Against the British in Singapore
The start of the war for Singapore was when 400 artilleries of the Japanese
simultaneously bombed Singapore from Johor, after which the Japanese had
no difficulty in rebuilding the causeway and crossing over to Singapore.
The Japanese tricked Singapore into believing that they will land from the Pulau Ubin area, with some attacks there. With the main British ammunitions moved there, the Japanese then attacked from the opposite side, down the causeway.
The main fighting areas were the Bukit Timah area. The Japanese here lost as many soldiers in the fighting as during the whole period of the fighting in Malaya. The Chinese Volunteers fought very bravely here but because of the fierce opposition of the Chinese Volunteers at Bukit Timah, the Japanese later took revenge on the Chinese living in the area and killed all the Chinese men, women and children found in the village there.
Reasons for Defeat of British
There was a good naval base but with limited fleets, what was the use of the naval base? The only ships that the British could equip Singapore with were the Prince of Wales and the Repulse due to their war efforts over at the other end of the world. But without the protection of any aircraft cover, these 2 ships were easily bombed by Japanese aeroplanes and both sank, rendering the naval base useless.
