When Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin just four days after the Singapore surrender, Australia was looking even harder in America's direction. For Australian POWs, the fall of Singapore was a military setback that ushered in years of horror. It was also a capitulation with far-reaching geopolitical implications.
Strategy whereby it would build a huge naval base on the island as a means of protecting its interests in the region. ... The fall of Singapore in 1942 led the Australian Government to reconsider its alliance with Britain
