Japanese ( Y) : I want to hear whether you want to surrender or not. If you want to surrender I insist on it being unconditional. What is your answer? Yes or no?
British ( P) : Will you give me until tomorrow morning?
Y: Tomorrow? I cannot wait and the Japanese forces will have to attack tonight.
P: How about waiting until 11.30 p.m. Tokyo time?
Y: If that is to be the case, the Japanese forces will have to resume attacks until then. Will you say yes or no?
P: (made no reply)
Y: I want to hear a decisive answer and I insist on an unconditional surrender. What do you say?
P: Yes.
Y: All right then. The order to ceasefire must be issued exactly at 10 p.m. i will immediately send one thousand troops into the city area to maintain peace and order. You agree to that?
P: Yes.
Y: If you violate these terms, the Japanese will lose no time in launching a general and final offensive against Singapore City.
What anger me the most was how Yamashita reflected on the fall of Singapore.
"My attack on Singapore was a bluff- a bluff that worked. I had 30,000 men and was outnumbered more than three to one. I knew that if I had to fight long for Singapore, I would be beaten. That was why the surrender had to be at once. I was very frightened all the time that the British would discover our numerical weakness and lack of supplies and force me into disastrous street fighting."
I felt very angry about it, but this is a battle between British and Japanese. Now, living in Singapore should be a huge suffering. I have to leave now as I have some things on.
Rachel
17 February 1942
Textbook reference
unknown.(2011). Singapore: From Settlement to Nation Pre-1819 to 1971.Singapore. EPB Pan Pacific
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