Wishing to give the impression that an attack would come from the northeast sector of the island, the Japanese landed a 400-man detachment on Pulau Ubin past midnight on the morning of 8 February 1942. There was no resistance, and the force proceeded to set up gun emplacements. In the morning, they opened fire on the northeast sector of Singapore to give the appearance that an attack was pending from that direction. They sought to draw the attention away from the northwest where the bulk of the Japanese army would land.
Although the loss of Pulau Ubin deprived the defenders of an important observation post, it did relatively little in drawing British forces further east, as the British themselves had mistakenly anticipated an attack from the northeast and had concentrated most of their troops in that area of the island. Only a small defense force was stationed on the northwest coast. ^^^
