- Hardcover: 480 pages
- Publisher: Portrait; illustrated edition edition (11 Aug 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0749950684
- ISBN-13: 978-0749950682
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.4 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
-
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77,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > Asia > South East Asia > Singapore
- #49 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > Asia > South East Asia > Vietnam
- #64 in Books > History > North America > Vietnam War
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
"An enthralling and perceptive account, which never loses sight of the human cost of the tragedy" - Yorkshire Evening Post "An insightful and dramatic analysis" - The Good Book Guide"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
The Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 was a military disaster of enduring fascination and seemingly unshakable myth.
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First Sentence
THERE WAS NO BREEZE. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THERE WAS NO BREEZE. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having just finished this book I must say it's a very good read on the subject.
The author successfully debunks myths that surround the whole sorry campaign. Such as seaward facing guns not being able to be fired north or the myth that Australian troops ran away (this was new to me by the way). But unfortunately, the author propagates other myths such as the Johor bridge being `blown up', it was more a temporary crater that the Japanese very quickly repaired!
Ultimately it was the British leadership from Churchill down that lead to capitulation of over 100000 allied troops. It's such a shame as had certain errors not been made and had better leaders been in place, the allies could have completely held the Japanese and reversed their early set backs. The Japanese were very near the end of their tether when the allies surrendered!
I'm now moving onto Singapore Burning by Colin Smith. Though the best book I've ever read on the subject is The Naked Island by Russell Braddon, who the author quotes in this Battle for Singapore. Very well worth a read!
The author successfully debunks myths that surround the whole sorry campaign. Such as seaward facing guns not being able to be fired north or the myth that Australian troops ran away (this was new to me by the way). But unfortunately, the author propagates other myths such as the Johor bridge being `blown up', it was more a temporary crater that the Japanese very quickly repaired!
Ultimately it was the British leadership from Churchill down that lead to capitulation of over 100000 allied troops. It's such a shame as had certain errors not been made and had better leaders been in place, the allies could have completely held the Japanese and reversed their early set backs. The Japanese were very near the end of their tether when the allies surrendered!
I'm now moving onto Singapore Burning by Colin Smith. Though the best book I've ever read on the subject is The Naked Island by Russell Braddon, who the author quotes in this Battle for Singapore. Very well worth a read!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Just a quick couple of points to add to what the other reviewers have said:
1) Thompson does (no doubt unintentionally) propagate some myths (e.g. that the allied Buffaloes had no chance whatsoever against the Japanese A6M Zeroes) but he debunks many more.
2) There is not enough from the Japanese point of view, next to nothing from the point of view of the Indian troops and Dutch military. The Malay/Singapore (non-British) civilians are also not as well covered. For these reasons alone I would give it 4.5 stars if that were possible, but given what Thompson has achieved I'm giving it 5 stars.
3) Where Thompson does allocate blame I feel he has done so in a fair manner, indeed on the last page of the narrative he describes Percival as the "scapegoat of Singapore".
4) As Thompson points out Hurricanes were used in the defence of Malaya and Singapore.
5) The failure to give fighter cover to Force Z was indeed due to communications failures and misunderstandings between the Naval and Air commanders, but the key issue was that the Navy didn't signal for help until about 2 hours after they knew they had been observed by Japanese aircraft and an hour after they were first attacked. Thompson says that had the fighters been called for earlier "it is highly unlikely they could have saved either ship", and yet he himself points out the initial attack was by a formation of unescorted bombers. Even a small fighter force could have broken up this initial attack and forced a rethink by the Japanese commanders.
Overall this is a very readable, informative account which brilliantly balances a high level view with personal recollections of those involved. Recommended.
1) Thompson does (no doubt unintentionally) propagate some myths (e.g. that the allied Buffaloes had no chance whatsoever against the Japanese A6M Zeroes) but he debunks many more.
2) There is not enough from the Japanese point of view, next to nothing from the point of view of the Indian troops and Dutch military. The Malay/Singapore (non-British) civilians are also not as well covered. For these reasons alone I would give it 4.5 stars if that were possible, but given what Thompson has achieved I'm giving it 5 stars.
3) Where Thompson does allocate blame I feel he has done so in a fair manner, indeed on the last page of the narrative he describes Percival as the "scapegoat of Singapore".
4) As Thompson points out Hurricanes were used in the defence of Malaya and Singapore.
5) The failure to give fighter cover to Force Z was indeed due to communications failures and misunderstandings between the Naval and Air commanders, but the key issue was that the Navy didn't signal for help until about 2 hours after they knew they had been observed by Japanese aircraft and an hour after they were first attacked. Thompson says that had the fighters been called for earlier "it is highly unlikely they could have saved either ship", and yet he himself points out the initial attack was by a formation of unescorted bombers. Even a small fighter force could have broken up this initial attack and forced a rethink by the Japanese commanders.
Overall this is a very readable, informative account which brilliantly balances a high level view with personal recollections of those involved. Recommended.
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Peter Thomson is angry. Even after more the passage of more than 60 years, in reading his prose, you still feel angry yourself at the tales of incompetence, bungling and petty wrangling that marked Britain's disastrous exit from the Malayan peninsula and Singapore at the hands of the much more competent Japanese.
Through extensive eyewitness accounts, interwoven seamlessly with his narrative, Thomson's passions at times fairly burns off the pages.
