Consequences
The attack on the Philippines was not the only one launched by the Japanese in December 1941. On the eighth they used their land bases in China to attack Hong Kong, overwhelming the small British garrison and forcing surrender in a few days. They used mobile Marine forces to sweep across the Dutch East Indies and their precious reserves of oil. They shattered British positions in Burma and forced a long, difficult retreat under constant air attack. The Japanese military seemed invincible.
British troops in Burma retreating through unhealthy Jungle conditions
The British planned to stop the Japanese at Singapore. The island city was heavily fortified against attacks from the sea and landward side, had huge numbers of AA guns, a garrison of 80,000 men, and enough supplies to last them a year. General Arthur Percival was so confident that he sent a message to Prime Minister Churchill stating "Singapore is where the Japanese will lose the war." The forces under his command were a mixed bunch, with a number of them Indian, Australian, or Malaysian.
Just one of the many massive naval guns of Fortress Singapore
Percival's opponent, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, was given the impossible task of taking Singapore with five Japanese divisions and five Siamese divisions, amounted to 100,000 men. British air forces in Singapore had been transferred to help in the Battle of Britain, giving him total air superiority. The British navy had retreated from Singapore and so he could attack with his naval forces at will. He also had a devastating secret weapon. Bicycles.
Japanese troops bicycle through the jungle towards Singapore
On the 8th of February, 1942, as American troops in the Philippines began their fighting retreat, the Japanese began their attack on Singapore. Japanese troops on bicycles swept through the jungle to attack British forces on the mainland from unexpected directions, moving faster then the British thought possible. General Percival, panicked by the sudden appearance of Japanese forces from a jungle thought impassible, ordered a full retreat from the mainland, consolidating his forces on the island and blowing up the bridges linking Singapore to the mainland. This slowed the Japanese but left 10,000 Indian soldiers on the wrong side, who had to surrender.
A few troops move across the bridges before they are blown up
Rightly thinking he had the British on the run, General Yamashita ordered several landings on the island from different directions on February 10th, thinking to throw the British off balance. Landings in the Southwest went well, creating a beach head for Japanese troops, but landings in the North by the Imperial Guard met with disaster, as Australian troops forced them back across the river with heavy casualties and no gains.
The Imperial Guard fight for a foothold and fail
However, with civilian casualties mounting and more Japanese troops landing every second, along with continual air attacks, Percival decided the battle was lost and surrendered. However, his second in command, the Australian Lieutenant General Gordon Bennett, did not give the order for the rest of the army to surrender. Instead, he ordered a counter attack which came into effect on the 12th. General Yamashita, thinking the battle over, was caught completely by surprise and now it was his turn to panic. Thinking that he was being attacked by fresh British reserves (in actual fact the exhausted 22nd brigade, which had been fighting for four days strait, led the attack) Yamashita ordered a retreat and let 7,000 men become trapped on Singapore island with no way out. Most committed suicide, 564 surrendered. The Japanese were beaten off the island by the 15th.
Japanese POWs wondering what will become of them
Singapore was a narrowly avoided disaster for the British, but under newly promoted General Bennett, it would hold for the rest of the war, withstanding several more Japanese attacks and winning a disproportionate number of Victoria Crosses. Bennett would himself win a Victoria Cross for his dogged determination. General Yamashita would be court marshaled for retreating and General Percival would spend the rest of the war in a POW camp. Singapore, which would have been a disaster to lose, had held against he Japanese.
A heroic painting of Bennett in uniform
After the battles of Singapore and the Philippines ended, and the Pacific war began in earnest, President Long, Prime Minister Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek met in Calcutta to discuss a formal allied alliance. Although much got done, including Long pledging to send badly needed supplies to the Chinese, and the beginning of coordinated efforts in the Pacific, tensions between some of the world's most powerful men were high. In his history of the war, Churchill described Long as "a paranoid, small minded man, looking to create enemies so he can destroy them," and Chiang as "an incompetent, corrupt fool." Although Churchill disliked both of his allies, Long and Chiang apparently got along quite well, a sign of events that would occur after the war. In his history he said "It was quite clear that this was not an alliance of allies, but enemies who put off stabbing each other in the back to face a common foe."
Churchill looking somber after the Calcutta conference
The Calcutta conference was exclusively on the Pacific war. Long went out of his way to avoid mentioning Germany or the situation in Europe, although Churchill tried several times to address it. It was quite clear that Long did not want to become involved in Europe.
He would have little choice in the matter however, as on June 10th, 1942, Hitler's declaration of war arrived.