Winston Churchill famously described the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 as ‘the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history’. Japanese troops had landed in Thailand and northern Malaya on 8 December 1941, marching south over 500 miles of hostile jungle terrain in less than two months.
By the time they reached Singapore, a combination of casualties and exhaustion meant that barely half of the original 60,000 strong force could be classed as combat-effective. Yet a British and Commonwealth garrison of 130,000 soldiers surrendered to them. Churchill had ordered the garrison to fight to the last.
Numerous books have been written on the campaign, and black and white images of the surrender are shown repeatedly in TV documentaries on the period. In the classic photograph, the British commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Percival, is seen walking to meet the victors, accompanied by soldiers carrying the white flag alongside the Union Jack.
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