A white flag among the trees

On February 10, Wavell visited the island for the last time, and in the evening, on his return to Java, he informed Churchill:"Battle of Singapore difficult [...], morale of the troops quite low [...] ], gave formal orders that no capitulation be contemplated and that the troops fight to the end. »
But the capitulation was present in the minds. On February 13, the British found themselves confined within a perimeter of 45 kilometers around the city. It had become impossible to launch a counterattack or even resist the Japanese. The soldiers no longer had confidence in their leaders. Lines of deserters swarmed the city and hid in the cellars, only coming out at night to loot shops and houses. The whole city was crowded with refugees; the destruction of Bukit Timah had reduced food reserves to one week. Worse still, the Japanese bombardments had damaged the reservoirs and the water distribution system, and there was little hope of repairing them.
Yet Percival pointedly refused to regard the situation as desperate and, at the conference held in the afternoon of the 13th, he gave orders for the resistance to continue. But, according to a message he sent to Wavell, he thought he could not last more than two days and said he was ready to treat so that the blood did not flow anymore. Wavell replied, "You must continue to inflict maximum casualties on the enemy for as long as possible, even through street fighting. Your delaying action can be crucial in other theaters of operations. I fully understand your situation, but it is essential to hold on. »
Unfortunately, street fighting is only possible if the civilian population has been evacuated, and the unfortunate people of Singapore were forced to stay where they are.
Yamashita was in trouble too. His generals informed him that they were short of food and ammunition. His overloaded supply system was broken, and if the battle continued for three more days, he would find himself in an impossible situation. His only hope was therefore to increase his pressure, as if he had an unlimited supply of ammunition and, by this bluff, to induce the British to capitulate.
This plan succeeded. At 11 a.m. on February 15, a sentry from the Japanese 18th Division, posted on the road to Bukit Timah, reported that a white flag was rising among the trees in front of him. An officer came to check and confirmed the sentry's statements. With his binoculars, he could see another white flag on the radio building. A little later, a car equipped with the same flag drove out of town and Lieutenant Colonel Sugita went to meet it. During a brief interview on the road, the English delegation announced that they had come to discuss the terms of a capitulation and were escorted inside the Japanese lines.