Singapore surrenders to Japan. During World War II, in one of the worst military defeats in its history, Great Britain was forced to cede the previously impregnable Singapore to Japan. Located off the Malay Peninsula and protected by enormous defensive cannons, Singapore was considered unassailable. But the guns, with armor-piercing ammunition and special flat trajectories to decimate enemy fleets, were ineffective against a land attack from the undefended northern side of the island. After sweeping across the Malay Peninsula, the Japanese entered Singapore from the north and entered the city, capturing important Allied positions and forcing the attackers to split into small groups. Short of supplies, the British were forced to relinquish control of a waterway crucial to shipping between India and China. Of the 130,000 Allied soldiers captured, thousands later died as Japanese prisoners.
