25 Dec 1941. R. E. Jones Wartime diary

Got 300 rounds from a lousy piece of work named Templar & so returned & took up position on a hill W. of Prison. Japs took Prison Rd & H.Q. Retired to Fort at 6.30AM where we scrounged breakfast & was billeted behind No1 Block (Some Xmas). Odd units trickled in all day. Fort bombed & shelled. Last night Murphy & Crossan were shot by our own men. McLeod, Carr, Gowland killed. Cottrell*, Foster*, Pearce, Stevens* missing. Winterton lost right hand. 7PM Posted as B.H.Q. guard ready for the final stand but it never materialized. Terms of surrender discussed & all was over for us at about 11PM. (The civil population’s position became acutely distressing due to lack of water etc in town). We are now prisoners of war.
*Turned up later. Stevens wounded.