|
NUMBERS
IN SINGAPORE ! con't...
|
Questions
at a Soldier’s Grave
One
time, as I sat alone by a grave in a war cemetery, I began to ponder
the fate of the young man whose grave I rested beside. As I sat
there in quiet meditation it became clear I was not alone and from
the stillness came the answers to my questions. As I gazed on his
grave I wondered -
“WHERE
DID YOU DIE?”
“ I died where two strong men stood face to face, though they came
from the ends of the earth.”
“DID
YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS?”
I was sad to die young, broken-hearted for my family and aghast
that all my dreams were shaken.”
“BUT
WAS YOUR DEATH WORTHWHILE?” I defended my family and fought
for my friends. The world is a better place because of my sacrifice.
All it takes for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing,
as the man said - and we triumphed over evil.”
“HOW
IMPORTANT IS REMEMBRANCE?” “Everyone remembers a death in the
family. Remembrance is the nation as a family remembering its dead.
If ever you forget our sacrifice it is because you have become morally
corrupt, and are not the people we died for!”
“DO
YOU HAVE ANY DREAMS?”
“Dreams are for the living. Ponder your future and, just occasionally,
those who died to remove the tyrannies who would have crushed those
dreams.”
I
left that cemetery a changed person! Anonymous
|
|
In
his report to parliament after the fall of Singapore, Churchill
concocted the figures - which seem to have remained in many historians’
books until the present - that a mere force of 30,000 Japanese defeated
the 120,000 British and Allied forces on the island - implying a
shameful defeat of the British army.
But even the figures
he attributed to the Allies were incorrect. Allied forces in Malaya
and Singapore on December 1, 1941 were as follows - 19,000 British,
15,000 Australian, 37,000 Indian Army - including the 11th Division
which was largely made up of British soldiers trained in India,
and 17,000 Malay Volunteers.
Approximately 25,000
Allied soldiers were killed, wounded, escaped or were listed missing
in the Battle of Malaya. On February 29, 1942 approximately 20,000
green troops of the 18th Division arrived in Singapore, bringing
the total Allied strength up to around 85,000 men. After Singapore
fell, a tally of Allied losses revealed 7,000 killed and 2,000 wounded
or missing.
On the Japanese side - more
than 25,000 were killed or wounded in Malaya, while on Singapore
the total reached more than 20,000 men killed and 5,000 wounded
or missing.
As further proof and documentation
of these numbers - the Japanese War Memorial at Tebong remembers
30,000 men who died in the Malaya campaign and 25,000 who died in
Singapore. This figure alone is more than the number quoted by Churchill!
All of the above
figures are verified by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,
and also in Sir Basil Liddle’s ‘History of the Second World War’.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the numbers cited
by Churchill were pure lies and fabrication.
So why did he do it?
At the time, with things not going well for Britain, Churchill’s
image and position were on shaky ground. Had the British public
known that he and his government had betrayed thousands of young
British servicemen and sacrificed them to the Japanese, it would
have likely caused his political downfall. Better to distort and
cover up the truth to save his own skin. (Sadly, it’s still the
same today!)
The sad part is that
many of those old soldiers have died believing that what Churchill
said was true, and also that subsequent generations have been deprived
of the knowledge and the truth about the Battle of Malaya and Singapore.
It’s time to let the facts speak for themselves, and to correct
the fallacies of history!
Michael Hurst - With thanks to A. Lane
|
|
