Customer Reviews

Singapore Burning

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Among contemporary accounts, this is probably the best book on the campaign. Its analysis of the individual actions down the peninsular is fair and judicious. There is a pernicious tendency in writing about the Malayan campaign to either define the heroes and the villains, and then build the story around that; or to tilt in favour of either the Australians or the British. This book does neither: it unpacks the facts and lets the reader decide. In that way it does justice to all the protagonists, including the Indian army and the Japanese.

A book which everyone interested in this campaign should read is 'Phoenix from the Ashes' by Daniel Marston, which is an excellent account of what the Indian army learned in terms of the tactics of jungle fighting from its experiences in Malaya and Burma and how it responded.

There are a few technical errors (e.g. Nelson was not of the same class of battleships as Prince of Wales), but overall Smith's research seems equally sound as it affects the air, land and sea elements of the campaign.

To truly understand a nation you need to understand how it reacts in defeat as well as victory. This is an excellent study of the former case by Colin Smith. The author provides great detail of individual actions throughout the campaign and highlights all to many of the deficiencies. Details of the adversaries on all sides of the conflict help to crystalise the thoughts and pervading attitude and atmosphere that both led too and propagated the greatest catastrophe and capitulation in British military history. The author's description of events, of the fighting retreat, tactics (especially of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Australian regiments and the Anti-tank and Artillery regiments) ,of the mistakes , mis-handling, bungling and lack of foresight, as well as some of the all too short successes makes exilarating reading. The many atrocities covered make the ordinary mortal question the inhumanity of the Japanese Army. I chose to read the book in parallel with Peter Thomson's book Battle for Singapore which helped developed my understanding. Both books are equally good. Maps of Singapore were good but the overall Malaya maps could be more detailed. The culpability for the debacle was easily discernible through the narrative with politicians in Britain, Australia and Singapore playing their part in this. The desertion, at the end , by the Australian commander General Bennett, all bull and bluster, was only counterbalanced by the extreme bravery of Australian and many other nationalities. It's also fair to say that others deserted Singapore by ignorance and dereliction of their own particular duty and were not brought to book. I strongly recommend this book to anybody interested in WW2 history and the fall of an Empire.

At first glance, "Singapore Burning" took me aback. The sheer comprehensiveness of the coverage made me think that this book would cause me to lose interest a third of the way in (I'm have an admittedly short attention span when it comes to lengthy books). I was very pleased to find that this wasn't the case at all. Author Colin Smith does, in fact, pour on the details, but it does nothing but add to the inherent drama to this remarkable account of the fall of Signapore. Having not known much about the furious fight for Signapore prior to picking up the book, the story came to me as a complete and shocking surprise. While I was aware of the battle's result, I was astonished by both the bravery and incompetence displayed by Allied forces on Signapore. Smith's precise writing style lends itself to this largely overlooked story (at least in the US). His passion for the subject comes shining through from beginning to end. A pleasant surpise of a read.

The fall of Singapore represented a massive defeat for the British, and marks the beginning of the end of the British Empire. Even though the British regained control in Singapore at the end of the war, in the eyes of their many of their colonial subjects - the Indians, Malayans and Chinese - the British Empire was considered fallible. The cause of the British demise was the Japanese invasion of Malaya, conducted simultaneously with other actions in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and of course at Pearl Harbour.

The author has done a superb job in blending together the aerial, naval and land battles of 1941/42 Malaya into a thoroughly readable account of the Malayan campaign. After setting the scene of pre-invasion Malaya (and not ignoring the lack of preparation and willpower in making Malaya as defensible as possible with the British emphasis on Europe and Africa theatres of operations), the focus initially is on the unenviable aircraft of the RAF and their initial skirmishes with the Japanese, and then shifts to Force Z as Admiral Phillip's battleships steam northwards from Singapore to their eventual sinking at the hands of Japanese torpedo bombers. Following the failure of the RAF and the Royal Navy in bringing the Japanese to account, the responsibility falls upon the soldiers to defend Malaya. Of course, events (and politics) conspire against the Allies, and the army has to withdraw down Malaya and into Singapore before the final humiliation of surrender.

What sets "Singapore Burning" apart from many other narratives of the Malayan campaign is the number of personal reminiscences of the campaign from the rank and file. This is not a top heavy strategic analysis of the campaign, but a muddy, sweaty and downright dangerous account of often squad or platoon level forays with the Japanese. The author interviewed many veterans, and consulted many sources both English and Japanese, in compiling the stories of the pilots, the sailors and the soldiers. Heroic and some not so heroic endeavours of combat, and sheer survival in many cases, from both sides are recounted. Of course, where necessary, the author steps back to provide the reader with the commander's perspective so the reader may have an appreciation of the larger scheme of things.

It is also noteworthy that effort is not spared in dealing with the Indian Army units, of which there were many participating in Malaya. Given the sheer number of nationalities involved (British, Indian, Malayan, Australian, Dutch and New Zealanders among others), the author would be forgiven for focusing on the British and Australian units which would provide the overwhelming majority of sources for the campaign. However, the stories of the Indian and Gurkha soldiers and their brave contributions are not overlooked. Additionally, Japanese viewpoints and heroics (and their atrocities) are integrally part of the overall discussion.

"Singapore Burning" includes a number of maps in the beginning pages of the book, which helps provide context for the campaign, particularly the land battles. There are also three inserts of black and white photography, which supplement the majority of the text nicely. "Singapore Burning" is thoroughly recommended for both serious and casual readers of military history.