Lessons from the fall of Singapore, 1942
The guns were pointing the wrong way
Published: 29 October 2009(GMT+10)
While creationist thermodynamics professor
Dr Andy McIntosh was in Singapore in August 2009, he visited the museum
dedicated to the memory of all that had taken place in the momentous years of the
Second World War. This article, which is with his kind consent, was inspired by
a newsletter he sent to prayer partners afterwards.
Image Wikipedia.org
The British in 1942 did not expect the Japanese to invade Singapore because they
reckoned that the Malayan jungle protected them from an attack from the north. If
an attack came they were sure it would be by sea—so the big guns were all
pointing south. It was inconceivable to British military planners that the island
could be attacked any other way—least of all, through the jungle and mangrove
swamps of the Malay Peninsula.
But this was exactly the route the Japanese took. On the fateful day of February
15th 1942 the Japanese army came across the straits of Johor, having
travelled down the 900 km (550 miles) of the Malay Peninsula in 55 days. More unexpectedly,
most of them (apart from a few transported in trucks) had been issued with bicycles!
They were able to move quickly down the paved roads constructed by the British.
At the same time, they were able to outflank the Allied Forces, who were heavily
defending the major routes on these roads, by riding through tracks in rubber estates,
enabling surprise from the rear. Their bicycles also enabled the Japanese to move
faster than the withdrawing Allied troops, and thus they were often able to successfully
cut off their retreat.1
We have given way on crucial areas of doctrine and allowed a false view of Genesis
to govern our theology
They came with 65,000 troops, considerably less than the 90,000 British, Indian
and Australian forces forming the Singapore garrison. But the Japanese, under Lt General Yamashita, routed this
unsuspecting and unprepared force, which had been thought to be invincible, in the worst British military defeat in history. The
results of losing the major British military base in South East Asia were catastrophic, and three years of terrible suffering ensued for the
tens of thousands taken captive. Many either languished in pitiful conditions in
Singapore’s notorious Changi prison, or were forced to horrendous hard labour
on the infamous Burma Railway. Many were murdered, and large numbers died from overwork,
starvation or disease.
Why be reminded of this?
Because this is a powerful illustration of the church today, which is in a very
similar position over the creation/evolution issue. We have given way on crucial
areas of doctrine and allowed a false view of Genesis to govern our theology. We
are then surprised that we have no resistance to the blatant secularism that comes
in the wake of such compromise, as many disbelieve in a message which is not consistent
with the foundations of the Faith.
The garrison at Singapore fell because it was unprepared and its big guns were facing
the wrong way (To be precise, most could and did turn around, but were loaded with armour-piercing shells designed to penetrate warships, not high-explosive shells that would have caused more casualties against the unexpected land invaders. So it was the same sort of unpreparedness.). Equally, many of the “big guns” in the church refuse
to see the danger it is facing. The Lord cannot honour a church which disbelieves
its own book, the Bible. We have to maintain the foundations if we are going to
attempt to reach the current generation for Christ. The gospel is inseparably connected
with the Creation and the Fall. As Martin Luther said:
Christian—we are in a battle; let us not forget this.
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest expression every portion
of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil
are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be
professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved,
and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if
he flinches at that point.”
Christian—we are in a battle; let us not forget this. There are certainly
other fronts. This is not the only one. But we are living with our eyes closed if
we do not realize that this is one of the major fronts to fight in the Christian
cause today. We are in a surreal world if we do not realize that the enemy is coming
in like a flood through false evolutionary sophistry and ensnaring thousands of
the next generation to unbelief through this matter—while many in the church’s
“garrison” still deny that there is even a threat.
Further reading
Related resources
Reference
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The Swift Japanese Assault, Reflections at Bukit Chandu, National Archives of
Singapore, accessed 7 September 2009. Return to text.
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