Despite the controlled conditions, thrree out of our group of 72 were broken, signed confessions, and read them from the guard towers. The reason they broke was claustrophobia. The couldn't stand to be in the small box, which was very confining and hot. I literally was numb from the waist down and had to be helped out of the box. I could understand why someone with claustrophbia would have a hard time enduring it.
Anyone can be broken eventually. The key for the enemy is to find that fear that marks the tipping point. I don't fault the UK boarding party for surrendering and being captured. As more and more information comes out, I do have a hard time with their conduct while in captivity. They appeared to put up no resistance at all and didn't even suffer "torture" that would be administered in a training program.
I attended SERE in ‘67 on the way to VN. Our E&E was in the Phillipines was a blast. Being chased by Negritos through the jungle/mountains, bug/snake/root eating, was informative but fun. The resistance portion, on the other hand, was NOT.
Being rousted out ot the barracks at 2AM, being hooded and taken to the camp, stripped, de-loused, stress positions, beatings, boxes, sleep-depravation via the incessant interrogations and the continuous screeching from the camp’s PA system. Living with your waste until such time the guards allow you to clean your cell. Wore a hood and restraints whenever out in the common area. I swore that when it was over I would find this ‘one’ guard, whom I could only recognize by his voice and boots, and beat the living snot out of him. But when it was over, I was glad to have been able to see how much I could endure. I shook the guy’s hand.