70th anniversary of Singapore defeat 15.02.12
46Today marks 70 years since the fall of Singapore. The surrender of the British garrison was described by Winston Churchill as "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". The British were prepared for an attack by sea to the south, but the Japanese launched an effective artillery and bombing campaign from Malaya in the north. The British surrendered on the 15th February 1942 and around 130,000 soldiers and civilians were taken captive as a result. Thousands died and the tens of thousands who survived spent years suffering brutal treatment as Japanese prisoners of war. All those who were killed and captured were honoured at ceremonies in Singapore today, many of whom were from the Australian Army -- then part of the British Empire. The defeat in Singapore is widely seen as the beginning of the end for the British Empire.