The Fall of Singapore
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
- In February of 1942, The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, an important economic port in South-East Asia, which marked the largest British surrender in its history.
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This is becoming my favorite of Simon's 1000 channels.
Casual criminalist>>>
@@kktvgaming5621 BLAZE BOI
1,047. He's started 47 more since you commented.
He made another 52 as you to added the other 47.
Same, this channel is incredible to say the least
My dads best friend growing up was taken prisoner at Hong Kong. My dad went to Europe. Dad always said he was lucky. The more I learn about the pacific theatre, the more I understand his statement
The funny thing is, Persivel had, some years earlier, had pointed out Singapore's weakness and nobody did anything about it. Though he also didn't do anything about it either when he was put in charge.
His "defences are bad for morale" stance is truly mind boggling. Should have been stripped of his rank.
@@yellowpete79 Ya, the Allies at the beginning of the war, seemed to have quite a few bad generals.
@@yellowpete79 That is one of the most insane statements I've heard a military commander make.
I've heard another that makes a lot more sense, "It's easy to be brave behind castle walls."
@@calexander7495 You're advicating Percival's stupidity?
@@yellowpete79 No and I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion.
Do The Battle of Jutland please! Love all of your content Simon! You are a legend!!!!
That would be awesome
I second this…
I third this.
I fourth this
Fif
Never doubt the utility of the simple bicycle.
Wonderful video! This + Philippines campaign are my favorite WWII videos from this channel. Keep up the great storytelling!
Another great video Simon and crew. Thanks.
Although it was merely a footnote, Liutenant Adnan last stand was something that I as a Malaysian would be proud of until the end of time. Al- Fatihah.
In the end Yamashita was executed as a war criminal in 1946.
Lmao unlucky
Love your content Simon. Could you do a video about the 80 year war between Spain and the Netherlands?
Love this channel! Simon, you're brilliant. Well done. Cheers.
Thank you Simon for another well explained, concise documentary, a lot of information packed into a short time.
You might want to make a slight correction. @4.36, you mentioned 3 Malay battalions. There were only two Malay battalions, 1 Malay which had been fully formed, and 2 Malay which were partially formed with recruits freshly out from Port Dickson.
Good video 👍
Finally, thanks.
Thanks
Japan:damn that was easy
Could you please cover the Battle of Schrute Farms, Simon?
Percival clearly got his commission out of a cereal box.
Percival was the recipient of the Military Cross and Croix de Guerre for bravery and leadership under fire. Where are your medals?
From his actions at Singapore they should be removed
Fun fact: when the people of West Cork heard that the Fall of Singapore was because of Percival they apparently celebrated as he was in command of the Essex Regiment: most hated and brutal regiment in the region during the War of Independence
Tom Barry proposed he be given a bar on his service medal in Cork, for his defence of Singapore 🤣
0:50 - Chapter 1 - Wind up to war
2:30 - Chapter 2 - The beginning of the end
6:20 - Chapter 3 - Let the fighting begin
9:35 - Chapter 4 - Perpetual retreat
11:30 - Chapter 5 - The last stand
- Chapter 6 -
Coud you do the battle of cape Ecnomus ? The largest naval battle in all history
It pretty brutal when 42 Malay Regimen held on 13k Japanese Soldiers with only infantry and mortar, the Japanese probably didn't expect the Malay Regimen would fight to the dead like how Japan midnset work as well.
Simon can you do a video on the siege of Port Royal during Queen Anne's War?
Conquered Thailand?
More complicated than that.
The Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard is a good read. It's a sort of fictionalised account of Shanghai under the Japanese seen from a boy's perspective.
Christian Bales first movie, and he's still got that huge chin..
No it's not. It's based in Shanghai.
@@Monatio79 My mistake. I've edited my comment.
@@duncancurtis5971 I was thinking of the book. I need to watch the film again.
Great film a must watch if you can’t be bothered to read
It seems like out of all the players in WW2 the Japanese are always the most bloodthirsty. You hear how they killed everyone they came across that was on the enemy side and even the ones that were taken as prisoners still had horrible and barbaric things done to them and this says a lot considering that we had the nazies in the same war...
Yep…not even close. They were consistently the worst. In some ways this helps them. They were all war criminals. Everyone knows Mengele at Auschwitz….most don’t know about Unit 731. Of course the latter killed far more people.
