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The Fall of Singapore / 1942.
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Message 1.Β
Posted by David James Wall (U14752090) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
Wednesday 4th May, 2011. BST:1049
Re: The Fall of Singapore / 1942.
Recently it came to my attention that one of the underlying reasons for the so called Fall of Singapore / 1942 was the completion of the FIVE YEAR Rubber AUCTION. In plane language the Malaysian rubber plantations are harvested ever five years in a calender year beginning with a 0 or a 5. The BASE latex or rubber material resource is bailed and stored on the island of Singapore for one calender year and then transported world wide in a calender year beginning in a 2 or a 7. The capture of Singapore on February 15th, 1942 by the Imperial Forces of Japan during the height of the Second World War was timed to the minute if the actual purpose of the invasion was a part of the WAR FOR RESOURCES that the historian A.J.P. Taylor understood to be the primary reason for Japan's aggressive political and military stance in the Pacific during the early 1940's..
PS: Apparently the industrial storage units associated with the quay of Singapore contained TEN years supply of rubber prepared and bailed for EXPORT. Inotherwords TWO BLOCKS. The financial HOUSE associated with this AUCTION of these TWO BLOCKS was 'Hambros', the Merchant Bankers. With the Fall of Singapore / 1942 they lost everything. -
Message 2
Posted by shivfan (U2435266) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
I thought it was because Singapore had excellent naval defences, but absolutely useful defences from an invasion by land....
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Message 3
Posted by White Camry (U2321601) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
shivfan:
I thought it was because Singapore had excellent naval defences, but absolutely useful defences from an invasion by land....Β
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Message 4
Posted by shivfan (U2435266) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
Sorry, I meant 'useless'....
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Message 5
Posted by David James Wall (U14752090) on Thursday, 5th May 2011
Thursday 5th May, 2011. BST:0948
Re: The Fall of Singapore / 1942.
With regards to the financial HOUSE associated with the AUCTION of the TWO BLOCKS; it should be noted that 'Hambros' had deposited two tranches of cash in the form of GOLD BULLION equivalent with the authorities in Singapore. That transaction was completed on February 11th, 1942 only four days before the invasion, capture and surrender was itself completed by the Imperial Forces of Japan. It should be noted that each block was worth Β£4.2 Billion pounds sterling; a total outlay of Β£8.4 Billion pounds sterling. The Japanese walked away with nearly Β£9 Billion pounds sterling in GOLD BULLION equivalent. Possibly the biggest bank heist in recorded history. Not only that but they also secured TEN years supply of the BASE latex rubber prepared and bailed for EXPORT.
PS: Apparently according to the D.NI (Directorate. Naval Intelligence) the transport to Singapore of the GOLD BULLION was undertaken by the King George V Battleship / HMS. Prince of Wales escorted by the Repulse Class Battlecruiser / L4. Both were sunk by enemy action during their withdrawl as is well documented by others. -
Message 6
Posted by Mutatis_Mutandis (U8620894) on Friday, 6th May 2011
That sounds like wild fantasy to me... HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse were sent to Singapore as part of long-standing war plans, going back to the 1920s, which called for sending a powerful fleet to Singapore in the case of a war with Japan. In 1942 it was not possible to send a fleet of the size once planned, as Britain was already at war with Germany and Italy (the original intention was to send the Mediterranean fleet) and besides there was a shortage of modern or modernized capital ships. (Churchill rejected Admiralty suggestions to send the old R-class battleships.) Tom Phillip's fleet unit, despite its lack of aircraft cover and shortage of destroyers, was intended as a raiding and harassment force, restricting the mobility of Japanese forces in the area, a task that PoW and Repulse were trying to accomplish when they were caught on the surface and sunk.
