Fall of Singapore 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 8 February 1942 – 15 February 1942 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Singapore | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Pacific War, World War II | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Australia, British Malaya, British Raj, Empire of Japan, Singapore in the Straits Settlements, United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 1.3525, 103.7689 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
Singapore was captured from the British by the Empire of Japan in February 1942 during the Second World War. The Fall or Battle of Singapore took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in South–East Asia and had been of great importance to British interwar defence strategy. The capture of Singapore was therefore a major loss for Britain and resulted in its largest surrender in history.
Before the battle, Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita had advanced with approximately 30,000 men down the Malayan Peninsula in the Malayan campaign. The British erroneously considered the jungle terrain impassable, leading to a swift Japanese advance as Allied defences were quickly outflanked. The British Lieutenant-General, Arthur Percival, commanded 85,000 Allied troops at Singapore, although many units were under-strength and most units lacked experience. The British outnumbered the Japanese but much of the water for the island was drawn from reservoirs on the mainland. The British destroyed the causeway, forcing the Japanese into an improvised crossing of the Johore Strait.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Fall of Singapore (revision 1379283418), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Browse more: battles in Singapore · Asia · World War II era battles