Malayan campaign

Malayan campaign
	Part of the Pacific War of World War II
	; Troops of the Imperial Japanese Army crouch on a street in Johor Bahru in the final stages of the Malayan campaign
Date	8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942; (2 months, and 8 days)
Location	Malaya
Result	Japanese victory
Territorial; changes	Japanese occupation of Malaya
Belligerents
United Kingdom and Empire:; India; Malaya; Straits Settlements; Australia; New Zealand; Netherlands; Dutch East Indies; Kuomintang of Malaya; Communist Party of Malaya	Japan; Thailand Kesatuan Melayu Muda
Commanders and leaders
Archibald Wavell; Robert Brooke-Popham; Arthur Percival ; Lewis Heath ; David Murray-Lyon ; Archibald Paris †; Arthur Barstow †; Gordon Bennett Tom Phillips † Conway Pulford † Leong Yew Koh; Lai Teck	Hisaichi Terauchi; Tomoyuki Yamashita; Takuro Matsui; Takuma Nishimura; Renya Mutaguchi; Michio Sugawara; Plaek Phibunsongkhram Nobutake Kondō; Jisaburō Ozawa; Shintarō Hashimoto Ibrahim Yaacob
Units involved
Far East Command; ABDA Command Malaya Command III Corps 9th Division; 11th Division; ; 8th Division; 53rd Brigade; Malay Regiment; SSVF; RAF Far East RAF (8 SQNs); RAAF (4 SQNs); RNZAF (1 SQN); ML-KNIL East Indies Fleet Force Z; OCAJA; MPAJA	South Expeditionary Army 25th Army Imperial Guards; 5th Division; 18th Division; 3rd Tank Brigade; 56th Division; 3rd Air Corps; 3 Sentai/5th Air Corps; 2nd Fleet Distant Cover Force; Closed Cover Force; Invasion Force; 22nd Air Flotilla; Royal Thai Police Young Malays Union
Strength
130,246 troops; 253 aircraft; 810 artillery pieces; 208+ anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns; 54 fortress guns; 250+ AFVs; 15,400+ motor vehicles	125,408 troops; 799 aircraft; 440+ artillery pieces; 265 tanks; 3,000+ trucks
Casualties and losses
130,246 (Including the casualties of the Battle of Singapore); 7,500–8,000 killed; 11,000+ wounded; ~120,000+ captured or missing	14,768 (Including the casualties of the Battle of Singapore); 5,240 killed; 9,528 wounded; >30 tanks destroyed; 108–331 aircraft damaged or destroyed

The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the Malay Operation (馬来作戦, Maree Sakusen), was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between British Commonwealth army units and the Imperial Japanese Army, with minor skirmishes at the beginning of the campaign between British Commonwealth and Royal Thai Police. The Japanese had air and naval supremacy from the opening days of the campaign. For the British, Indian, Australian, and Malayan forces defending the colony, the campaign was a total disaster.

The operation is notable for the Japanese use of bicycle infantry, which supposedly allowed troops to carry more equipment and swiftly move through thick jungle terrain. Royal Engineers, equipped with demolition charges, destroyed over a hundred bridges during the retreat, yet this did little to delay the Japanese. By the time the Japanese had captured Singapore, they had suffered 14,768 casualties;^[16] allied losses totaled 130,246, including around 7,500 to 8,000 killed, 11,000+ wounded and 120,000+ missing or captured.^[17]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Kratoska 2018 pp 299
^ Farrell, 2015
^ ^a ^b Allen (2013) pp. 300-301.
^ Sandhu 1987, p. 32.
^ Allen (2013) pp. 300-301
^ Farrell, 2015
^ JM-54, "Malay Operations Record" p. 11. 612 Army and 187 Navy planes, of which 153 Army and 29 Navy planes were reserve. Retrieved 4/1/2022
^ Allen, Louis. Singapore 1941–1942: Revised Edition, Routledge, 2013. p. 169
^ Farrell, 2015
^ Toland, John. The Rising Sun New York: The Modern Library, 2003. p. 272
^ Farrell, 2015
^ Farrell, 2015
^ Akashi, Yoji (2010). General Yamashita Tomoyuki: Commander of the Twenty-Fifth Army. Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd.
^ Smith, Colin (2006). Singapore Burning. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0141010366.
^ Roy, Kaushik (2019). Battle for Malaya: The Indian Army in Defeat, 1941-1942. Open Road Integrated Media.
^ Akashi, Yoji (2010). General Yamashita Tomoyuki: Commander of the Twenty-Fifth Army in A Great Betrayal? The Fall of Singapore Revisited. Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd.
^ Farrell, 2015 pp 472–475

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[Kratoska2018-1] Kratoska 2018 pp 299

[4] Farrell, 2015

[Allen_2013_pp._300-301-5] Allen (2013) pp. 300-301.

[The_Indian_cavalry:_history_of_the_Indian_Armoured_Corps,_Volume_2-8] Sandhu 1987, p. 32.

[9] Allen (2013) pp. 300-301

[The_Fall_of_Singapore-11] Farrell, 2015

[12] JM-54, "Malay Operations Record" p. 11. 612 Army and 187 Navy planes, of which 153 Army and 29 Navy planes were reserve. Retrieved 4/1/2022

[13] Allen, Louis. Singapore 1941–1942: Revised Edition, Routledge, 2013. p. 169

[14] Farrell, 2015

[15] Toland, John. The Rising Sun New York: The Modern Library, 2003. p. 272

[16] Farrell, 2015

[17] Farrell, 2015

[18] Akashi, Yoji (2010). General Yamashita Tomoyuki: Commander of the Twenty-Fifth Army. Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd.

[19] Smith, Colin (2006). Singapore Burning. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0141010366.

[20] Roy, Kaushik (2019). Battle for Malaya: The Indian Army in Defeat, 1941-1942. Open Road Integrated Media.

[21] Akashi, Yoji (2010). General Yamashita Tomoyuki: Commander of the Twenty-Fifth Army in A Great Betrayal? The Fall of Singapore Revisited. Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd.

[22] Farrell, 2015 pp 472–475

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