And why anyone in the 1940s would try to settle transactions by shipping billions in gold is beyond me. International banking and the associated money transfer mechanisms had, after all, been invented centuries before; I'm sure the owners of rubber plantations in Malaya (who were not necessarily in Singapore) were familiar with the practice. So was the Admiralty, as it had paid for the very expensive construction of a naval base and fuel stocks at Singapore. -
Message 7
Posted by Mutatis_Mutandis (U8620894) on Friday, 6th May 2011
I think even the excellence of Singapore's naval defenses can be questioned... Singapore's 15-inch coastal guns were useful deterrents against an enemy fleet attempting to shell the naval base. However, events in 1941 demonstrated that that type of tactic was out of date anyway. Defenses against a more likely carrier air raid, and perhaps air attacks from Japanese bases in Indochina, were weak, as the RAF could spare no modern aircraft for the Far East. Priority was given to reinforcing the Middle East and the USSR.
Singapore was never expected to defend itself forever. Pre-war planners hoped that it could be defended long enough, perhaps 2 or 3 months, until a relief fleet arrived from the Mediterranean or the Atlantic. (Reminiscent of Port Arthur and Rozhestvensky's ill-fated mission around the world.) After the loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse, it was obvious that there would be no relief fleet. (The US Navy was not interested, even if it had not suffered the losses at Pearl Harbor.) Singapore's fall was therefore mostly a matter of time, and only the speed with which it happened was a surprise. Churchill's melodramatic order that the defenders should fight to the last bullet and the last man (regardless of what the civilian population might suffer!) was unrealistic.
As for OP, I suspect his unlikely story is one of the many variants of the legend of Yamashita's Gold. -
Message 8
Posted by David James Wall (U14752090) on Monday, 9th May 2011
Monday 9th May, 2011. BST:1039
Re: Fall of Singapore / 1942.
With respect to Mutatis_ Mutandis; much of what you say is true. The capture of the island of Singapore was undertaken by the Imperial Forces of Japan in February 1942 and their approach was via Malaya across the northern straits where the island's defensive set was particularly poor. As was noted by many historians later; the coastal defences of Singapore faced south and included the coastal gun batteries which hardly fired a shot in anger during the whole engagement. The island of Singapore could not have held out for long when the amphibious japanese forces controlled the Malaysian Penisular and were backed by a large scale air force including paratroops.
However; I would repeat the assertion that 'Hambros' had deposited nearly Β£9 Billion pounds sterling in GOLD BULLION (under the hill) prior to February 15th, 1942 and that this was found by the Japanese Imperial Forces in a Buillion Vault during the Occupation. 'Hambros' knew they had been 'defrauded', in their words and only made up the loss in 1948. -
Message 9
Posted by hotmousemat (U2388917) on Monday, 9th May 2011
Mutatis_Mutandis
And why anyone in the 1940s would try to settle transactions by shipping billions in gold is beyond me. International banking and the associated money transfer mechanisms had, after all, been invented centuries before;Β
You should only accept money if you think the authority that backs the currency will still be around next year. In the early 1940s, it wouldn't have been unreasonable for sellers to assume that the pound would soon be as worthless as a Confederate dollar. -
Message 10
Posted by Wyldeboar (U11225571) on Monday, 9th May 2011
Are you by any chance related to 'Prof Muster' ? Your posting style is very similar.......................
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Message 11
Posted by Mutatis_Mutandis (U8620894) on Monday, 9th May 2011
In the early 1940s, it wouldn't have been unreasonable for sellers to assume that the pound would soon be as worthless as a Confederate dollar.Β
In June 1940, perhaps; although informed observers would at worst have expected a ceasefire and a negotiated (if humilating) peace, not an outright defeat. In late 1941, after Hitler had expanded the conflict with the Eastern Front, not any more. While a British victory was far from certain, a fast British defeat had become very unlikely. And time clearly favoured the British Empire.
