Wars, politics & history

Malayan campaign

from 8 December 1941 to 31 January 1942

The Malayan campaign was fought by Japan against British, Indian, Australian and local forces in the Malay Peninsula. It began on 8 December 1941, with Japanese landings at Kota Bharu, hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita. The Japanese advanced quickly down the peninsula, often using bicycles and tanks and outflanking defensive lines through the jungle, helped by air superiority after the sinking of the British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse on 10 December. The Allied defenders retreated and by the end of January crossed to Singapore, which fell on 15 February 1942, a major defeat for the British Empire.

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