Learn From The Past

When the battle ships Prince of Wales and Repulse arrived with a great fanfare everyone including me were convinced that all was well.It was business as usual in the city and the entertainment centres like “The new world,Happy world and Great world” were packed with soldiers looking for a good time with the many pretty Asian girls. Mean while their officers relaxed at the Raffles Club. It was fun. Little did I realise what was in store for us in the near future nor did Dad, the Govenor and all the Top Brass in charge of our lives. It was sleep before a nightmare.

4a) Do Source C and D agree in their confidence in the British defence of Singapore? (6)

b) Do you think Source D can be trusted? Explain your answer. (6)

General Pownall has announced that Singapore will be defended to the last.  We believe him.  Yet we may be excused if these words does not convince us that mechanised battles can be won by bravado.  Our hearts do not sink after such messages; we suspended our joy and cannot help but have doubt.  The doubt is: Have the British rulers of Singapore woken up too late?

3a)What does Source C tell you about the confidence of the local people in the British defence of Singapore?

Only the army could stop the Japanese advance on Singapore . The army in the area was led by Lieutenant General Arthur Percival. He had 90,000 men there - British, Indian and Australian troops. The Japanese advanced with 65,000 men lead by General Tomoyuki Yamashita. Many of the Japanese troops had fought in the Manchurian/Chinese campaign and were battle-hardened. Many of Percival’s 90,000 men had never seen combat.

3) What does Source C tell you about why the British army was weaker and inferior to the Japanese? (4)

“When you encounter the enemy after landing, think of yourself as an avenger coming face to face at last with his father’s murderer. Here is a man whose death will lighten your heart.”

2) What does Source A tell you about why the Japanese soldiers were stronger than the British? (4)

Answer the following questions on foolscap paper:DUE DATE - 25 March ( Tuesday to be handed in). You must answer in complete sentences and show proper organisation of answer using paragraphs.

Chapter 3:

1) How did the Raffles Town Plan organise the various groups into different areas?

2) Why do you think Raffles came up with this town plan? Give TWO reasons at least and explain /elaborate on each reason ( 1 reason 1 paragraph using PEE) You can refer to pg 43 of textbook BUT you must be able to INFER and NOT just COPY!

3) Explain clearly how the various groups of immigrants contributed to Singapore’s growth as a trading centre.Use PEE to plan and organise each paragraph, one one paragraph on each area of contribution:

- contributed to entrepot trade

- contributed to providing support services like construction work, working at ports and dockyards, factories etc

You MUST describe how each RACE contributed in various ways, giving examples.

Chapter 6:

1) What factors resulted in the British losing thwar to the Japanese?

This must be done in essay form with ONE factor for each paragraph as listed below

- Overconfidence of British

- Ineffective Defence Strategy

- British fighting war with Germans in Europe

- Japanese better prepared and trained

- Japanese had higher morale and spirit

Japanese used propaganda effectively

Each factor SHOULD be explained /elaborated and evidence/examples given using PEEL

A mind-map MUST be done to PLAN different factors as given above before writing.

You can refer to textbook and OTHER SOURCES as given in Project Work Wiki or even  in Ken’s group Project Work blog

1)  Study Source 3.  What do you think is the purpose of this source?

2) How do you think this propaganda postcard would help  the Japanese win the war?

Link: Source 2

1) What can you infer from Source 2 about how prepared the Japanese were for the attack of Malaya and Singapore?

2) the Japanese troops were “were assigned to carry out the lightning offensive down the Malay Peninsula and capture Singapore, before the British could dispatch its reinforcements.”

a) Based on the above quote, what can you infer about the Japanese strategy?

b) Study Source 3 here.  Look at the map and dates of the attack of Malaya, what do you notice about the Japanese attacks?  What was their strategy focused on? How do you know this? ( read the text that comes with the map)

c) Why do you think the term “blitz” is used here to describe the attack of Malaya by the japanese?

SOURCE 1: LINK

1) According to Source 1, what was the “Main fleet to Singapore” strategy of the British in the face of threats from Japan? Explain clearly the importance of Singapore in this strategy.

2) Why was this strategy implemented instead of building up a huge navy which was stationed in British colonies in the Far East ( places like Singapore and Malaya)?

3) “Certain that the Japanese would first attack from the sea, the British defence planners were confident that the Main Fleet and reinforcements would arrive in Singapore well before any landward attack.”

a) What was the main factor that would ensure that this strategy would work?

b) What do you think is wrong with this strategy?

4) “The main defences of Singapore consisted of a series of Guns Batteries”.

a) Where were these build and why were these places chosen?

b) Do you think these Guns Batteries were an EFFECTIVE strategy against the Japanese threat? Explain.

5. Study Source 3 here ( focus on the part about the sinking of the battleships and the air defence). What caused the British defence strategy to FAIL? Explain with evidence from the source.

Here’s the link to the list of research resources: just scroll down.

http://sec2ipw2008.wikispaces.com/Project+Task+%28For+Students%29

Read this article ( published by NUS) and see if you can find evidence which support some of the information we get from Sejarah Melayu and Wang Da Yuan’s account of early Singapore history.

images-of-ancient-singapore-research-in-nus.pdf

Also read pg 4 of this publication by the Singapore Museum about Archaeology in Singapore for evidence of early Singapore history.

heritage04_jan_mar.pdf

Post your questions and discussions below - deadline 27/1