Tuesday, January 21, 2025

ever hear how the 85,000 British were defeated at Singapore by the 35,000 Japanese in WW2? Bicycles and courage... and it was the largest surrender in British history. Yes, caused by humble bicycles. (thanks to Chris, a Marine, who I only met this afternoon!)


The Japanese defeated the British at Singapore by utilizing "bicycle infantry," where large numbers of Japanese soldiers rode bicycles to rapidly move through the Malayan jungle, allowing them to quickly outmaneuver and surround British troops, effectively cutting off their retreat and forcing them to surrender at Singapore; this tactic is often referred to as a "bicycle blitzkrieg."  The Japanese Army accomplished the invasion of the entire 1120-km-long Peninsula in less than 70 days, without needing a supply of fuel, or horses.


The invasion began on 8 December 1941, one hour and 20 minutes before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and so it was the first major battle of the Pacific war.

The arrogant overconfident British were sure the Japanese would attack from the sea, and weren't keeping watch on the land, they turned to face the ocean and focus on that... and were taken by surprise. In fact, the British had blindly de-prioritized Malay strength, bungled communications, and lacked counter-intelligence. The Dunning-Kruger effect possibly, before that term was ever invented

On the 15th of February 1942, Lt General Arthur Percival signed the largest surrender in British history at Singapore. The city was supposed to be a fortress, but his force of 85,000 men had been defeated by just 35,000 Japanese troops.

Little over 2 months earlier Japanese forces had invaded Northern Malaya. Thanks to their advanced tactics and training, the Japanese advanced with incredible speed pushing the unprepared British back to Singapore in a so-called 'bicycle blitzkrieg'. When they crossed the Johore straights and captured the Bukit Timah heights above Singapore itself, Percival was forced to surrender.




The sound of a single squeaky chain, a rubbing brake pad, or a wheel rolling on the rims is bad enough. But by the dozens and the hundreds, they sounded to the beleaguered, undermanned British troops like the lightweight Japanese tanks. Time and again, Japanese bicycle infantry advanced past abandoned British defensive points. Broken-down bicycles were an unexpected psychological weapon.

The British sloppily sabotaged supply depots, roads and bridges in advance (instead of when bicycles were on them) to stop assault, and the Japanese went through or around anyway. When conditions were blamed for flat tires, it was the impatient brutality of Japanese leadership that meant soldiers were expected to ride only rims.

The Malay peninsula was in fact defined by British laying down a paved road system that meant bicycles on the invading warpath didn’t need rubber to ride.

“Curiously enough, throughout all these years of bickering and indecision, it had occurred to barely anyone that Malay had over 1,000 miles of coastline, half of it exposed to Japanese attack,” writes author Arthur Swinson in Defeat in Malaya: Fall of Singapore. “It had occurred to no one either that the defence of the naval base on Singapore island was bound up with the defence of the whole Malayan Peninsula.” Or, as Churchill recalled, the possibility that the fortress would have no landward defenses “no more entered into my mind than that of a battleship being launched without a bottom.”

The British War Cabinet (believing tanks wouldn’t serve hills and jungle, let alone have the parts and crews to maintain them) transferred hundreds away from Malaya to Russia in a diplomatic lift that likely helped defend Moscow. If that sounds like France surprised when Nazis drove tanks around the Maginot line through the Forest of Ardennes, or Rome surprised when Hannibal Barca crossed the Alps for that matter… the British should have known better.

The Malaya Campaign and the Fall of Singapore
 Commander Mark Hess, USN Faculty, Department of Strategy and Policy

"Under normal conditions, retreating armies move faster than their pursuers because the invaders are slowed down by destroyed infrastructure such as blown-up bridges or obstructed roads. But this time, Japanese soldiers on light bicycles were able to use narrow roads, hidden paths and improvised log bridges. Even when bridges were missing, soldiers waded across the rivers carrying their bicycles on their shoulders.

The bicycles also proved to be an excellent help in the transportation of equipment. While the British soldiers carried up to 18 kilograms while marching through the jungle, their Japanese enemies could carry twice as much, benefiting from the distribution of weight onto two wheels. “Even the long-legged Englishmen could not escape our bicycles”, remembered Colonel Masanobu Tsuji. “This is the reason they were continually driven off the roads and into the jungle where, with their retreat cut off, they were forced to surrender”"



Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition. The problem with it is we see it in other people, and we don't see it in ourselves. 

The first rule of the Dunning–Kruger club is you don't know you're a member of the Dunning–Kruger club.

David Dunning

in 68 this Road Runner was used in a suicide on the Palisades Parkway in NY. The car was run into a solid rock/concrete overpass at around 130 MPH

 

another fun example of why my favorite current auto writer is Ezra Dyer

You can pretty much name any car from 1975, and it'll be slow .... into that grim era roared the 930 Turbo with 234 horsepower stuffed into a car that weighed about as much as a Coupe DeVille's hood ornament ... outrageous acceleration combined with whoops-you're-dead handling

this Charger went sideways into a metal light pole that didn’t break away

 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10226713625256397&set=pcb.535364316228457

some people will show up the competition really well, but few take the opportunity to decimate every last iota of hope the competition will ever have. This guy nailed it

yup


 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=913685674263449&set=a.555860870045933

1920’s chain drive Lacre getting a make over into something new and unusual but still chain driven





thank you MIke for sharing this!

 

these AI designs are getting really hard to tell from real cars, especially when you see them in a video

 

just trying to make sense of the sidewall was the first clue, but hell, I don't know written languages you know? I'm a car guy. That could be legit for all I know... but the lug nuts? That's a give away that the computer didn't know shit about rims. 

there was a "punch key" pattern you entered and you turned on an internal amp, and boosted your radio performance

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=915539617411388&set=a.555860870045933

if you have a Rokon, Snorunner, Mini Bike, Go Kart, or other small engine special project that needs a custom engine... or more power, you're in luck. You can even use those go cart engines for fire fighting water pumps! (thank you Dan the Man!)

 




Monday, January 20, 2025

Jeremy Clarkson talking about the Ford GT about 20 years ago

It's all American according to Ford, but

the wheels are German

 brakes are Italian

gearbox is British

Steering by Aston Martin Vanquish

Chassis set up by some guys from Lotus

I am chuckling at this while watching "The Jeremy Clarkson Collection Season 1" on Freevee via Amazon

He also was talking about some aftermarket company upgrading the suspension, and making the springs 35 % stiffer, and with a grin, stop gaid, "made me 35% stiffer too!" lol.... that's funny! 

Cars in the Optima race at SEMA 2024























But then you see the rear



trucks in the Optima race at SEMA 2024