Category: The Fall of Singapore

WELCH, Ken. A Sailor at War 1939-1945. 174p., illus. Kindle e-book, 2014

The personal memories of Albert Edward Welch, the author’s father, who served on  Mauritius, Capetown, Widnes and Centurion mainly in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, as well as D-Day. A fairly bland if accurate account enlivened with a handful of personal anecdotes.

The viewpoint of the Japanese officer responsible for planning the attack through Malaya. A good account of the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse is given.

An Australian historian gives a fresh view of the battle.

ALLEN, Louis. Singapore 1941–1942 (The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War). 343p., bibliog., illus., index. London:  Davis-Poynter, 1977; Cranbery, NJ: Associated University Press, 1979. ISBN: 070670181X.

A re-examination of the original sources of all sides. A second edition was published in 1993.

BARBER, Noel. Sinister Twilight: The Fall and Rise Again of Singapore. 318p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Collins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968. ISBN: 1199419532.

Follows the rapid collapse of Singapore through the lives of individuals both great and obscure. Some marginal naval material. The US edition is called A Sinister Twilight.

CALLAHAN, Raymond. The Worst Disaster: The Fall of Singapore. 293p., bibliog., illus., index. Newark: University of Delaware Press; London:  Associated UP, 1977. ISBN: 087413112X.

A strategic study of why the fall was inevitable, given decisions before the war. An edition was published in Singapore by Cultured Lotus in 2001 (ISBN: 9810436777).                                

SWINSON, Arthur. Defeat in Malaya: The Fall of Singapore. (Purnell’s History of the Second World War, Campaign Book no. 5.) 160p., bibliog., illus. London: Macdonald, 1970. ISBN: 0356030725.

A good solid and readable succinct account of the campaign.

SMITH, Colin. Singapore Burning: Heroism and Surrender in World War II. xxii, 628p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Viking, 2005. ISBN: 0670913413.

A long and detailed but very readable account of the Malayan battles and the fall of Singapore, with coverage of the major naval happenings.

GOUGH, Richard. SOE Singapore 1941-42. 245p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1985. ISBN: 0718305841.

In the shambles surrounding the fall of Singapore, the Orient Mission - a section of SOE - was overwhelmed, but its survivors formed the nucleus of deep penetration groups who fought for about a year. Some marginal naval involvement.

GOUGH, Richard. The Escape from Singapore. 246p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1987. ISBN: 0718306554.

The story of a small secret unit, which organised escapes when Singapore fell.

Contains some new accounts from survivors and contains minimal naval content in an up to date account by a former journalist.

SELLWOOD, Arthur V. Stand by to Die! 128p. London: Pinnacle, 1961.

Li Wo was a small auxiliary patrol vessel which ran into a Japanese invasion fleet while escaping from Singapore. Her Captain won the VC for his gallantry in the ensuing action. Reprinted by White Lion in 1971. Republished in 2016 by Amberley Press as HMS Li Wo, ISBN: 144564794X.   

WYNN, Stephen. The Surrender of Singapore: Three Years of Hell 1942-45. Xii, 212p., illus. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Military, 2017. ISBN: 9781473824027.

A fresh retelling of the story of Fall of Singapore and its aftermath.

URQUHART, Alistair. The Forgotten Highlander: My Incredible Story of Survival During the War in the Far East. [v], 312p., illus., index. London: Little, Brown, 2010. ISBN: 9781408702116.

A somewhat bitter autobiography. He joined the Gordon Highlanders and went to Singapore on the troopship ss Andes. Captured at the fall of Singapore he worked as a POW on the Burma railroad then was shipped to Japan on one of the “Hellships” in late 1944. The Kachidoki Maru was sunk by an American submarine and he was only rescued after several days on a raft. He was then sent to Nagasaki where he saw out the war. As with many others he was denied financial support post-war because he could not produce documentation about his imprisonment!

TRENOWDEN, Ian. Malayan Operations Most Secret – Force 136. 231p., bibliog., illus., index. Singapore: Heineman Asia, 1983. ISBN: 9971640570.

 No copy seen. Appears to be a retitled reprint of the author’s 1978 work Operations Most Secret: SOE, q.v.

CLEMENTS, Bill. The Fatal Fortress: The Guns and Fortifications of Singapore 1819-1956. vii, 199p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2016. ISBN: 9781473829565.

