What kind of general loses Singapore?
Lt. Gen. Arthur Percival surrendered the island in February 1942, in perhaps the worst defeat ever suffered by British forces.
This kind: “He was an able staff officer with a penetrating mind, although a mind that saw the difficulties to any scheme before it saw the possibilities. But he was a completely negative person, with no vigour, no colour, and no conviction. His personality was not strong . . . .”
Lt. Gen. Arthur Percival surrendered the island in February 1942, in perhaps the worst defeat ever suffered by British forces.
Photo credit: Imperial War Museums/Wikimedia Commons
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
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