarters in London > that it would be misleading to imply i that there was any large-scale with- \ drawal of troops. The evacuation of j seme women and children and wounded has, however, taken place. Forces Engaged The British War Office disclosed that British Imperial forces which took part in the Malayan campaign | and the defence of Singapore included the following:—The 18th j British Division, comprising the 53rd, 54th and 55th Infantry Brigades, comprising battalions of the Royal; Northumberland Fusliers, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, the Cambridgeshire Regiment, the Suffolk Regi- j ment, the Bedfordshire and Hertford- j shire Regiments and the Wood For- ! esters. Also included were the Bth Aus- I tralian Division of the 22nd and 27th ’ A.I.F. Brigades, and the 9th and 11th Indian Divisions, which contained battalions of the following British regiments: First Surrey Regiment, j Leicestershire Regiment and Argyl j and Sutherland Highlanders, as well { as battalions of the following Indian regiments: Punjab Regiment, Jat Regiment, Rajputana Rifles, Royal Garhwal Rifles, Dogra Regiment, Baluch Regiment, Hyderabad Regiment, Sikh'Regiment, Frontier Force Regiment, Frontier Force Rifles, Gurkha Rifles and battalions of the Indian State Forces. The first and second Malay infantry brigades contained battalions of \ the following British regiments, as well as Indian and Malayan battalions: Royal Regiment of Gordon Highlanders, Manchester Regiment. Besides artillery regiments included in the above field formations there were numbers of coast artillery units, anti-aircraft regiments, antitank regiments and searchlight units. In addition to engineer units included in the field formations there were numbers of fortress companies and army troops companies. The foregoing also includes the Royal Corps of Signals, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps and Auxiliary services. A number of local battalions also took part in the defence of the island.