A good detailed account of the defences at Singapore from the Victorian period onwards. Argues that the fall of Singapore in 1942 was a failure of command rather than bad design.

MACE, Martin & GREHAN, John. Disaster in the Far East 1940-1942: The Defence of Malaya, Japanese Capture of Hong Kong and the Fall of Singapore.  xii, 516p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 1783462094.

Reprints four despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 38183, The Defence of Malaya; 38190, Operations in Hong Kong; 38183, the Fall of Singapore; 38216, air operations during the campaigns in Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies.

MACE, Martin & GREHAN, John. Disaster in the Far East 1940-1942: The Defence of Malaya, Japanese Capture of Hong Kong and the Fall of Singapore.  xii, 516p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 1783462094.

Reprints four despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 38183, The Defence of Malaya; 38190, Operations in Hong Kong; 38183, the Fall of Singapore; 38216, air operations during the campaigns in Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies.

MANN, A.J., One Jump Ahead: Escape on the Vyner Brooke. 18p., 150p., [n.p.], 2020. ISBN: 9788619517712.

Mann was Second Mate on the s.s. Vyner Brooke. This is his personal account of his escape from Singapore, the loss of his ship, and his subsequent flight through the Dutch East Indies.

HALL, Timothy. The Fall of Singapore. 223p., bibliog., illus., index. North Ryde, NSW: Methuen Australia, 1983. ISBN: 9780454004335.

The disastrous campaign culminating in the fall of Singapore is recounted from an Australian perspective by a prolific author and freelance journalist.Reprinted by Routledge in the UK in 2015, ISBN: 9781138912427.

A readable account, but with little new to say.

An early attempt at a rounded history of the disastrous campaign. Limited naval material. Published in the USA in 1960 by Doubleday as Fortress: The Story of the Siege and Fall of Singapore

One of the escapees describes the fate of all those who tried to escape in boats large and small. A tragic tale. Reprinted in 2003.

Deals with the fall of Singapore and the long captivity of the survivors until their repatriation. Some naval references.

The engaging autobiography of a colonial administrator in Malaya. He joined the RNVR and graphically describes the fall of Singapore, his escape and capture and imprisonment by the Japanese.

An amateur historian creates a powerful indictment of the management of the campaign and records the squalid behaviour as well as the gallantry of those who took part in this dreadful defeat.

An American military historian looks at the Malayan Campaign, including a lucid account of the fateful sinking of Force Z.

A fresh attempt to review this important battle in the light of all the records now available, many not having been released by governments for fifty years.

Gallagher was a war correspondent who was sunk in Repulse and then saw the fall of Singapore and the retreat through Burma. US title: Action in the East.

A fascinating autobiography. The son of expatriates, he went to work with the Singapore Harbour Board in 1938. He gives an excellent sense of period and atmosphere describing his and his brother's experiences as the island fell. He escaped to join the Royal Indian Navy, this service also being described.

The poignant tale of one of the steamers which unsuccessfully attempted to carry refugees from Singapore as it fell. She was lost to the Japanese. The author was a schoolboy passenger.

The author was an army officer trapped in Singapore who escaped with another soldier in a small open boat. They survived an astonishing 127 days at sea but were eventually captured by the Japanese. A stirring tale.

Uses a wide range of sources for a diligent account of the escape routes and small boat traffic fleeing the island.

An atmospheric popular history.

One man's tale of escape and capture at the fall of Singapore. He was then a 19-year-old RAF radio operator evacuated in a Chinese river tug taken into naval service, which was caught and sunk by a Japanese force in the Banka Strait. He reached shore but became a POW. Very evocative.

Describes the experiences of Australians who served in the lead-up to the fall of Singapore in 1942. It sets the historical context with anecdotes and excerpts from diaries and letters providing a personal dimension.

An ex-army officer gives an account of the loss of the Far East, mainly from an army stance.

A personal and tragic account of one military family caught up in the catastrophe of Singapore. The book covers the campaign, the POW camps and is notably full on the seaborne escapes just before the fall of the fortress.

Not directly relevant, but the then Chief Engineer of Malaya Command attempts to set the record straight on the failure of the defences.

The subject was an army nurse who was captured while escaping by sea from Singapore.