Even the NAZIs were shocked by what the japanese did
To be fair most of those brutality were not really T Yamashita's idea, though eventually he was still hung for it.
How do I suggest possible battles? Lol it would be AMAZING if you could make a video on the Battles of Kawanakajima between Shingen Takeda and Uesugi Kenshin!!!!!
I'm early and excited
The thing that still annoys me about this is the English attempt to blame Australian and Indian troops. When the Australian troops were responsible for over 1/2 the Japanese casualties inflicted.
The Indians were total gash lol. That's why the Japanese attacked to begin with.
Same thing with Gallipoli, they attempted to blame the failure upon us even when they botch landings were entirely the fault of the British Admiralty's poor coordination
That's the brits for ya
@@indrasishmajumder6359 not necessarily, it depends on the commanders in question
For example the battles in North Africa, Normany, and the British air campaign over the English Channel, these were executed properly, with fine operational command and sound strategic planning.
These were well thought out, well executed affairs, and were fought hard
Singapore, Gallipoli, Passchendaele, Ypres, these were outright disasters fought by brave men following the plans of downright morons
Every army in history has its moments of stupidity, from the Romans at Teutoburg Forest, the Germans at Stalingrad, the Austrians at Karanśebes or the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in 1979
@@indrasishmajumder6359 not really when it was you Indians that were the weakest link
As a Malaysian, we always believe the British empire forces are invisible untill some short Asian came to our country with arisaka rifle n swords
This would be a great movie
Percival was a disaster, one of the worst commanding officers of WW2.
Lol. That pic of Arthur Percival is so hilariously stereotypically British.
I've asked this before on another channel and I'll ask it again; If the Commonwealth troops on Singapore knew what waited them when they surrendered would they have fought harder. Perhaps to the last bullet, the last grenade, the last man?
Easily said much harder done. And never underestimate the faint hope that maybe it won't happen to you.
History has proven that even the most prominent and formidable defenses of fortifications can be crippled if morale is low, water is scarce, soldiers are starving to death, and ammunition is wiped out. Suicidal Fanaticism is the only way a human being would continue to resist under those listed conditions they are facing
Depends the Japanese convinced a lot of Indians to switch sides primarily using anti-colonial sentiment not toe mention the use of propaganda which sometimes was not far from truth like a genocide like famine in Bengal and the same in Punjab Years ago when thousands were massacred in jallianwala and I am an Indian I still would have supported Japanese than the Brits because of the fact even when we fought for Brit's we were humiliated,disrespected and our nation divided
@@Indian_Tovarischthen you are fool , the Japanese were much worse than any other colonial power
Please do the Anglo-Boer war.
The Japanese were brutal soldiers. It’s like they had no concept of being an honorable soldier and accepting surrender. They were brutal just for the sake of being brutal.
Percival really screwed up 😂
Not going to lie but Perceval looked incompetent
He was just the fall guy
with Malaya fallen Singapore was indefensible
Singapore is like one of those football games where team did not lose but rather they just gave the win to the other side.
that's still losing
Despite so many videos on the brutalities the Japanese did, many Japanese youths and students do not actually know what their forefathers did. Many of them thought their forefathers were heroes. Many students that come to the war museum in Singapore actually cried when they came out.
Japanese don't watch TH-cam at all basically, and the topic is taboo there. No one there is willing to discuss that part of history at all, there are some museums but they are all about the "heroic efforts" of the Japanese, and many claim that the war was about liberating Asia from abusive colonial rule.
I’ve had them try and tell me “oh no the Japanese didn’t behead POW like the videos and photos and countless eye witness reports say. That’s all just western propaganda. It’s absolutely abhorrent that the Japanese get to pretend that they’re innocent while the Germans can be legally punished in Germany for denying their crimes. Especially when the Japanese were as bad or worse.
@@troystaunton254 You can't compare an individualist culture to a honor based ancestor worshiping collectivist one. Japan has enough suicides as it is, if they were given the same treatment as the Germans were there would be no Japan anymore. That's likely why the thing they did get done to them was to have the emperor not be considered divine anymore, but aside from some war crimes tribunals it was left at that. I love Japan, what I said in my earlier comment was just a statement on how things are. They aren't hurting anyone now, and the punishments and hardships they went through is enough I think.
