Phoney War in Singapore, August 1939 to April 1940

I will never know how my father felt when he arrived in Singapore in August 1939. Was he humiliated by running out of petrol and writing off his aircraft in a tin mine on Phuket, or was he proud of having pulled off a forced landing in very challenging terrain and saving the lives of his crew? In any case, he would have had company — very few of the 39 Squadron pilots came through that disastrous journey from India unscathed. And all of this was soon put in the shade by the news from Europe.

On the 1st of September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, and, in response, Britain and France declared war with Germany two days later. On the 10th of May 1940, German troops marched into Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. On the same day, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. The eight-month period between these dates, which coincided almost exactly with my father’s time in Singapore, is often known as “the Phoney War.” Britain and France postured but made no significant attacks on Germany. France stepped a few kilometers into Germany and then withdrew. The RAF dropped propaganda leaflets on Germany.

September through December 1939

Meanwhile, in Singapore, 39 Squadron wasn’t doing much either. Less than a month after arriving at the half-c0mpleted station at Tengah, they moved to Kallang, the first purpose-built civilian airport in Singapore, opened three years earlier. It was considered at the time “the finest airport in the British Empire”.²

From late October “training flying was cut back to save fuel, to enable stockpiles to be built-up for operational flying.” ⁴ My father flew just 24 times between the end of October and his departure from Singapore on April 16.⁵ Another airman remembered it as “a year of much swimming and sailing.” ⁶ Kallang was on the edge of town and immediately next door to the “Happy World Cabaret”.

In his History of 39 Squadron RAF, Ken Delve writes about this period:
“To fill in time there was an extensive series of inter-service visits and ground training. Much of the latter was devoted to recognition especially of Japanese shipping, as 39’s role included anti-shipping strikes. Exchange visits with the Navy had their problems, such as the time when the submarine became stuck on the sea-bed or when the minesweeper was caught in a tremendous storm! However, on the occasions when the Navy flew in the Blenheims, scores were evened! Social visits also took place, to such renowned places as the Tiger Balm factory and the Tiger Beer factory, the latter being a distinct favourite with Squadron personnel. As a sideline, the Squadron was involved in the construction of a holiday camp about 100 miles north of Singapore where crews went to relax between periods of ‘intense’ flying.” ⁷

This is the summary of 11 Squadron’s activity in 1939, from their Operations Record Book (ORB).⁸ No. 39 Squadron’s ORB is missing for this period, but the two squadrons’ experience was likely very similar.

The Cosmopolitan City

After 20 months of austere life on the North West Frontier of India, the sights and sounds of the bustling, multi-ethnic city of Singapore were very stimulating.

In his memoir of a visit with 39 Squadron four years earlier, David Lee recalls his excitement in discovering Chinese cuisine and other delights:

“I found Singapore a fascinating city . . . The astonishing cross section of people of all races was probably what created the greatest impression on me. A typical evening out, of which we had many, would start from the Mess at about 5 pm . . . We would window shop for an hour. It was three years since I had seen a modern shop and there was no end to the sights, sounds and smells of the shopping areas. At half past six we would foregather in the long bar at Raffles hotel . . . we would spend a pleasant couple of hours cooling down under the slowly revolving ceiling fans with an evening breeze from the harbour coming through the palms in the garden . . . The [car] would take us down to Chinatown for a meal in any one of the dozens of restaurants. Chinese food was another experience for me and I developed a taste for it which I have never lost. After the eternal curry and rice of India, the variety of Chinese dishes was astonishing. The need for a little exercise after dinner would sometimes point the [car] towards the Old World. I can best describe this as Singapore’s answer to a “Palais de Dance”. Rows of professional partners or “taxi dancers” occupied the tables nearest to the floor, girls of almost every nationality . . . On entering the hall, one bought a book of ten tickets, each one of which entitled one to a dance with the hostess of one’s choice. . . . No assignations, no drinks, nothing beyond the dance was allowed . . . midnight found the [car] on its way back through the rubber trees and vegetable gardens to [the base].” ¹¹

January through March, 1940

The squadrons’ Phoney War continued through the first quarter of 1940. Here is the summary of January and February from 11 Squadron’s Operations Record Book:¹²

Why were they there?

This desultory activity begs the question: What was the purpose of sending 11 and 39 Squadrons to Singapore in August 1939? No doubt, it was some variation of the reasoning behind sending an RAF squadron to Singapore every year: to make a very visible demonstration to the Empire of Japan of the British Empire’s ability to reinforce at short notice this vital port and naval base. The Japanese Navy was a serious threat to British imperial interests in the Far East, and particularly to trading routes to India and Australia.

