‘Last Position’ 25 Pounders in Lavendar Street, Singapore (Feb 15 1942)

 Singapore, Lavendar Street ‘Last Position’ of 25 Pounders in – Feb 15 1942

“By late afternoon, the brief period of waiting had ended, and the men assembled to begin their passage into captivity. Over 130,000Commonwealth soldiers were taken as prisoners at the fall of Singapore (15^th February 1942), the greatest defeat in British military history. They would all now march 25 kilometers, as one, to a single massive holding camp, the Changi Peninsula.”

Source: The Long Road To Changi, Ewer Peter, 2013, pg 282

‘We are not in disgrace for letting Singapore be captured so easily, as we have feared we might be. Possibly it is now accepted that we were never given a chance to fight properly, never had the weapons and support which we should have had. To that we would add that political interference and ineptitude, coupled with military incompetence at high level in certain places, is a combination which the ordinary soldier cannot overcome. All he can do is fight and die or, as in our case, become a prisoner, while those responsible retire on undeserved pensions.’
Source: One Fourteenth of an Elephant, by Ian Denys Peek, 2005, Pg 490

Extracts from One Fourteenth of an Elephant by Ian Denys Peek reprinted by permission of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd. Copyright © Ian Denys Peek 2003