@@noth606 Doesn't give them a reason to portray themselves as heroes. I have no grudge against the Japanese of today (being chinese myself), but no nation's history is unblemished. Don't hide your atrocities of the past from your youth, educate them about it. That is why despite all the crap that germany did in WW2, people forgave them and moved on whereas even till now China/S korea/Taiwan/all other east asian countries still have some beef with Japan simply because they REFUSE to admit what they did was wrong and continue to rattle their neighbours by honouring their war criminals every now and then.
@@ycl260779 Quite pointless comment since I addressed most of the "why" already, they don't really hide it per se, they just avoid talking about it. It's not really taught much in school, for the reasons stated already. The hero stuff is just in the museums that very few visit or even know about. Their angle of thinking is different when it comes to things like this, so it's not worth debating since they won't change regardless of arguments made because they don't accept the same premises.
To varying degree all countries avoid teaching past bad actions they did, that's just how it is.
FIRST view and comment! Last time I was this early, Singapore was still British
What about the Burma campaign?
Percival represented Britain as its cowardly, inept past. Yamashita, despite Japan's military inferiority, proved the genius which earned him the epitaph "The tiger of Malaya". No wonder much of Southeast Asia found their testicles post WW2 and stopped believing in the superiority of European dominance.
His subordinate Duncan Maxwell was mainly responsible for the disaster
@@theawesomeman9821 Really ? I was not aware. Thanks for the information. Just comes to show what a bad reputation Percival had. An inept bully and a coward.
@@Monatio79 What was his comment about, I can't see it.
@@noreply-7069 Neither can I. It seems to have disappeared and I don't remember his comment.
It was probably something about the difference between Percival and Yamashita. The two men could not have been any different. The former was an inept coward, the latter an honorable genius. After the war, Percival would go on to live out his life as a loser who lost Singapore. Yamashita accepted full responsibility for the atrocities committed under him by the IJA in Malaya and the Philippines, setting the precedence for the Yamashita standard. Before his execution, he predicted the dangers of the world that had entered the atomic age.
I had no idea before, that many East Indians joined the the Japanese with the Indian National Army. I learned something new.
Sook Ching Purge and the Indian National Army as into the Shadows videos. Please and thank you Fact Boi
The barbaric treatment of teh people at the hospital was to show what would happen if Percivel didn't surrender? Then what was the reason for all of the other barbarisms perpetrated by Japan throughout the war? Or, maybe they were just a sadistic culture that took pleasure in torturing and killing people?
......like Percivals Essex Regiment and Tans in West Cork in 1920-21 ?
Saw the thumbnail and heard SMASHING! from wild thornberrys
Wow.
The Japanese were one big walking war crime. Even the Nazis weren’t as consistently criminal. Sometimes they just fought regular battles, treated POW’s properly etc. The Imperial Japanese never did. You could argue every single service member was a war criminal.
Don't make excuses for the Germans they were brutal.
A fantastic example of a calculated risk paying off brilliantly.
Yamashita turned down a bigger army. Because he wanted a smaller more mobile force that could move quicker. And it turned out to be a wise choice.
It was more down to logistics. The army he had was at the limits of what could be supported in the area. The attack on Singapore was a do or die attack. The Japanese had a few days of food and supplies left, either they won in the attack, or they'd have to withdraw along the Malay peninsula back to their supply hubs.
So basically Japan was late to the "colonial game". "Sorry old chap, but you are Asian. You don't dominate, you are dominated."
The rest was history.
Japan had been running Korea and Formosa as its colonies for decades before WW2. Japan was not late to the colonial game at all.
@@tvgerbil1984 Not late, you say ? It was late if you compare it to the likes of, for example, the British Empire which had had colonies for 200 years by the mid 20th century. Japan only "entered the game" well after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 with its victory over Russia in 1905. Decades is nothing compared to centuries.
Mistakes were made all around. Japan didn't realize that colonialism was a funny little game where the only winning move is not to play. And when they did come to the table, the players that were already there had to act the douchenozzles and say "Nah, mate. X members only." Excuse me while I facepalm myself into oblivion. *🤦♂️*
Yamashita made no mistakes. Ive studied the Malaya campaign extensively and i cant find a situation where he made the "wrong" decision. Remarkable feat.
even 1 map would be nice
Good sir, do have clones to make so many awesome videos? Your secret is safe if so 😉.
