Improve the Singapore Strategy
- Thread starter MatthewB
- Start date
Issues around the 2pdr aside you need to get someone from the Tank Corps out to Malaya to actually have a look at the country when they're drawing up the defence plans. They can tell Whitehall that Tanks can actually operate in Malaya. Beyond that captured Italian equipment can be sent out to make up for shortages of British standard equipment until it's available and provide something for the garrison to train against.
They sort of did - they had a couple of Militia type battalions on hand in early 1940 - by Dec 1941 they had 3 understrength and under equipped Divisions
But due to competing demands on available forces could not send more
I think at minimum they should have left Hong Kong with the minimum troops to make a show of force if attacked and concentrate on holding Malaya once it becomes clear that the Japanese are massing forces in FIC
But there's still the need to hold Rabaul, Ambon, and Timor
As I said before the only strategy I can see were enough troops are available is if the Australian and NZ governments demand the return of their forces from North Africa and the Middle east once the Japanese invade FIC and use the 2nd AIF as the core of Malayas defences.
Britain had 29 Divisions sitting in the UK in various stages of training and tables of equipment (Germany had 100 Divisions plus sat in Europe so you can sort of understand why!) in 1941 so they could with little risk send 4 additional replacement divisions that year to relieve the 3 Australian and 1 NZ divisions allowing them to move east.
This places 5 Divisions (including the NZ Division), plus the 2 Indian Army Divisions which could each be reinforced to a 3 Brigade force by the inclusion of the Hong Kong Brigade and C-Force if still sent.
Maybe Canada would allow 1 of its divisions to serve outside of the UK either in North or East Africa or freeing up Brigades from say Malta or Gib to allow those units to serve in North Africa?
Tanks? I would even send a Brigades worth of Covenanter with the idea that the Australians would use them to train their fledgling Armoured Division and setup a training area in Malaya!
Yes it was a pretty poor tank but the Australian 1st Armoured Brigade would like their British and allied tank units that had the tank inflicted on them become very good at 'tank husbandry' - and a poor tank is better than having no tank and the Japanese tanks were pretty less than ordinary light tanks
Add up the RN Destroyers and Cruisers either at Singapore on the 7th or arriving within a couple of days and you get a really significant force.
I forget the exact numbers, but remember being really surprised at what was actually in the area when I did look.
By the early 30's considerable sums had already been spent on Singapore. You cant just spend £28 on something else (and in any case, there are limits on what you have the facilities to build). You could probably improve the defences enough to remove obvious weaknesses (water).
But the key to holding Malaya is the Mediterranean. The RN never thought they could fight Germany+Italy+Japan on their own, it was a scenario that would have to assume one theatre was starved. Germany is obviously of prime importance, so either the Med or the Far East are on a shoestring.
And even with that proviso, the British were working on a satisfactory garrison, they ran out of time. Not helped by sending a lot more to an ungrateful USSR than they could afford.
But the Med is the key. If Compass is allowed to succeed and followed up, so that NA can be cleared in 1941 (not at all impossible), then while Italy still has to be covered, men ships and planes become available to put in the planned support of Singapore before the Japanese arrive. It also means the Med isn't sucking up all the good commanders and leaving SE Asia with the rest. Obviously the Med is still a theatre, but with NA under control the British have the luxury of deciding when, where and with what forces actions will take place.
There are some similarites to the fall of Malaya that parallel the fall of France - it doesn't take too many changes to slow and stop it.
But the key to holding Malaya is the Mediterranean. The RN never thought they could fight Germany+Italy+Japan on their own, it was a scenario that would have to assume one theatre was starved. Germany is obviously of prime importance, so either the Med or the Far East are on a shoestring.
And even with that proviso, the British were working on a satisfactory garrison, they ran out of time. Not helped by sending a lot more to an ungrateful USSR than they could afford.
But the Med is the key. If Compass is allowed to succeed and followed up, so that NA can be cleared in 1941 (not at all impossible), then while Italy still has to be covered, men ships and planes become available to put in the planned support of Singapore before the Japanese arrive. It also means the Med isn't sucking up all the good commanders and leaving SE Asia with the rest. Obviously the Med is still a theatre, but with NA under control the British have the luxury of deciding when, where and with what forces actions will take place.
There are some similarites to the fall of Malaya that parallel the fall of France - it doesn't take too many changes to slow and stop it.
