Churchill to blame for fall of Singapore? Move to send planes to Russia was not mistake says Roger Boniface I REFER to Dr Ong Chit Chung's letter "Buck stopped at Churchill's desk" (ST, April 30). Churchill's decision to send 440 aircraft to Russia was not a mistake because the British were fighting the Germans but not yet with Japan. And all the available ships that could have transported these planes were involved in the Atlantic. The only carrier available, the Indomitable, ran aground off Bermuda. Churchill also knew that the British did not have the pilots to fly these planes. They had barely enough pilots for the 200-odd planes in Malaya, most of them coming directly from training school with zero combat experience. The War Cabinet did in fact come to the conclusion that the military situation in Malaya was untenable. This historians know, not from a single document but from a series of papers called the "Far East Appreciation" report which said that, owing to the fall of Indochina and the surrounding areas, Malaya was indefensible by July 1941. The reason Dr Ong cannot find it is that it was sent to Air Chief Marshal Brooke-Popham on the ship Automedan which was attacked by the German raider Atlantis on Nov 11, 1941. The Germans confiscated the report. My authority for this comes from the work of Shores, Cull and Izawa - the leading authorities on the air war in South-east Asia from 1941 to 1942. By Roger Boniface This letter appeared in The Straits Times forum page on May 6, 1997. Fall of Singapore: Should Churchill take the rap? Correlli Barnett, former keeper of the Churchill archives Dr Ong Chit Chung Chan Kwee Sung Dr Brian P. Farrell Chan Kwee Sung (second letter) Dr Ong Chit Chung (second letter) Roger Boniface Roger Boniface (second letter) Fight to death, Churchill told British Army Moses' start page Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.