I'm pretty sure he's the result of a secret UK government experiment using starfish DNA. Cut off a bit, grow a new Simon with memories intact. Allegedly.
@@paulherman5822 well, I'd applaud MI5 or MI6 for their work, but they probably won't acknowledge the program's existence. They may also be en route to us now for talking about their operation.
@@liamh2255 Allegedly. 😁
@@paulherman5822 that's right! Allegedly indeed. "Your honour, our knowledge of this situation has been strictly hearsay!"
@@liamh2255 Plausible deniability for the win. 😂
I’d like to see about the Japanese invasion of India late in WW2, such as Imphal and Kohima.
READ up about Australian Lt General Gordon Bennet. He was a coward and disgrace like the hundreds of Australian troops that deserted before the Japanese attacked.
This is different from other takes on this battle. In Aus all we hear is how Britain capitulated too easy. Seems they thought it was their only valid option though, even if it wasn't in reality.
Staying silent is like a slow growing cancer to the soul and a trait of a true coward. There is nothing intelligent about not standing up for yourself. You may not win every battle. However, everyone will at least know what you stood for-YOU.
Shannon L. Alder
Tags: assertive, assertiveness, bravery, choices, confidence, courage, coward, daughter-of-god, dignity, disrespect, enemies, fearful, integrity, low-self-esteem, retreat, scores, self-esteem, self-respect, self-worth, silence, women
Dint the Japanese general seize all the gold then brought it with him when he went to the Philippines?
The Chinese were sent to the Northwest of Singapore and successfully repelled the first attempt by the Japanese to cross the straits. Most either died in the defence and the rest were killed during Sook Ching. Also the independence movement was brought about because the British and Aussie defenders lack the will to defend what they deemed to be foreign soil, they (esp. Percival) were prepared to withdraw and leave the people of these lands to fend for ourselves.
Hundreds of Australian soldiers deserted and then went on the rampage while the British and Indian troops stood fast.
A fan of "Tenko", I often wondered why the Japanese kept small Allied children in captivity. It is possible captured Children had no positive or negative contribution to make to the war effort. They represented a drain on limited resources. Why were no efforts made to repatriate the children?
As if he could read his mind ! Or as if the Japanese had done really great intelligence work ? As if the Intel was fresh and in depth ?
It calls to mind the Siege of Kut during the Great War? The British are so unlucky this time, the victors are diabolical and bloodthirsty maniacs who maltreated them as lower class animals. In contrast, the Ottoman Turks are only brutal to their Armenian, Greek and Assyrian subjects
Definitely need to cover the Battle (since it rubs people raw when you call it a siege) of Fredericksburg. One of the key battles of the US War Between the States; this battle had a significant moment of courage, heroism, and compassion when 2nd Lt. Richard Rowland Kirkland of the CSA brought water to wounded Federals despite major risks to his person.
why do CSA nerds get mad when its referred to as a siege? would they prefer "the pointless defense of Fredericksburg by traitors"
@@aWILDsomethingCAMEI think the argument is over terminology and definitions than which side held what. I had grown up hearing it called a siege, but other people obviously have not. Don’t know why you’re slandering people who think different than you, or slandering the dead of one of history’s largest wars.
Siege, military blockade of a city with the intent of capturing it. Constant low level pressure used for negotiation. Neither of these conditions apply to Fredericksburg. Federal troops had no desire to occupy Fredericksburg. The Fredericksburg campaign lasted 6 days and the Federal objective was the destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia. The town had the misfortune of being in between them. Your the only person I've ever heard call it a siege. We've talked before.
@@scottkrater2131 we have, yes. Again, I’ve heard it said both ways, may be a product of my educational experience, (or lack thereof when it comes to the War Between the States...gotta love public education in this country right?) I’ll call it what I will, hope that’s cool.
@@Dank-gb6jn works for me, can't say it really makes a difference. Just curious since you call it the War Between the States and it's the Civil War to me, also not that important. I'm thinking your education was in the South. I was educated in New Jersey. So I'm a northerner through and through lol.
The fall and humiation of Singapore could only be blamed on the cowardly behaviour of British commander Percival and his fellow commders.
The Japanese commander shouted at him and he cracked.
This can be contrasted to Hong-Kong where the British and Canadian troops fought to the last bullet.
