Sinister Twilight: The Fall of Singapore

It was indeed a severe psychological and military blow to the British when Singapore fell. This book is an excellent account of that fall, and what led up to it. Really well written, it also illustrates the military incompetence and unprofessionalism of the British military command even a couple of years in to WW2. Some beautiful vignettes of pre-war Singapore as well as of events that took place during the fight for Singapore and it's fall. Well worth the read. Incidentally, the name of the commander of the Australian Division in Singapore (Gordon Bennett), who had himself flown out to Australia whilst deserting his men, went on to become an Australian swearword. As in, when you whacked your thumb with a hammer, you exclaimed "Gordon Bennett" rather than the more colloqual F word! The same should have applied to the British commanders who failed their men so miserably. Anyhow, that was an aside.....

For anyone living outside the former British Empire, it is virtually impossible to describe the calamitous psychological impact of the loss of Singapore in 1942. Winston Churchill had touted Singapore as the Gibraltar of the East; it was imagined to be impregnable, yet it was overwhelmed in a relative heartbeat by the Imperial Japanese Army, which rapidly advanced through Malaya (sometimes even by bicycle). Indeed, once the Japanese reached the island of Singapore itself, their main problem was that they had overrun their supply lines and were almost out of ammunition. Much has been made of the "complacency" on the British side that led to the debacle; the simple truth is that Singapore was only ever a trading post, that its defenses were more imaginary than real and that the local British and Australian troops, when put to the test, defended themselves very bravely. Barber paints a vivid picture of the pre-war Singapore, a place where English families would travel down to the same shop every week for Streets Ice Cream; where pink gin was lovingly poured at the clubs; where "There'll Always be an England" was sung on Sundays. Plainly Barber is in love with Singapore's history (as his other books on Singapore attest); from that perspective he conveys the sting of defeat just that more sharply.