What were the efforts made by the British to defend Singapore?

Answer 1

Many of the senior officers were incompetent and very ignorant. Steeped in racism, they assumed that the Japanese were a bit of a joke as soldiers. The main reason in my opinion is because the British were told to retreat when necessary but they mistook it and retreated before the Japanese came.

Answer 2

British used the 'main fleet to Singapore' strategy. the British send ships to Singapore from Europe if there were trouble in Asia. a huge naval base had to be built in the far east and Singapore was chosen for the naval base and construction of the base to maintain the fleet. which the constructions were completed in 1938. the British placed 15-inch guns that were usually mounted on ships, were installed facing the sea to prevent any attacks from the sea.

military airfields were built in Tengah and Sembawang. underground bunkers were also built in several places and are camouflaged have been built with more than one escape rote to escape when the Japanese attacks, like fort canning, Labrador and Sembawang. the british thought that the Japanese who find crossing through malaya difficult as the jungle were very dense and vast areas were unknown at that time. when they themselves could not do it. the brish under estimated the Japanese power.

Answer 3

Britain failed to prevent the Japanese from invading Singapore because Japan had air superiority over the region.

Most of England's air power was in Europe fighting Hitler's armies and defending England from invasion. Therefore England greatly relied the United States to provide air cover.

So, in respect, your question is incorrect. The real question is: Why did the USA fail to support the UK with air support when Japan invaded Singapore?

Because of the Japanese airstrikes, British forces were concentrating on defending Singapore from a head-on attack by Japan from the borders, air and sea.

However, Japanese infantry managed to out-flank the British defenders by riding bicycles through the harsh Malaysian jungles.

Because it's near impossible to get tanks and armoured vehicles through the Malaysian jungles, there were no British tanks in the area the Japanese flanked from, because it wasn't believed that Japan could successfully invade from that position.

The British coastal guns protecting the Coastlines of Singapore were turned around to face the land and aimed at the invading Japanese infantry, however because these guns and ammunition were designed to be fired at ships, they were very clumsy at firing on land targets.

Had the US provided decent air coverage to protect the borders of Singapore, the British could have repelled the Japanese easily.

Answer 4

Britain violated rule number "1" of war: Never Under-Estimate The Enemy. 1. Britain didn't believe the Japanese would come by both Air and Sea. They simply thought they'd come by sea, therefore Britain's defenses was geared to utilize SHORE BATTERIES to engage Japanese Warships. 2. Britain didn't believe the Japanese would deploy TANKS through thick vegetation (jungle), therefore, Britain allowed the rear jungle areas to act as it's own defense, while the British Forces were deployed to where they expected the real attacks to come from.

Answer 5

The British thought that the jungle would be an effective barrier preventing any army from crossing heavy jungle with artillery and other heavy logistical supplies . This was why all the guns were pointing out to sea and not capable of traversing and bringing shell fire to the rear of Singapore .

"Singapore... could only be taken after a siege by an army of at least 50,000 men... its not considered possible that the Japanese...would embark on such a mad enterprise."

Winston Churchill - 1940

Answer 6

because you touch yourself at night!