He missed India’s open plains which offered space and solitude

As the 20th Century progressed, Japan became a serious threat to British interests and sought to advance its influence in Asia. The rising far-eastern power coveted Malaya’s rich reserves of rubber and tin. These assets then had to be protected.

Britain decided to build a naval base in the region but was uncertain where to put it. Hong Kong was too close to Japan while Sydney in Australia was too far. Eventually they chose Singapore. In 1926 Britain agreed to spend £60 million to build a naval base on the north-east coast of Singapore Island. It was opened the year before Angus and the 2nd Argylls arrived. With its floating dock towed from Britain, barracks, enclosed town, and depots, the structure answered to the propaganda of being the “Gibraltar of the Far East”. Defence Singaporeans believed they were safe from invasion as few suspected an army could reach the island by land. Not all were fooled. The guns protecting the southern approaches and the naval base on the northeast were only outward signs of defence. In reality, the Malayan mainland was far from impassable and the jungle, as found later, was penetrable.

At the time of the Munich crisis in summer 1938, the Argylls were poised for embarkation to Singapore, but at the last moment they were reprieved. This time, however, most Argyll officers realised the situation was worsening in the region. Sent to Singapore “in a hurry”, as Ian Stewart expressed the situation, the 2nd Argylls were part of the 12th Indian Infantry Brigade.

Other British battalions at the Singapore garrison of Malaya Command were 2nd Gordon Highlanders, 2nd Loyal North Lancashires, and 1st Manchesters.

After the Argylls disembarked, they marched down Pasir Panjang Road, a long avenue running parallel to the harbour on the outskirts of the city, to Gillman Barracks. These were modern, well-designed, threestorey blocks with huge windows that looked out on to the sea. Shared with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, the battalion found these premises a distinct improvement on their accommodation in India. Officers and sergeants used the same mess, had hot and cold running water, flushing lavatories, excellent playing fields, and all Singapore’s attractions within a 20 minute bus ride.

Singapore was a huge change for the troops. This flat, tropical island was unbearably hot and humid, with no escape. The enervating heat overwhelmed my daughter, Julia, and me when visiting Singapore in July 2010. “It will be very different to how it was in 1942,” warned Professor Brian Farrell of the National University of Singapore. Traditional Nevertheless, some aspects never change: the hours of sunset and sunrise, the sea, the vegetation, and wild life. Some Singaporean landmarks still stood: St Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore Botanical Gardens and Raffles Hotel. Farrell was correct; much of the traditional architecture had disappeared and we needed not only maps to discover Angus’s haunts but a guide.

Our arrival on the island was different to that of Angus. As we circled in the aeroplane above the city waiting to land at Changi airport, we gazed upon islands scattered like jigsaw pieces in the sea. Our first encounter with Singaporean futurism was the airport loos, so sensitive that they flushed at the approach of a finger.

As we stepped out of the air-conditioned airport building, we felt we were entering a sauna. Finding the climate hard to cope with, we began to sympathise with Angus having to work in such heat. He found the island’s humidity challenging.

Although he found Singapore much more efficient than India, he soon began to hate the place.

In common with Greenfield, Angus disliked Singapore and in a letter to Daisy in January 1940, wrote that he hoped not to stay there long. He missed India’s open plains which offered space and solitude; he could no longer escape to the Western Himalayas.

At that time this Asian city was not as clean as it is today. Anyone straying from the colonial centre was assailed by a cocktail of unpleasant smells. By the late 1930s, although the island’s shores were still wild with mangrove swamps, impassable rivers and jungle, the city was crowded and suburban. Global city Elsewhere, the jungle was tamed into parks, golf courses, and playing fields to serve the population of one of the British Empire’s richest cities. At its nucleus were the Singapore Cricket Club, St Andrew’s Cathedral, the municipal building and the Supreme Court. Across the river were Raffles Hotel, the bund, office blocks and department stores.

Singapore was the first 20th Century global city, inhabited by myriads of different ethnic groups: Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Armenians, Jews, White Russians and, significantly, a population of 3,000 Japanese. This plurality would pose challenges in the not too distant future.

In 1939, as it is today, Singapore’s inhabitants were obsessed by technology, consumption and ultramodernity, including the latest gadgets: telephones, refrigerators and air conditioning. Asia’s first skyscraper was opened two months after Angus’s arrival. The Cathay building, 83.5 metres high, was the first premises in Singapore to be air-conditioned, and it sported a 1,300 seat cinema. More tomorrow