In Singapore, the Indian and Australian colonial troops retreated in good order. They were intact and wanted to fight the Japanese but Percival ordered the surrender.
The Indian troops were shocked 😲 and realised, the Empire...
Indian and Australian troops were truly superb, and often had fantastic leadership and morale
In Burma, the Indians fought like demons, even in an area where logistics was practically a miracle at best, they smashed the Japanese assault and truly earned their reputation as tigers in close combat warfare
In Papua New Guinea, ANZAC forces made up of barely trained conscripts thrown together at the last minute gave the Japanese a perpetual headache, and even today the battle of the Kokoda Trail is considered a near herculean effort, one that we only barely managed
@@marcusaustralius2416 excellent 👌
The lack of water which is soon to be cut off is probably the killing blow of why he surrendered.
The city would have suffered if he persisted
@@hkchan1339 this theory falls apart
1.in war, soldiers and civilians store emergency water.
2. Many artesian wells.
3. Water towers.
4. The commander of Hong Kong fought it out to the last bullet
Malaysia and Indonesia do not exist in this time line.
It was only a temporary loss
They regained it in 1945
Without loss
The japanese were just the new owners for a brief time
Of course after ww2 they
Conquered economically!
Arthur Percival looks and is named like the distillate of all Britishness in one man.
Another Brit commander that refused to accept that he could possibly be wrong.
The ego of the English during colonialism through WW2 ... astonishingly dense.
As an Indian, this brings a smile to my face. May the british suffer a lot more for what they did to us.
You do realize that lot of indians were killed by Japanese as well
The majority of defending forces were actually Indian and Australian rather than British
I feel like this video dis not give enough credit to the Japanese generals, yes they the "bad guys" but they are often brilliant with strategy and with what they have.
Putting bad guys in quotes is stupid they were bad guys I'm sorry and I'm not going to accept their culture is different as an excuse for the horrible things they did
@@GrievousReborn That's perfectly fine opinion to have, but that is not the reason for the comment, the main take away was the strategy, you could even make a argument the brutal bayonet was a calculated strategy too
Lions led by lambs
Worst British General ever
The moment the world realized the British could no longer be able to be seen as a global power
disagree. this was in the middle of ww2. things like the faulklands are proof of the contrary when all efforts are focused.
how come you pronounce Johor correctly? your pronouncation of Johor is exactly like what the locals of that area would call it
Once again let down by the chinless wonder brigade
The crown Jewel of Britain's empire was India, not Singapore.
Singapore had been referred to as the pearl of the orient and India as the jewel in the crown.
AND JAPAN'S BIGGEST LOST WAS WWII.
LOL Japanmese balloons over China. Now we know where the Chinese got the idea !!
Put a clown in charge
4th?
3rd
first
Another disaster
Arthur Percival get's a lot of flak for Singapore - but the guy did everything he could with what little he had. Had he had access to armour, and AT guns, he would have stood a greater chance. Especially considering the Japanese tanks were feeble compared to other tanks of that time. Though really, the British should have just withdrew from Singapore, as it held very little significance in the grand scheme of things.
Matilda tanks could faired well against the type 92s
He had a force 3x bigger than the japanese, he was a pathetic weak man with no military skills what so ever. He doesn’t get enough flak for his garbage capacity.
@@troystaunton254 so what? If you paid attention, you'd know the Japanese army were veterans, whilst the men he got were green or in tatters. If you also observed what I said, you'd know that he lacked any armour and AT guns - something the Japanese were not lacking. Also to add on top of the fact that Singapore would not be able to be defended from a land offensive, and only by sea, something Percival observed when he first got posted there.
Given what he had available to him - what should he have done in your expert opinion?
To be fair, his subordinates like Duncan Maxwell have much to blame too.
Without Malaya Singapore was indefensible and Malaya was lost by the Indian's and Australian's NOT the British
Just saying 🥱
Indians and Australians were British! British forces = 90,000 to 100,000 thousand. Australian forces 15,000.About 8% of defenders. Australians suffered almost 80% of KIA . Just saying !
@@paulobrien3241
Malaya command 1941:-
Indian 9th division
Indian 11th division
Australian 8th division
later stage of fighting:-
British 53rd Brigade
(spearhead of British
18th division which
didn't arrive until after
Malaya's fall)
Like I said Australians
formed one third of
Malaya's defending forces
and sadly their casualties
reflected this fact