Battle of Singapore February 10
As of this morning there are 55,000 Allied troops remaining at Singapore. Of these, three brigades have already been committed to fighting the Japanese assault. The 44th Indian has been effectively destroyed, with two battalions overrun and its third battalion (6th/ 1st Pujab) has been badly mauled. The Australian 27th Brigade (Bennett) has also been roughly handled, with its battalions down to company sized formations, while the 55th Brigade (18th British Division) was committed earlier than planned just to establish a basic line of defense.
This leaves available as a counterattack force the British 53rd and 54th Brigades (6 battalions all at about 80% strength), the 1st and 2nd Malaya Brigades of which only the 1st Malaya Brigade is deemed capable of offensive action, and the machine gun battalion of the 18th British Division plus 2 reconnaissance battalions (from the 11th Indian and 18th British Divisions) supported by 3 field artillery battalions from the 18th British Division, 4 artillery battalions from III Corps, and 2 surviving field artillery battalions from 11th Indian Division. General Pownall decides that every one else must be evacuated today as the last convoy he can reasonably expect reaches port in the early predawn hours.
These troops are from the Straits Volunteer Force (2,500 men with unique local knowledge), Dalforce (a special operations force of mainly Chinese training under SOE jurisdiction, 1,000 men), 9 battalions of anti-aircraft and coast artillery troops whose weapons have run out or nearly so of ammunition or have no useful role (8,000 troops), and all surviving support personnel from 11th Indian Division, 8th Australian Division and III Corps (12,000 troops) as well as all of the walking wounded (1,000). There is no longer space to take stretcher cases. In addition another 3,000 civilians, all of the remaining Europeans as well as over 1,000 Indian and Chinese civil servants and their families can be taken aboard.. The survivors of the 27th Australian Brigade (1,500 men) are also ordered out, and they retreat through positions held by the 2nd Malay Brigade shortly after dawn.
To cover the evacuation, the 18th Division is assigned all of the troops for the counterattack, and in addition, the two battleships will open fire with a massive barrage of 15 inch shells into Japanese artillery positions that have been observed on the Malayan side of the Straits of Johore, while the artillery will fire off every available shell. Once ammunition is exhausted, the artillery battalions are to destroy their guns and retreat to the port for evacuation as well (another 8,000 men). They will be taken aboard the destroyers escorting the convoy. The evacuation convoy will leave port at 0300 hours February 11 in order to get some distance from Singapore by dawn and hopefully reduce the likely damage from air attack.
The rear guard, the soldiers conducting the counterattack are highly unlikely to escape. These troops, along with the engineers, various support troops, medical staff (except women who have already been evacuated) and various headquarters troops, nearly 16,000 men, will be left behind along with over 2,500 wounded who are stretcher cases. But there is no help for that.
The Japanese by dawn of February 10 have just under 20,000 troops on Singapore, consisting of the infantry battalions, engineers, light tanks and light artillery from all three of their divisions. They have lost nearly 2,000 men so far to combat, and in the early hours before dawn are reorganizing prior to launching an attack just after first light which will allow for air support. Artillery ammunition is running low, and so is small arms ammunition, but Yamashita believes that if the 18th and Guards Division can take the Pierce Reservoir, the British will have to surrender within a couple of days at best. Unfortunately for his plans the Navy neglected to inform him that two British battleships are at Singapore and that there appears to be either an evacuation or a substantial reinforcement underway based on the number of ships that were spotted on February 9.
Battle of the Johore Straits
Thus he is shocked when the battleships Royal Sovereign and Revenge, along with 4 minesweepers enter the channel on a run toward the British Naval Base, while 3 British river gunboats and 2 motor torpedo boats enter the Straits of Johore from the southern side, and both British naval forces light up the pre dawn with searchlights, star shells and tracers aimed at Japanese boats, the causeway and the Malayan side while 6 inch guns lay down a devastating fire on the Naval Base and 15 inch shells from the Revenge add to the carnage and destruction. The Royal Sovereign meanwhile opens fire with its guns on the palace of the Sultan of Johore, as well as other likely headquarters buildings that radio intercepts had picked up as areas of high levels of radio transmissions. General Yamashita is forced into cover and although he remains unwounded several of his staff are killed and his communications are completely shattered for several hours as a result.
