Program: Australians pause for 75th Anniversary of the Fall of Singapore

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore when British troops on the island surrendered to the Japanese.

Britain's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill called it 'the worst disaster and the greatest capitulation in British history'.

18,000 Australians died in the battle.

And 130,000 allied troops were taken prisoner by the Japanese, including 15,000 Australians.

A national service commemorating the World War Two defeat has been held in the Victorian city of Ballarat, which is the site of the Australian ex Prisoners of War Memorial.