An ultimately depressing tale it is too - despite the heroism of many individuals. In a few short weeks, a much smaller Japanese army out-thought, out-flanked, out-marched and out-fought British, Indian, Australian and other troops. Yamashita's 25th Army seemingly easily conquered Malaya and Singapore - Britain's supposed invincible fortress in the Far East.
The book starts slightly slowly with an extensive run-through the characters - civilian and military - who will play a role in the coming debacle, but it is when the action gets going and the Japanese invade that Thomson is at his best.
It is hard to believe the endless blunders on the British side, even though the lack of resources that Britain was able to spare for Singapore ultimately doomed the island. The Far East came a poor third in strategic terms for the hard-pressed British after defence of the UK itself, and supplying the army in North Africa.
There were not any first-rate fighter aircraft in the region - Spitfires or Hurricanes - which could stand up to the Japanese Zeros.
There were no tanks at all anywhere, and not enough anti-tank weapons to blunt the Japanese tank assaults which caused so many problems for the British troops.
But these seem to pale when set against the multitude of high level blunders.
There was never a properly unified military/civilian command.
Too often the generals, admirals and air commanders were squabbling with each other.
When the Navy's Force Z sailed out (and got sunk by the Japanese air force) there was no air cover provided.
The commander of the British land forces, General Percival was woefully ill-equipped to impose his will on his sub-ordinates, and must fully share the blame for not using the labour resources available to fortify the northern approaches to Singapore in Johore state in southern Malaya. He famously said "defences are bad for morale". Possible, but poor generalship is much worse for morale...
Still, it wasn't just Percival that shares the blame. The Australian senior commander, Bennett, was of equally dubious worth. The civilian Governor, Thomas, was also somebody who should have been removed from office at an early stage.
Yet we can at least dispense with one myth - the guns of Singapore COULD fire landward as well as seaward (though they probably didn't have enough high explosive).
In the end the British deserved to lose. The could have made a much better fist of it, though with the resources at hand at the start of the campaign in December 1941, they might well still have lost.
However in losing they left the Malays, Chinese, Indians - as well as the captured Europeans to the brutality of Japanese occupation.
If there is one minor quibble, it is that we don't learn enough about the Japanese army's fight. Quite clearly Peter Thomson has wanted to tell the tale from the British side of things, but it would have been nice to have a bit more from the Japanese side.
Despite this, this is a book well worth reading.
Through extensive eyewitness accounts, interwoven seamlessly with his narrative, Thomson's passions at times fairly burns off the pages.
An ultimately depressing tale it is too - despite the heroism of many individuals. In a few short weeks, a much smaller Japanese army out-thought, out-flanked, out-marched and out-fought British, Indian, Australian and other troops. Yamashita's 25th Army seemingly easily conquered Malaya and Singapore - Britain's supposed invincible fortress in the Far East.
The book starts slightly slowly with an extensive run-through the characters - civilian and military - who will play a role in the coming debacle, but it is when the action gets going and the Japanese invade that Thomson is at his best.
It is hard to believe the endless blunders on the British side, even though the lack of resources that Britain was able to spare for Singapore ultimately doomed the island. The Far East came a poor third in strategic terms for the hard-pressed British after defence of the UK itself, and supplying the army in North Africa.
There were not any first-rate fighter aircraft in the region - Spitfires or Hurricanes - which could stand up to the Japanese Zeros.
There were no tanks at all anywhere, and not enough anti-tank weapons to blunt the Japanese tank assaults which caused so many problems for the British troops.
But these seem to pale when set against the multitude of high level blunders.
There was never a properly unified military/civilian command.
Too often the generals, admirals and air commanders were squabbling with each other.
When the Navy's Force Z sailed out (and got sunk by the Japanese air force) there was no air cover provided.
The commander of the British land forces, General Percival was woefully ill-equipped to impose his will on his sub-ordinates, and must fully share the blame for not using the labour resources available to fortify the northern approaches to Singapore in Johore state in southern Malaya. He famously said "defences are bad for morale". Possible, but poor generalship is much worse for morale...
Still, it wasn't just Percival that shares the blame. The Australian senior commander, Bennett, was of equally dubious worth. The civilian Governor, Thomas, was also somebody who should have been removed from office at an early stage.
Yet we can at least dispense with one myth - the guns of Singapore COULD fire landward as well as seaward (though they probably didn't have enough high explosive).
In the end the British deserved to lose. The could have made a much better fist of it, though with the resources at hand at the start of the campaign in December 1941, they might well still have lost.
However in losing they left the Malays, Chinese, Indians - as well as the captured Europeans to the brutality of Japanese occupation.
If there is one minor quibble, it is that we don't learn enough about the Japanese army's fight. Quite clearly Peter Thomson has wanted to tell the tale from the British side of things, but it would have been nice to have a bit more from the Japanese side.
Despite this, this is a book well worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Battle for Singapore
I loved it plus the fact that my family are in it. We had some really hard times but we overcame them to come home thanks to our parents.
Published 15 months ago by K. Bruce
Too much blame for Churchill
The earlier reviewers share the prejudice that since the British Government did nothing effective, Prime Minister Churchill must bear the blame. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. P. R. Holland
Excellent book
A reminder that world war 2 was fought away from europe and that the fiasco that was the loss of singapore probably marked teh beginning of the end of the British Empire
Published on 5 Nov 2009 by Peter Bowes
Enough to make any Britisher angry!
Another reviewer remarks that the author of this vividly-written history 'is angry' and that 'it would have been nice to have a bit more from the Japanese side. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2007 by Geoffrey Woollard
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