Changes

==Aftermath==

==Aftermath==

Despite his instruction to Australian troops to stay at their posts, Lieutenant-General [[Gordon Bennett]] and two of his staff officers escaped from Singapore on the night of the surrender and eventually reached Australia. 20,000 Australian soldiers were reported to have been captured.<ref>"The fall of Singapore saw the loss of more than 20,000 highly trained volunteers of the Australian Imperial Force, when most of Australia's 8th Division was taken prisoner of war in Malaya. The Pacific War: The Strategy, Politics, and Players that Won the War, William B. Hopkins, Page 96, Zenith Press, 2009</ref><ref>[http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/299/ Return to the Burma Railway]</ref> <ref>[https://hq22brigade.wordpress.com/about-us/ # Return to the Thai-Burma Railway# Jump up ^ 22nd Brigade Headquarters Association]</ref>  

Despite his instruction to Australian troops to stay at their posts, Major-General [[Henry Gordon Bennett]] and three of his staff officers escaped from Singapore on the night of the surrender and eventually reached Australia. Bennett's justification for leaving Singapore was that he wanted to return to Australia to give first-hand information of Japanese invasion. In all, 20,000 Australian soldiers were reported to have been captured.<ref>"The fall of Singapore saw the loss of more than 20,000 highly trained volunteers of the Australian Imperial Force, when most of Australia's 8th Division was taken prisoner of war in Malaya. The Pacific War: The Strategy, Politics, and Players that Won the War, William B. Hopkins, Page 96, Zenith Press, 2009</ref><ref>[http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/299/ Return to the Burma Railway]</ref> <ref>[https://hq22brigade.wordpress.com/about-us/ # Return to the Thai-Burma Railway# Jump up ^ 22nd Brigade Headquarters Association]</ref>  

Corporal [[Walter Ernest Brown]] from the [[Australian 2/15th Field Regiment]] was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] for his service in World War I and World War II. He went missing soon after the fall of Singapore; he was last sighted walking towards Japanese positions with hand grenades.<ref>[https://www.awm.gov.au/people/P10676378/ Gunner Walter Ernest 'Wally' Brown]</ref>  

Corporal [[Walter Ernest Brown]] from the [[Australian 2/15th Field Regiment]] was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] for his service in World War I and World War II. He went missing soon after the fall of Singapore; he was last sighted walking towards Japanese positions with hand grenades.<ref>[https://www.awm.gov.au/people/P10676378/ Gunner Walter Ernest 'Wally' Brown]</ref>  

According to the book ''The Great Crusade: A New Complete History of the Second World War'' (Potomac Books, 2008), tens of thousands of Chinese labourers of the British Army were killed, because the British failed to destroy the files that contained their names and addresses.

According to the book ''The Great Crusade: A New Complete History of the Second World War'' (Potomac Books, 2008), tens of thousands of Chinese labourers of the British Army were killed, because the British failed to destroy the files that contained their names and addresses.

The Indian revolutionary leader Rash Behari Bose formed the Indian National Army with the help of the Japanese, who were highly successful in recruiting 20,000 Indian soldiers taken prisoner.

The Indian revolutionary leader [[Rash Behari Bose]] formed the [[Indian National Army]] (INA) with the help of the Japanese, who were highly successful in recruiting 20,000 Indian soldiers taken prisoner.<ref>[http://www.nlb.gov.sg/resourceguides/indian-national-army-ina/ Indian National Army (INA)]</ref>

Lord Moran, Churchill’s physician, wrote: ''"The fall of Singapore on February 15 stupefied the Prime Minister."'' In particular, the surrender of the British and Australian troops bewildered him. ''"How come 100,000 men (half of them of our own race) were to hold up their hands to inferior numbers of Japanese?"'', wrote Moran. Though Churchill had been gradually prepared for its fall, the surrender of the British fortress stunned him, according to Moran. ''"He felt it was a disgrace. It left a scar on his mind. One evening, months later, when he was sitting in his bathroom enveloped in a towel, he stopped drying himself and gloomily surveyed the floor: ‘I cannot get over Singapore,’ he said sadly."''

Lord Moran, Churchill’s physician, wrote: ''"The fall of Singapore on February 15 stupefied the Prime Minister."'' In particular, the surrender of the British and Australian troops bewildered him. ''"How come 100,000 men (half of them of our own race) were to hold up their hands to inferior numbers of Japanese?"'', wrote Moran. Though Churchill had been gradually prepared for its fall, the surrender of the British fortress stunned him, according to Moran. ''"He felt it was a disgrace. It left a scar on his mind. One evening, months later, when he was sitting in his bathroom enveloped in a towel, he stopped drying himself and gloomily surveyed the floor: ‘I cannot get over Singapore,’ he said sadly."''