Britain’s so-called “Singapore Strategy” during the interwar years planned to meet this threat in a crisis by defending the island with regional forces while a major British fleet assembled in Europe and sailed to Singapore. There were, as it turned out, many fatal flaws in this strategy: it overestimated the defensive capabilities of the installations and British Empire forces in Singapore (including the RAF), it underestimated the ability of the Japanese army and air force, and it did not foresee the collapse of France and therefore the loss of the French fleet to defend the Mediterranean while a major British fleet was detached for the defense of Singapore.

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Whatever the original reasons behind this detachment to Singapore, it must have become very apparent in early 1940 that the more imminent threats to the Empire were closer to home, and that two recently re-equipped bomber squadrons could be more usefully employed elsewhere.

Their orders from higher command that April indicate a great deal of uncertainty, or provisional thinking. On the first of the month, they were instructed to prepare for return to India. Six aircraft of 39 Squadron, one piloted by my father, left on the 16th, and arrived at Calcutta (via Alor Star, Mergui, and Rangoon) on the 18th.¹³ He remained there, along with one other aircraft, “pending the detachment of a flight for coastal defence duties at a later date” while the remaining four aircraft continued to their destination, Lahore. Orders for that detachment did not come, however, and on the 24th April, he and the other aircraft of 39 Squadron rejoined their comrades at Lahore (via Allahabad and Ambala), about 300 miles from their old base at Risalpur. Their Phoney War was about to end, but apparently they didn’t know it, since several of the pilots left for the rest station in the Murree Hills. They were there scarcely a week before orders came through for an imminent move further to the west, ultimate destination unknown.¹⁴

Previous: Siam Next: Somaliland

Notes:
What should be the principal resource for 39 Squadron’s activities during this time, the Squadron’s Operations Record Book (ORB), is missing for the whole of 1939, and for 1940 up to the departure from Singapore on 16th April. In its absence, I have relied for general information on the ORB of 11 Squadron. No. 11 was 39’s sister-squadron at Risalpur in No.2 Indian Wing, and spent the same period in Singapore on the same bases.

1. My father has a crown above his sergeant’s chevrons: he had recently been promoted to Flight Sergeant.
2. Straitstimes.com 9 December 2017, accessed 13 March 2021. Accommodation, however, was in “atap huts (wooden with reed roofing)”: see excerpt from 11 Squadron Operations Record Book, on this page.
3. Amateur Film by Wing Commander Robert Millward 1938-1951, Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive, MGH 6583/1-10, Reel 8, 04:08 to 05:34.
4. Flight Lieutenant Ken Delve, The Winged Bomb: History of 39 Squadron RAF, Midland Counties Publications (Aerophile) Ltd, Leicester: 1985, p.55. But 11 Squadron’s Operations Record Book (ORB) for this same period states: “Owing to lack of spares in the command flying has been cut down to a minimum.” The National Archives of the UK (TNA): AIR 27/157, October 1939.
5. His official movement record notes he was admitted to hospital on January 26. I think this may have been for flu (the writing is hard to decipher). This explains why he didn’t fly at all from January 24 through March 19.
6. Frank Mason, an Observer/Navigator with 39 Squadron at this time, in http://willowswalks.co.uk (accessed July 2011). The account of Mason’s RAF experiences is, I believe, written by his daughter, perhaps from his journals.
7. Delve, op. cit., p.55. This information sounds like it comes from 39’s ORB, now missing for this period (see above), but Delve does not include notes and citations. He interviewed several former members of the Squadron, and it’s possible some of them provided this information (his book was published in 1985, well within living memory of these events).
8. The National Archives of the UK (TNA): AIR-27-157-1.
9. http://www.silverbiplanes.com/index.html accessed 20 January 2021.
10. https://www.burtonholmes.org/associates/andredelavarre.html accessed 20 January 2021.
11. Never Stop the Engine when it’s Hot, David Lee [Air Chief Marshal Sir David Lee, GBE, CB], London: Thomas Harmsworth Publishing, 1983, chapter 19, pp. 293-294. Here is his evocative description of flying around the island (p. 296): “After the grim austerity of the North West Frontier, I found great pleasure at the end of a flight and before landing in flying around the island, inspecting the big white P&O liners at anchor in the harbour, bound for Australia and London. The crowded junk harbour was always a scene of great activity and there were usually some interesting warships making their way up the Johore Strait to the Naval Base.” Cf. Squadron Leader (then Leading Aircraftman) Sidney William Sills, DFM’s memory of that time in his Oral History, Imperial War Museum, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80004561, IWM 4601, Reel 4, 11:18 to 12:30, accessed 12 March 2021.

12. Op.cit.
13. Why only six? I suspect that was their full strength of serviceable aircraft.
14. The source is 39 Squadron’s Operations Record Book (ORB), Form 540, The National Archives of the UK (TNA): AIR-27-407-1. (As already noted, the ORB for the period from 1 January, 1939 up to the Squadron’s departure from Singapore on 16 April, 1940 is lost.)