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The Garrison |
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Once the British forces had retreated to Singapore Island, measures were put in place to defend it from the inevitable Japanese attack. Bennett's two depleted Australian battalions were allocated the western sector of the Island. They were considered the most seasoned soldiers available and this was where both Wavell and Bennett believed the main attack would fall. 1800 raw volunteers hurried from Australia along with the 2/4th Australian Machine Gun battalion reinforced these. Another British division, Indian brigade and Indian reinforcement groups were also rushed to Singapore's defence. The Island's British field commander General Percival, however, believed the main attack would fall on the northeastern flank and massed the majority of the force there to meet it. The Japanese opened their attack at dawn n 8 February with a sustained artillery bombardment upon the Australian positions that lasted until evening when their assaulting infantry moved forward. The Australian positions bore the main brunt of the initial Japanese attack. It must be said that the distribution of the Australian force was not as good as it could have been. The 27th Brigade was allocated a 4000-yard front while the 22nd Brigade was responsible for a front four times that. Not surprisingly it was the 22nd Brigades front which was pierced and overrun by the swarming mass of Japanese attackers. The 2/18th lost in excess of 50 per cent casualties. Faced with an impossible task the 22nd Brigade commander, Brigadier Taylor, ordered a withdrawal of four miles and established a new perimeter behind the Tengah airfield. Authority for this was derived in part from a prematurely released forecasted order of withdrawal that Bennett had provided to his subordinates. The 22nd Brigade was not ordered forward again though once the withdrawal was known. The withdrawal exposed the flank of the 27th Brigade which was now itself under attack. The Australian line quickly became untenable. Realising that the main attack was in the west Percival began to rush troops to that area in a vain attempt to establish a new line from Kranji to the south coast. Relentless pressure saw the defensive line swing back exposing the actual naval base, then it was pushed back further and the Island's water reservoirs lost until a final cordon was established north of Singapore itself. Many small units were cut off and either captured or annihilated during the often confused and desperate fighting as the Japanese pushed closer to the city's outskirts. With the city and defenders under constant air attack and artillery bombardment and the vital water supplies lost, a final capitulation was inevitable. During this campaign the Australians suffered 73 per cent of the British army's battle deaths although they formed only 14 per cent of the British force. |
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