I've addressed the question of leadership before. Assume only the governor, and deficient army and air force commanders/staff are new and improved from early 1940. How much difference does this make for training, physical preparation, and snappy execution of the counter to the Japanese landings?
Cruisers available were HMS Exeter, HMS Glasgow, HMS Mauritania, 3 old D class Cruisers, 2 modern destroyers Isis and Jupiter a submarine HMS Rover
Hmmm 6 cruisers 3 of them modern could throw up a lot of flak...maybe that leads to force Z surviving to pull back to Ceylon?
A larger force z always leads me to wonder if they could have managed to still avoid the Japanese cruiser squadron they almost blundered into OTL. Beat up the Japanese squadron and have one the capitals long lanced and the squadron withdraws to Singapore and then to ceylon for repairs.
And that would make Somerville's job in 1942 so much easier as he would not need the R class battleships in the far Eastern fleet
He'd still have to avoid been found in daylight. The FAA owns the night but in daylight they're completely outclassed.
MatthewB
Banned
But they did! Just too late. Ten convoys arrived at Singapore in in Jan-Feb 1942 delivering 30,000 troops and over 50 Hawker Hurricanes, and sixteen of the Indian army's Vickers light tanks arrived on Feb 11, 1942. If tanks and Hurricanes were going to be available, why not send them BEFORE the shooting starts. And yes, maybe send more than sixteen obsolete tanks.
From where?
What front where fighting is actually taking place, looses those troops and vehicles to reinforce somewhere where there is no fighting taking place (yet).
Japan chose their timing well - had they waited another year and the Commonwealth could have flooded Malaya with Fighter planes and tanks and would have far more men to fly and drive them
The USA could do the same in the Philippines
As it was 1941 had been cruel to the Commonwealth forces
Greece, Crete and North Africa had resulted in the destruction of about 5 and 1/2 division slices worth of heavy equipment and transport and cost them about 1 and 1/2 division slices worth of manpower
The Navy had lost multiple ships sunk and damaged in support of those actions
Perhaps if the Greek adventure is curtailed more cohesive forces could be retained in Crete and more forces in North Africa - resulting in lower losses needing to be 'made good' and more and better units would be available for the Far East.
Avoid going into Greece and the troops wasted there can be used to finish off Italian North Africa before the Germans are able to interfere. Not only that, but without the British being driven back into Egypt then the Iraqi revolt may be avoided as well as the need to invade Vichy controlled Syria and Lebanon.
You have Exter and Perth and 4 DD heading to DEI, you have Houston, Boise( with radar), Marbelhead, and 6 DD heading for DEi from the southern Phillipines. What might have happened if Phillip's had pulled all the RN ships and worked with the Asiatic fleet in thecDzeI.
The Japanese would have sent a much larger fleet to the Battle of the Java Sea to crush Philip's.
They can't afford not to take the Dutch East Indies oil fields, other operations can wait.
100% this I hardly ever see this idea. I'm literally sat on Langkawi right now, disturbuting naval bases and attendant defensive assets around the West coast islands will lead to all sorts of interesting butterflies for the whole engagement strategy on the Japanese side and force the British forces into a different mind set earlier on.
Can be done cheaply and allows air craft to essentially sit on unsinkable carriers whilst projecting air cover over Malaya and Singapore.
Keeps Phillips from a death charge too as he will have to defend the straits.
Now the Japanese, already at a logistical shoe strong have to transport either amphibious assets or heavy artillery across the jungle to get at them.
Frees up surface assets from convoy duty West of the straits, allows staged arrial supply of an under siege Singapore.... Hmmm someone get a map out.
Apols for spelling on my fifth gin and tonic of breakfast.
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The issue I have with that answer is that the Japanese sent what they sent and those forces Butchpfd spoke of are also what the allies sent
If they had concentrated in time for the 8th Dec then how does the IJN concentrate more ships than they did and why?
Its very similar to one response I saw when it was suggested that if a rotating CAP had been operating above force Z then the Japanese would simply have escorted the bombers with Zeros - again the problem with this answer is that OTL they did not although they must have appreciated that there was a possibility of the British commonwealth air forces doing just this - yet OTL they still sent their somewhat fragile Rikkos out in groups of 9 to 18 aircraft without escorts!
Yardarm particularly low this morning eh?