Anyway, there are risk and risks. Accepting payment in British pounds might have been a risk, but shipping a vast bulk of gold into a war zone is a mind-bogglingly stupid alternative. The smart money would have been deposited in an American bank. -
Message 12
Posted by hotmousemat (U2388917) on Tuesday, 10th May 2011
Anyway, there are risk and risks. Accepting payment in British pounds might have been a risk, but shipping a vast bulk of gold into a war zone is a mind-bogglingly stupid alternative. The smart money would have been deposited in an American bank.Β
Risk to whom? If the gold had not been safely delivered, that would be our problem, not the seller's.
By 1941 we were already long past the stage of Britain paying for stuff by making bank transfers of paper pounds into banks, in the USA or anywhere else. All British purchases, including war material from the USA, had to be paid for in gold, either transferred or obtained by selling off our American assets.
Suppose foreign sellers had accepted pounds? There was the risk that Britain might be defeated, then they would lose everything. But even if Britain survived, we would have enormous debts and a wrecked economy. By the time anything was available for foreigners to buy with those pounds, what would they be worth? For any that did, the answer turned out to be 30% less than they had been worth when they were accepted as payment. -
Message 13
Posted by ShaneONeal (U14303502) on Saturday, 14th May 2011
Wednesday 4th May, 2011. BST:1049
Re: The Fall of Singapore / 1942.
Recently it came to my attention that one of the underlying reasons for the so called Fall of Singapore / 1942 was the completion of the FIVE YEAR Rubber AUCTION. In plane language the Malaysian rubber plantations are harvested ever five years in a calender year beginning with a 0 or a 5. The BASE latex or rubber material resource is bailed and stored on the island of Singapore for one calender year and then transported world wide in a calender year beginning in a 2 or a 7. The capture of Singapore on February 15th, 1942 by the Imperial Forces of Japan during the height of the Second World War was timed to the minute if the actual purpose of the invasion was a part of the WAR FOR RESOURCES that the historian A.J.P. Taylor understood to be the primary reason for Japan's aggressive political and military stance in the Pacific during the early 1940's..
PS: Apparently the industrial storage units associated with the quay of Singapore contained TEN years supply of rubber prepared and bailed for EXPORT. Inotherwords TWO BLOCKS. The financial HOUSE associated with this AUCTION of these TWO BLOCKS was 'Hambros', the Merchant Bankers. With the Fall of Singapore / 1942 they lost everything. Β The greatest mistery is why Percival surrendered when he commanded a 40,000 man army with plenty ofweapons and ammo; why didnt he defend the way they did at Alamein? -
Message 14
Posted by White Camry (U2321601) on Monday, 16th May 2011
SON,
The greatest mistery is why Percival surrendered when he commanded a 40,000 man army with plenty ofweapons and ammo; why didnt he defend the way they did at Alamein?Β
In 'Zulu' Michael Caine has a superb line which sums up his character's dilemma as an officer in the field: "Well, when you take command, old boy, you're on your own. One of the first things that the general - my grandfather - ever taught me." Percival just didn't function well on his own when smacked in the face.
For that matter, neither did MacArthur in the Philippines but FDR threw him a lifeline. -
Message 15
Posted by wollemi (U2318584) on Monday, 16th May 2011
Percival was likely set an impossible task
One of the shortcomings of Singapore was that it was set up as a naval base. Naval. Hence its function was lost in the first week after Pearl Harbour/invasion of Malaya with the sinking of the Repulse and Prince of Wales. After this event the Japanese had control of both the sea and the air
By the time of the siege in Singapore there were no only the troops, but 1 million civilian refugees, no water and the city was being bombed. There could have been a 'last stand', and maybe a more determined general than Percival would have taken this route, but the flip side is that with Japan controlling both the sea and the air there was no means of escape, evacuation, reinforcement nor rescue
How this predicament evolved had a lot to do with priorities in December 1941 and why the original plan for a naval fleet to be sent to reinforce Singapore was not followed - namely that the war against Germany took priority
The problem was further up the chain of command than Percival
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