sentences:  However, a series of miscommunications and withdrawals by Allied forces in the ensuing battles allowed the Japanese to swiftly gain strategic footholds, which eventually led to the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942.The terrain around Kranji was primarily mangrove swamps and tropical forest intersected by streams and inlets.The shoreline between the Kranji River and the Johor–Singapore Causeway, nearly four kilometers long, was defended by the Australian 27th Brigade, led by Australian Brigadier Duncan Maxwell.