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Singapore: The Pregnable Fortress A Study in Deception, Discord & Desertion
The fall of Singapore in 1942 was the largest capitulation in British military history, and Winston Churchill's "worst disaster". Churchill's promised enquiry was never instituted, and only in 1993 were many crucial official documents released into the public domain. The author of this book investigates these dcouments, meets the existing participants, and tells the story of the fall of Singapore in full.
Paperback
Published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2022
This book needs to be read for what it is, the first substantial account of why Singapore fell so quickly to the Japanese in 1942 based on archival material material released under the fifty year rule. It is an attempt to substantiate many things which had been said in other previous histories. It is at best a first draft of the history of Singapore's fall. There is a great deal a fascinating information and, I would imagine, it still has value to a student of the period. It is not and does not pretend to be a narrative history. It presupposes a familiarity with what happened and the controversies, still very real to the survivors - few in number though they have been - still alive in the 1990s. It is not the book for a someone looking for a decent history of the events around the surrender of Singapore in 1942. Good book that it is I must say it's time has passed and readers need to look for more up to date histories (or look to fiction - I think one of the best books for this period is J G Farrell's wonderful 'The Singapore Grip - and please do not let the recent woeful TV adaptation stop you from reading this book).
August 3, 2014
I wrote a reasonably substantial review on this book utilising my phone but due to the paucity of my phone providers coverage it failed to upload and I lost it grrr!!!. To that end here is a condensed version.
The author goes into great detail about the events leading to the fall of Singapore and his accounts about the intelligence aspect and fifth columnist activities are very interesting and the detail of which make this book differ in its execution compared to many other books on the subject.
The book then delves into the campaign it self in relatively disappointing detail. the battles of Slim River and Maur and the ambush at Gemas receive barley a more than a page each. However the account of Operation Matador and the initial landings more thorough.
The author than tackles the controversial issue of the deserters, particularly the Indians who went on to join the INA, and the Australian's. The latter in particular is portrayed in a way that is a blow to national pride. The picture the author paints is of practically the whole two brigades of the 8th Division stationed in Malaya deserting their posts during the last days of resistance on Singapore Island itself. He constantly regurgitates the same stories, albeit from different sources about the Australian deserters in this takes up a significant amount of the book. Doubtless there were many instances of this, and many of the Australian reinforcements that did arrive in the final weeks were criminally under trained and subsequently discipline amongst many sub units did break down. National pride aside I think the impact of these desertions, and the scale are over emphasised. Indeed in the chapter dealing with the fall of Singapore itself the author states words to the affect of, "it is unnecessary to discuss in detail the fighting on Singapore Island itself" WTF! That would have been the crux of the book I'd though and consequently the desperate and vicious fighting that subsequently is ignored paints a picture of a formation totally broken and giving up days before the capitulation. This In my opinion was not the case and there is so much more to the fall of Singapore than the Australian deserters.
That aside it wasn't a bad book and it approached the Malayan Campaign from a different angle which for the most part was interesting. So much for a condensed review ;)
Cheers
The author goes into great detail about the events leading to the fall of Singapore and his accounts about the intelligence aspect and fifth columnist activities are very interesting and the detail of which make this book differ in its execution compared to many other books on the subject.
The book then delves into the campaign it self in relatively disappointing detail. the battles of Slim River and Maur and the ambush at Gemas receive barley a more than a page each. However the account of Operation Matador and the initial landings more thorough.
The author than tackles the controversial issue of the deserters, particularly the Indians who went on to join the INA, and the Australian's. The latter in particular is portrayed in a way that is a blow to national pride. The picture the author paints is of practically the whole two brigades of the 8th Division stationed in Malaya deserting their posts during the last days of resistance on Singapore Island itself. He constantly regurgitates the same stories, albeit from different sources about the Australian deserters in this takes up a significant amount of the book. Doubtless there were many instances of this, and many of the Australian reinforcements that did arrive in the final weeks were criminally under trained and subsequently discipline amongst many sub units did break down. National pride aside I think the impact of these desertions, and the scale are over emphasised. Indeed in the chapter dealing with the fall of Singapore itself the author states words to the affect of, "it is unnecessary to discuss in detail the fighting on Singapore Island itself" WTF! That would have been the crux of the book I'd though and consequently the desperate and vicious fighting that subsequently is ignored paints a picture of a formation totally broken and giving up days before the capitulation. This In my opinion was not the case and there is so much more to the fall of Singapore than the Australian deserters.
That aside it wasn't a bad book and it approached the Malayan Campaign from a different angle which for the most part was interesting. So much for a condensed review ;)
Cheers
May 12, 2013
Good God, man! Read some Cornelius Ryan and discover how to make a book on a war topic fascinating and can't-put-downable.
One more passive tense sentence, one more name-dropped general with no other information than his name--- get to the freaking STORY already! The background on the SNAFUS getting the base built could have been covered in one chapter.
THEN give us the dirt on how the Japanese commenced their invasion. Add some human interest stories, and keep people turning pages.
I was bored after one chapter. Just because you write nonfiction doesn't mean it needs to be dry and uninteresting. But Elphick has done it.
One more passive tense sentence, one more name-dropped general with no other information than his name--- get to the freaking STORY already! The background on the SNAFUS getting the base built could have been covered in one chapter.
THEN give us the dirt on how the Japanese commenced their invasion. Add some human interest stories, and keep people turning pages.
I was bored after one chapter. Just because you write nonfiction doesn't mean it needs to be dry and uninteresting. But Elphick has done it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews