from Japanese Imperial Guards troops. On 13 February, Bennett and other senior Australian officers advised Percival to surrender, in the interests of minimising civilian casualties. Percival refused but unsuccessfully sought authority to surrender from his superiors. The following day the remaining British Commonwealth units battled on. The Australians established a defensive perimeter to the north-west of the city centre around Tanglin Barracks, while preparations were made to mount a final stand. Meanwhile, civilian casualties mounted as civilians crowded into the area now held by the Allies and bombing and artillery attacks intensified. Civilian authorities began to fear that the water supply would soon give out. Japanese troops killed 200 staff and patients after they captured Alexandra Barracks Hospital. By the morning of 15 February, the Japanese had broken through the last line of defence in the north and food and some kinds of ammunition had begun to run out. After meeting his unit commanders, Percival contacted the Japanese and formally surrendered the Allied forces to Yamashita, shortly after 5:15–pm. Bennett created an enduring controversy when he handed over the 8th Division to the divisional artillery commander, Brigadier Cecil Callaghan, commandeered a boat and managed to escape captivity. According to Frank Owen, his lack of inspired leadership was exemplified by one of his last orders: because of lack of ammunition he issued orders that Australian gunners were only to offer artillery support in their own sector. He did not inform Percival of this order. In the aftermath, almost 15,000 Australians became prisoners of war at Singapore, an absolute majority of all Australian prisoners of the Japanese in World War II. Due to Japanese mistreatment and neglect, many died in the prisoner of war camps, and around 2,400 Australian prisoners died in the Sandakan Death Marches. A small number were able to escape POW camps and continue fighting either by making their way back to Australia, or as members of guerrilla units (for example Jock McLaren). Analysis of the 8th Division's performance in Malaya and Singapore has been mixed. According to Lindsay Murdoch, a classified wartime report blamed the Australians for the loss of Singapore, with reports that in the closing stages of the battle groups of Australian troops were seen heading away from battle leaderless, impossible to control and engaging in various crimes. The division's role in the defence of Singapore has also been criticised by some authors, such as Colin