Free Essays on Fall Of Singapore

â€Å"Singapore: Too Little, Too Late†(Brigadier Ivan Simson). Was the fall of the British ‘fortress’ really inevitable? Discuss. 15th February 1942 marked the fall of Singapore to the hands of the Japanese. All along, Singapore had been the base of British power in South East Asia and had been viewed as a British fortress. Thus the collapse of a fortress in merely 70 days was a humiliating defeat for the British. However, judging from the circumstances prior to the war, the fall was inevitable. British attitude towards Singapore defence ever since the 1820s directly caused the rapid defeat. Various defence schemes for Singapore had been proposed, from Captain Edward Lake’s plan in 1827 to Collyer’s scheme in 1850 , but none had been fully implemented. In short, a lot had been said about defending Singapore, but very little had been done. Thus resulting in the lack of proper defence in Singapore. In addition, Britain over reliance on America to protect her interest in times of conflict is naivety on her part as America had a policy of non-intervention and disarmament then. The indecisiven ess and hesitation of the British, especially on the issue of using Thailand as a defence base, let the Japanese had a chance to beat them to it first. In comparison the Japanese army were well trained, experienced, efficient and had well-planned strategies. I shall thus show that the defeat is inevitable by further assessing Singapore’s defence and the attack put up by the Japanese in later paragraphs. To property evaluate the defence Singapore had prior to the war we must start from the 1820s. The British had never viewed the defence of Singapore as an urgent and important matter even though many defence plans had been proposed. The first major study of Singapore’s defence plans was conducted in 1827 by Captain Edward Lake of the Bengal Engineers. After his research he came up with a defence scheme for Singapore. It incl... Free Essays on Fall Of Singapore Free Essays on Fall Of Singapore â€Å"Singapore: Too Little, Too Late†(Brigadier Ivan Simson). Was the fall of the British ‘fortress’ really inevitable? Discuss. 15th February 1942 marked the fall of Singapore to the hands of the Japanese. All along, Singapore had been the base of British power in South East Asia and had been viewed as a British fortress. Thus the collapse of a fortress in merely 70 days was a humiliating defeat for the British. However, judging from the circumstances prior to the war, the fall was inevitable. British attitude towards Singapore defence ever since the 1820s directly caused the rapid defeat. Various defence schemes for Singapore had been proposed, from Captain Edward Lake’s plan in 1827 to Collyer’s scheme in 1850 , but none had been fully implemented. In short, a lot had been said about defending Singapore, but very little had been done. Thus resulting in the lack of proper defence in Singapore. In addition, Britain over reliance on America to protect her interest in times of conflict is naivety on her part as America had a policy of non-intervention and disarmament then. The indecisiven ess and hesitation of the British, especially on the issue of using Thailand as a defence base, let the Japanese had a chance to beat them to it first. In comparison the Japanese army were well trained, experienced, efficient and had well-planned strategies. I shall thus show that the defeat is inevitable by further assessing Singapore’s defence and the attack put up by the Japanese in later paragraphs. To property evaluate the defence Singapore had prior to the war we must start from the 1820s. The British had never viewed the defence of Singapore as an urgent and important matter even though many defence plans had been proposed. The first major study of Singapore’s defence plans was conducted in 1827 by Captain Edward Lake of the Bengal Engineers. After his research he came up with a defence scheme for Singapore. It incl...

Gerunds

Gerunds Gerunds Gerunds By Maeve Maddox Like the word grammar itself, the grammatical term gerund is often mentioned with a shudder. If you already understand all about gerunds, this post is not for you. If you’d like to review the concept, read on. A gerund is a verbal. If you’ve read previous posts about present and past participles, you know that a verbal is one of the principal parts of the verb that retains some verb functions at the same time it is being used as a different part of speech. A gerund is an -ing verb form used as a noun. Like a verb, a gerund can take objects and be modified by adverbs and adverbial phrases, but its function in a sentence is to serve as a noun–a noun that ends in -ing. What do nouns do? Nouns are used as the following parts of a sentence: 1. Subject 2. Direct Object 3. Subject Complement 4. Object of a Preposition Anything a noun can do, a gerund can do–because a gerund is a noun. A gerund is a noun that ends in -ing. Gerunds may be used alone or as part of a phrase. 1. Gerund as the subject of a sentence Reading is her favorite pastime. (Reading is a gerund used alone as the subject of the sentence.) Studying English has its rewards. (Studying is a gerund that has a direct object, â€Å"English.† The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the verb â€Å"has.†) Picnicking in the woods has its downside. (Picnicking is a gerund modified by a prepositional phrase, â€Å"in the woods.† The gerund phrase is the subject of the verb â€Å"has.†) 2. Gerund as a direct object My Aunt Rose loves traveling. (Traveling is a gerund used alone as the direct object of the verb â€Å"loves.†) After a week in the wild, we appreciate sleeping inside. (Sleeping is a gerund modified by the adverb â€Å"inside.† The gerund phrase is the direct object of the verb â€Å"appreciate.† Farhad enjoys singing in the shower. (Singing is a gerund modified by a prepositional phrase, â€Å"in the shower.† The gerund phrase is the direct object of the verb â€Å"enjoys.† 3. Gerund as a subject complement My cats’ favorite occupation is sleeping. (Sleeping is a gerund that completes the being verb â€Å"is.† Jack’s daily exercise is running laps. (Running is a gerund that has a direct object, â€Å"laps.† The gerund phrase completes the being verb â€Å"is.† Hester’s hobby is gardening on her rooftop. (Gardening is a gerund modified by a prepositional phrase, â€Å"on her rooftop.† The gerund phrase completes the being verb â€Å"is† and restates the subject. 4. Gerund as the object of a preposition His parents punished him for stealing. (Stealing is a gerund functioning as the object of the preposition â€Å"for.†) The search party rescued the child by climbing a cliff. (Climbing is a gerund that has a direct object, â€Å"cliff.† The gerund phrase functions as the object of the preposition â€Å"by.† Falstaff attempts to flee by hiding in a laundry basket. (Hiding is a gerund that has a prepositional phrase, â€Å"in a laundry basket.† The gerund phrase â€Å"hiding in a laundry basket† is itself the object of a preposition: â€Å"by.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar 101 category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire You50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy Products13 Theatrical Terms in Popular Usage