Singapore Survives

Is there anyway that the British could have held on to Singapore in WWII. It was my understanding that complacency and over-confidence played a part in the British defeat. What could change to allow for the British to successfully repel the Japanese?
 
A competent General instead of Percival, and an Admiral instead of Phillips. Between April when the general arrives, and December when the war starts this general needs to train and exercise his troops vigorously up and down the Malayan peninsula. Operation Matador needs to be updated to reflect the forces at hand rather than those requested, and the lines of authority need to be clarified so it can be put into action in the confusing times at the start of a war.

The General then needs to conduct a force-on-force withdrawal campaign down the Malayan peninsula, using his greater troop numbers and being on the defensive to offset the japanese superiority in armour and in the air. This will cause the Japanese to exaust their limited supply stocks and they will have to stop for resupply somewhere on the peninsula to restock to sustain a further advance.

The Admiral should not steam srtaight to Vietnam on a rumour, although with a competent general he may not b put in this position. He should await the cruisers and destroyers which were mere days away from reinforcing him. He should protect the flanks of the Army and be ready to destroy the Smatra invasion force when it appears on Feb 14 1942.

Singapore survives for a time as does Sumatra, protecting the rear of Singapore. By late April Sommerville arrives in the Bay of Bengal with a fleet and the Australians are being bought back from Egypt. So round two begins.
 

sharlin

Banned
Admiral Sommervilles fleet was nothing more than targets waiting to be sunk though, the R class Battleships had little in the way of AA defences, the british carriers had small airgroups with aircraft that were at the time, inferior to the IJA planes of the time. And the RN didn't have anything to spare as it was either tied up on convoy duty, watching for german surface raiders or in the med.
 
Devolved's Happy and Glorious TL probably sets out the best case scenario for Britain, that is a more competently led Malayan campaign that lasts longer, bleeds the Japanese and results in a fighting defeat instead of feeble capitulation. The problem facing Britain in SE Asia was that the forces needed to hold Malaya were tied up in North Africa, of course had Britain begun rearmament earlier then it may have had the forces available to fight both campaigns but that requires a much earlier POD.
 
Admiral Sommervilles fleet was nothing more than targets waiting to be sunk though, the R class Battleships had little in the way of AA defences, the british carriers had small airgroups with aircraft that were at the time, inferior to the IJA planes of the time. And the RN didn't have anything to spare as it was either tied up on convoy duty, watching for german surface raiders or in the med.

What he needed was more carriers and airpower and less German raiders...oh yessss....:D:D
 

sharlin

Banned
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A competent General instead of Percival, and an Admiral instead of Phillips.
Get rid Brooke-Popham as CinC Far East Command. Hell, have Percival take over that job from him and bring in a successor as GOC Malaya. Who to take the place as GOC Malaya? Maybe someone like Pownall?
 
Get rid Brooke-Popham as CinC Far East Command. Hell, have Percival take over that job from him and bring in a successor as GOC Malaya. Who to take the place as GOC Malaya? Maybe someone like Pownall?

I know who I have taking over :)
Parks. Should be popular locally as well, as a New Zealander.

I did think of having Dowding do it, as the thought of him having a second success is spite of all the Air Marshalls could do would probably make the AIr Ministry commit joint Seppuku, which would shorten the war by a year or two, but I'm not sure I quite have the nerve...:p:D
 
Admiral Sommervilles fleet was nothing more than targets waiting to be sunk though, the R class Battleships had little in the way of AA defences, the british carriers had small airgroups with aircraft that were at the time, inferior to the IJA planes of the time. And the RN didn't have anything to spare as it was either tied up on convoy duty, watching for german surface raiders or in the med.

That depends on circumstances. A more successful land operation would cause considerable butterflies. Japanese air power would be used closer to the battlefield in support of stalled troops, taking some heat off the Commonwealth air forces and subjecting them to higher attrition. I think the carrier fleet would be used against Singapore instead of Darwin on Feb 19, both to find Force Z/ABDA naval force which stopped the Sumatra invasion and subdue Singapore itself.

Every opposed carrier strike is subject to attrition, even the dazzling success of Pearl Harbour lost the IJN the equivilent of half a carrier air group. Enough strikes to destroy air and naval power in and around Singapore might lose the equivilent of a carrier air group, dropping the number of ships Nagumo has to fight Sommerville from a crushing 5 to a long-odds 4. Further if the remains of Force Z/ABDA naval force meet up with Sommerville he will be more powerful than IOTL.
 
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