By February 1941, when the first contingent of the 8th Division AIF reached Singapore, there were ominous signs of Japanese intentions in the region. That month, General Tomoyuki Yamashita (left) was in Germany studying war strategy and presented a Samurai sword to Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the German Army. Yamashita later commanded the Japanese XXV Army in its invasion of Malaya and Singapore.
Source
AWM 073669
Copyright
Australian War Memorial