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In the years leading into World War II, the British had completed much-ballyhooed improvements to its naval base in Singapore. Overly optimistic phrases such as “Fortress Singapore” and “the Gibraltar of the East” were widely used but the defense of the island was poorly planned ... |
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as the Japanese attacked and ultimately captured Singapore on February 15, 1942 after only several weeks of bloody and intense fighting. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the surrender of Singapore “the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history”. |
