Two Books, Two Backstories – By GEORGE BRAINE I have recently finished reading two books, and this describes their special significance for me. The fall of Singapore to the Japanese during WW II is the topic of Sinister Twilight, Noel Barber’s masterful account of Britain’s debacle. Inter-service rivalries, poor leadership, complacency, and just plain stupidity were the causes of Britain’s surrender within a week. (Churchill had called Singapore a “fortress”.) First published in 1968, the book is meticulously researched and written at a brisk pace. At the end of the book, Barber states that the “Japanese victories in battle destroyed forever the legend of the white man’s supremacy”, paving the way for eventual independence throughout Asia. Henry Colin Christy was a Captain in the Welsh Regiment stationed in Singapore, and was living there with his wife and infant daughter Jennifer. As the Japanese troops came sweeping down the Malay peninsula ...

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