RAF and Singapores Dunkirk

[pasir]

It is said that just prior to the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore
that although the RAF had only obsolescent Vildebeasts, Buffaloes plus a few Hudsons to defend Malaya - the RAF GoC declined the offer from Whitehall of a shipment of Spitfires or Hurrficanes.

Although it is a long shot that any surviving former RAF personnel will be
reading this it would be interesting to hear of any comments.

[chevvron]

GOC is an Army term; the RAF equivalent would be AOC.
Is it true that due to time zone differences, the attack on Malaya/Singapore occured before Pearl Harbour in real time.

[pasir]

Hi Chevron - Yes I used the term GOC loosely as in fact the RAFs ACM Brook Popham was in overall command of that war zone ( British Far East Command) - allowing him authority to over ride orders from General Percival - GOC Malaya. In fact at times during the battle there were up to 3 or 4 GOCs Malaya (or equivilants) shared between the services - plus Governor Shenton Thomas adding his two-pennyworth - and adding to the numerous charges of incompetence that contributed to the final inglorious defeat.

Yes Malaya was attacked at least one hour before Pearl Harbour - as were several other locations and and islands in that hemisphere.

[avionic type]

According to F/L Arthur Donahue D.F.C. [an a American flying with in the R.A.F , he was also in the Bof B and his name is on the Bof B memorial by the Thames ]in his book "Last flight from Singapore" was posted to Singapore just after Pearl Harbour and he flew Hurricanes during the the invasion of Malaya and Singapore Island He was some of the last people to leave before the surrender of Singapore.
he was sent back to England declined a transfer to the U.S.A.A.F.
and was shot down over the Channel a few weeks later and his body was never recovered and his name is on the wall at Runnymead

[henry crun]

pasir: If you enter Hurricanes in the Fall of Singapore in google, it will produce a fair amount of information.

[Blacksheep]

An old Flight Sergeant under whom I was privileged to work was on 205 Sqn at Seletar at the time. He said that when the squadron was ordered to leave for Batavia (jakarta), all the NCO aircrew were left behind and replaced with officers from around the station. He along with these aircrew NCOs and all the ground crew were turned over to army command and manned defence lines along the Thompson Road. He also said that a couple of Hurricane squadrons had been down at Kallang, to give them a chance to climb to operating height, but these were withdrawn to Sumatra at around the time the 205 aircraft went to Batavia (Jakarta). He and I were both posted to Changi at the same time and he was reluctant to go. I spoke to him again some time later and he said that he was enjoying his tour and that Changi now looked nothing like it did when he was "helping" to build the runway that were now the Eastern & Western dispersals, so it wasn't bringing back any bad memories. In 1942-45 it was a building site without any grass or trees to be seen, now it was almost a garden.

Hurricanes in Singapore? The record indicates about a hundred of them. They just weren't well deployed. You need height to bounce enemy bomber formations and they didn't have the benefit of "Home Chain" Radar to scramble in time for a proper interception. Had they been based in Sumatra with radar early warning and distance to climb before engaging the enemy it might have been a different story.

More to the point, had they been at the northern airfields with radar support in early December 1941, they may have prevented the Japanese sinking the PoW and Repulse which would have at the very least given our army the time to enter Thailand and put up a direct opposition to the landings.

[pasir]

Records seem to indicate that by Feb 5 1942 232 sqn and 258 sqn had around 30 Hurricanes between them - but down to 20 Hurricanes by Feb 8th. No doubt outclassed by the Zero. Singapore fell 10 days later.