<P> At Bakri, from 18 to 22 January, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson's 2 / 19th Battalion repeatedly fought through Japanese positions before running out of ammunition near Parit Sulong . Anderson's battalion was forced to leave behind about 110 Australian and 40 Indian wounded, who were later massacred by the Japanese . For his leadership in the fighting withdrawal, Anderson was awarded the Victoria Cross . A determined counterattack from Lieutenant - Colonel John Parkin's 5 / 11th Sikh Regiment in the area of Niyor, near Kluang, on 25 January, and a successful ambush around the Nithsdale Estate by the 2 / 18th Battalion on 26 / 27 January, bought valuable time and permitted Brigadier Harold Taylor's Eastforce--based on the 22nd Brigade--to withdraw from eastern Johore . </P> <P> On 31 January, the last Allied forces left Malaya and Allied engineers blew a hole in the causeway linking Johor and Singapore . </P> <P> During the weeks preceding the invasion, the Allied force suffered a number of both subdued and openly disruptive disagreements amongst its senior commanders, as well as pressure from the Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin . Lieutenant - General Arthur Percival, commander of the garrison, had 85,000 soldiers, the equivalent, on paper at least, of just over four divisions . Of this figure, 15,000 men were employed in logistical, administrative, or other non-combatant roles . The remaining force was a mix of front - line and second - line troops . There were 45 infantry battalions--21 Indian, 13 British, six Australian, four Indian States Forces assigned to airfield defence, 3 Straits Settlements Volunteer Force, and 2 Malayan . In addition, there were two British machine - gun battalions, one Australian, and a British reconnaissance battalion . The newly arrived British 18th Infantry Division--under Major - General Merton Beckwith - Smith--was at full strength, but lacked experience and appropriate training . The rest of the force was of mixed quality, condition, training, equipment, and morale . Lionel Wigmore, the Australian official historian of the Malayan Campaign, wrote "Only one of the Indian battalions was up to numerical strength, three (in the 44th Brigade) had recently arrived in a semi-trained condition, nine had been hastily reorganised with a large intake of raw recruits, and four were being re-formed but were far from being fit for action . Six of the United Kingdom battalions (in the 54th and 55th Brigades of the 18th Division) had only just landed in Malaya, and the other seven battalions were under - manned . Of the Australian battalions, three had drawn heavily upon recently - arrived, practically - untrained recruits . The Malay battalions had not been in action, and the Straits Settlements Volunteers were only sketchily trained . Further, losses on the mainland had resulted in a general shortage of equipment ." </P> <P> Percival gave Major - General Gordon Bennett's two brigades from the Australian 8th Division responsibility for the western side of Singapore, including the prime invasion points in the northwest of the island . This was mostly mangrove swamp and jungle, broken by rivers and creeks . In the heart of the "Western Area" was RAF Tengah, Singapore's largest airfield at the time . The Australian 22nd Brigade, under Brigadier Harold Taylor, was assigned a 10 mi (16 km) wide sector in the west, and the 27th Brigade, under Brigadier Duncan Maxwell, had responsibility for a 4,000 yd (3,700 m) zone just west of the Causeway . The infantry positions were reinforced by the recently arrived Australian 2 / 4th Machine - Gun Battalion . Also under Bennett's command was the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade . </P>

Who trained the local volunteers to defend singapore in 1941
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