Many people acknowledge the beginning of WW2 in the Pacific began with the attack on Pearl Harbor but that wasn’t the only attack that happened to start the war. The Japanese also attacked the British Navy in the
Pacific at Singapore in Malaya.
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Between the wars the British were relying on this strong fleet in Malaya in case of attack. This was also to defend British possessions in
the Far East and for easy trade with Australia. They thought that this would be
enough to protect the entire Malayan peninsula. The Malayan army commander
however believed that this wouldn’t work and they needed to be warned early and
have American help if they were going to be able to turn back the Japanese in
case of attack.
I think that the British were idiots if they thought that a Navy was going to save them from any type of attack of any size.
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The Japanese attacked Malaya the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The 25th Army division launched an amphibious assault
on the North Coast of Malaya at Kota Bharu. They had convinced Thailand to let
them use bases from which they were able to launch the attack. They were
resisted by several Indian and British army battalions but the Indian defenders
near the coast were surrounded and forced to surrender. The Japanese had an
advantage in numbers and close air support along with light tanks and bicycle
infantry. The infantry used collapsible bicycles to move to and from the
battlefields quicker than marching.
I think that the Japanese made a good tactical choice in using bikes to move troops quickly between battles to overwhelm the British.
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The Navy had arrived shortly before the attack but Japanese air superiority led to the sinking of major ships which allowed Japan to
continue landing troops. The Allied fighters in Malaya were poorly built and
equipped, they didn’t have adequate supplies of spare parts either. Their airfields
were hard to defend and the pilots were hardly trained. This allowed for Japan
to control the air. The Japanese Zeros outclassed every Allied fighters in
Malaya and the Allies suffered severe losses until they were forced to move to
the Dutch East Indies.
Their decision to pull out to the Dutch East Indies probably keep them from further losing pilots and aircraft.
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By December 11 they had won in Thailand and marched south into Malaya. Without any major naval presence from the British Navy the Japanese
Navy was essentially uncontested. The Allied ground troops were vulnerable from
the air and from the sea. The island of Penang was bombed for 9 days until the
British abandoned the locals there which caused the Malayans to alienate the
Europeans.
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By the first week in January most of northern Malaya was taken by Japan. Thailand had surrendered and signed a friendship treaty with
Japan. Japan took the city of Kuala Lumpur which was within 200 miles from Singapore.
Near Kampar the Japanese suffered severe losses when tanks and aircraft were
unable to navigate the terrain. The British had to retreat after Japan landed
more troops behind them and they set up defensive positions at Slim River. The
Japanese launched a surprise attack at night and wiped out two Indian brigades
and there were heavy British casualties.
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In mid January the Japanese had made it to the Malayan state of Johore which is in southern Malaya. Here the British and Australian forces
made a stand at Gemas over a bridge where Japanese suffered 600 casualties. The
Japanese managed to flank the Allied forces but their anti tank guns were able
to slow Japanese advances to allow the survivors to retreat. The survivors
formed one force to slow the Japanese until they reached a bridge at Parit
Sulong where they went every man for himself and some hid in the jungle. They
tried to reach division headquarters. Out of the 135 wounded left behind only
two weren’t tortured and killed which was called the Parit Sulong massacre.
I believe that the Japanese were going crazy and they seemed to have given into a bloodlust that made them extremely dangerous.
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On January 31st the Allies were forced to retreat to the island of Singapore and blow a hole in the causeway that acted as a
bridge. Japanese troops were able to move across the Strait in inflatable boats
disguised as civilians. The campaign ended in utter defeat for the Allies and
they had lost nearly 50,000 troops who were captured or killed. Japan only lost
about 2,000 troops.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malaya
http://ww2f.com/war-pacific/23040-battle-malaya.html
Allied bombers
The Singapore causeway with a 70 foot gap in the distance
Comments
Anyway, very interesting. This area of the war does not get as much press as some others. Well done!