World War 2

On 15 February 1942,British had a final meeting and decided to surrender to General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

World War 2

Before the war,the Japanese set up their spies services in Malaya and Singapore to provide information on British defence and readiness.They then planned on how to defeat the British in the event of a conflict.But the British had underestimated the Japanese,they thought that he Japanese airforce,army and navy were inferior but the Japanese proved them wrong.Their army had modern airforce and naval fleet.The Japanese fighter planes destroyed about half of the British planes,which were old and outdated.
The battle of Malaya,8 December 1941-31 January 1942 was a very fruitful victory to the Japanese and they prepared to invade Singapore.

world war 2

On 8 December 1941,slightly after 4am,the Singaporeans were awakened by the explosion.Japanese warplanes had bombed the city.Japanese soldiers also landed in northern Malaya.Singapore fell to Japanese in less than 70 days.After the world war 1,the British wad financially drained and could no longer maintain a strong naval.British needed all its warships to remain in Europe,Britain saw the need to defend its empire as Japan was building a powerful navy.
In order to defend its empire in the Far East,Britain decided to send their warships to Asia if there was trouble and it needed a naval base.To defend the naval base in Singapore,15-inch guns,usually mounted on ships,were installed facing the sea to prevent attacks from the sea.
In September 1939,a war broke out in Europe.Japan,in September 1940,signed a treaty of friendship wuth Germany and Italy,which called themselves the Axis Powers.Germany wanted to be the master of Europe,Japan wanted to be the master of Asia and the Pacific region.
In 1941,more Indian,British and Australian troops arrived in Singapore to defend both Malaya and Singapore From battle ships HMS PRINCE OF WALES AND HMS REPULSE arrived in Singapore.However,the British could not send in air and naval reinforcements because of its war involvement in Europe and North Africa.
On 7 December 1941,the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in Hawaii to destroy tje American Pacific fleet.At the same time Japanese began to attacked Malaya and other parts of SouthEast Asia by air,sea and land.On 10 December 1941,HMS PRINCE OF WALES AND HMS REPULSE were sunk off the coast of Kuantan.