In all the Japanese lose nearly 2,500 casualties from this surprise naval attack, along with nearly half of their boats and efforts to repair the causeway are completely disrupted. The Imperial Guards Division is also disrupted, and indeed suffers over 1,000 of those losses as well as the destruction of its forward headquarters and many officers as it was concentrated at the Naval Base, which is left a mass of flames that are completely out of control by the end of the British attack.
The Royal Navy does not escape without loss however. Using every gun that can reach, the Japanese fire back fiercely, sinking two motor torpedo boats, leaving the gunboat Grasshopper burning and adrift, and inflicting casualties to exposed personnel on all of the remaining vessels. Fierce air attacks by the Japanese Army Air Force after 0800 hours sink the gunboat Dragonfly and all four minesweepers as well as starting fires on both battleships (that are quickly extinguished). By 1015 hours the surviving vessels have retreated back to Singapore harbor, having exhausted nearly all of their high explosive ammunition.
The 18th British Division offensive
While this is going on, the British Army opens fire with every gun that can reach, and the 54th and 55th Brigades (reinforced with reconnaissance and machine guns units) makes a full scale attack on the Japanese with the axis of advance by the 54th along Woodlands Road toward the Causeway, while the 55th advances along Mandai Road toward the naval base. Neither advance gets more than a mile before fierce Japanese resistance, casualties, and loss of cohesion and command control brings them to a halt, but Japanese losses are heavy, with several battalions badly chewed up and ammunition expenditures are serious. By early afternoon the British are pulling back to their start lines but due to Japanese disorganization, lack of ammunition and resupply problems the Japanese have been halted for a least two days. British losses are not light however, and all of the attacking battalions are down to half strength or less by the time they return to their starting positions. Among the dead however is General Bennett, killed by a Japanese bomb as he organizes the withdrawal of the 27th Australian Brigade, along with many of his staff. He is but one of the 8,000 casualties suffered by Malaya Command the last two days.
By nightfall the British still have 15 infantry battalions to hold the perimeter, along with various support units although the 18th British Division units are much reduced in strength.
The Japanese Navy strikes back
Yamashita is finally able to send a blisteringly pointed message to his superiors by late morning demanding naval support. With no surface ships immediately available to take on battleships, the Japanese Naval Air Force is called on to do the job. However having been committed to strikes in the morning against Doorman's fleet, they are not ready to launch a new strike until mid afternoon and it is not until an hour before dusk when they attack Singapore harbor with 81 level bombers escorted by 24 Zero fighters. They only flak they face is from the ships, but it is heavy and both battleships maneuver as best they can to avoid the level bombers. The Revenge is hit twice, with a bomb hitting the boat deck and penetrating into the spaces below, killing over 100 men, while the other bomb wipes out her anchor chains and causes a serious leak forward. The Royal Sovereign is luckier, taking only one bomb hit that knocks out the guns of her forward most 15 inch gun turret. However as the Japanese are focused on the heavy ships, they ignore the evacuation fleet which is hurriedly cramming aboard thousands of troops and civilians, as well as the many small boats.
Japanese fighters however strafe the airfields that remain under British control, destroying several British and Dutch transport aircraft, while in air combat down all 8 of the RAAF Buffalo fighters that had been sent forward to support the evacuation as well as a pair of civilian flying boats that were taking off when the attack began. A follow up air strike by the Army finishes off the airfields as usable landing strips soon after and with that the only aircraft that can get in and out are flying boats.
The final evacuation
By 0300 hours February 11, the last men that can be crammed aboard have been. The fleet leaves harbor at 12 knots up the Straits of Malacca for India and safety. Aboard are 30,000 Allied troops (most with just the clothes on their backs and their personal weapon) and 5,000 civilians. With them is General Pownall and his staff, as General Heath remains behind to command the remainder of the garrison that now prepares for a final stand before surrender.
