Commemorations mark 80th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore

A special service has been held to mark the day – 80 years ago – that Britain and her Commonwealth allies were defeated by the Japanese in the battle for Singapore. 

The island's loss marked the single largest surrender in British military history and was described by Winston Churchill as the "greatest capitulation". 

The day also marked the moment 80,000 British, Australian, and Indian soldiers became prisoners of war.

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Eighty years on, the children, grandchildren, and families of those who became prisoners of war that day met at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to commemorate the loss of Singapore and the moment their relatives' lives changed forever. 

The service, organised by the Children and Families of Far East Prisoners of War (COFEPOW) charity, was attended by the surviving relatives and younger generations of those involved in the battle for Singapore and included an inspiring address by the organisation's patron, Terry Waite CBE. 

Mr Waite, who from 1987 to 1991 was kidnapped and held captive in Beirut while working as a special envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, was given a round of applause after reciting a poem about reconciliation with a powerful message.

After the church service, which was led by COFEPOW's padre David Childs CBE, the commemoration continued at a memorial within the Far East section of the East Staffordshire arboretum, which included the laying of wreaths and a two-minute silence. 

The Japanese occupied Singapore from February 1942 for the remainder of the war. It was re-occupied by the British in September 1945 and gained independence in 1965.