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The Australian defenders were battle-weary, having lost nearly 700 men fighting in Malaya since 14 January, with hundreds of others wounded or sick.
The Australian defenders were battle-weary, having lost nearly 700 men fighting in Malaya since 14 January, with hundreds of others wounded or sick.
==Civilian evacuations==
European civilian evacuations from Singapore had begun in late January and continued until almost the last moment. Some merchant ships also evacuated civilians from the path of the Japanese. The Australian Royal Navy (RAM) were entrusted with escort duties, and the fleet based in Singapore included the destroyer HMAS Vampire and the sloop HMAS Yarra, which arrived late in January, along with several corvettes. The corvettes in the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla swept the sea lanes and conducted anti-submarine patrols. HMA Ships Toowoomba, Wollongong and Ballarat reinforced the original four corvettes, HMA Ships Bendigo, Burnie, Goulburn and Maryborough. The last 65 Australian Army nurses stationed in Singapore were ordered to board the Vyner Brooke, which sailed on 12 February. Their colleagues, who had sailed in the Empire Star the previous day, reached Australia, but only 24 of the nurses who sailed in the Vyner Brooke survived to return to Australia in 1945 after the war had ended.
==Singapore falls==
==Singapore falls==
The Japanese Air Force had more men and was well trained and better equipped than the British Commonwealth pilots who had inferior equipment without any good training. The main Japanese fighter, the [[Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero]] helped the Japanese forces gain an upper hand. The Japanese warplanes managed to sink the British capital ships thus leaving the Malayan peninsula exposed giving room for more Japanese landings.
The Japanese Air Force had more men and was well trained and better equipped than the British Commonwealth pilots who had inferior equipment without any good training. The main Japanese fighter, the [[Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero]] helped the Japanese forces gain an upper hand. The Japanese warplanes managed to sink the British capital ships thus leaving the Malayan peninsula exposed giving room for more Japanese landings.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadrons had been evacuated before the Japanese invaded the island
==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==