Britannica School: The Fall of SingaporeSingapore was the major British base in the Pacific and had been regarded as unassailable due to its strong seaward defenses. The Japanese took it with comparative ease by advancing down the Malay Peninsula and then assaulting the base’s landward side, which the British had left inadequately defended. On February 13, moreover, Japanese paratroopers had landed at Palembang in Sumatra, which fell to an amphibious assault three days later.
World War II 2016. Britannica School. Retrieved 31 October 2016, from http://school.eb.com.au/levels/high/article/110199#53557.toc