World Battlefronts: Singapore in Sight

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The Jap was already on the British 20-yard line. In seven weeks of fighting, starting from his own goal on the Thailand-Malaya border, he had moved 360 miles south through the steaming jungle. His weapons had been end runs, forward passes and quarterback sneaks. Now the time had come for power bucks, because pay dirt—the precious island of Singapore—was not far off.

Now the invaders were less than 60 miles from Singapore. Inside the 20-yard line the going promised to get tougher. The British at last had stopped cursing the Japanese for not "coming out and fighting." Slowly and possibly too late, they were learning to fight jungle warfare. They destroyed bridges, crawled through swamps on their bellies, flushed coveys of Japanese from trees and bushes. Wearing only shorts and a deep tan, the Australian "diggers" faded into the jungle, reappeared far behind enemy lines.

By virtue of their retreat the British now had certain relative advantages. The coastal strips along which they must prevent Japanese landings in small boats and sampans were considerably shorter than they had been. Because British defenses were deeper and more powerful near Singapore, there was less chance of Jap infiltration tactics working. With the fighting front less than a four-hour drive from Singapore, British lines of communication were shorter. Along them the too few British trucks could carry two loads in the time they had taken for one a fortnight ago. Reinforcements had had time to arrive. The British were able to throw at least a few Hurricane fighters, reportedly of the heavily armed Mark II model, into action.

But these tightening defenses were apparently not enough. Wrote the Chinese best-selling Philosopher Lin Yutang: "From every corner of the earth, from Batavia, Melbourne, Chungking and even from London itself rises the cry 'Singapore must be held.' The loss of Singapore will be the costliest mistake of the whole war. If I could write words 30 feet high I would write these words: Singapore must be held."

In tiny apologetic words the Australian Commander in Malaya, Major General Henry Gordon Bennett, said: "The situation is very confused."