Malayan Campaign Essay

The Malayan Campaign was fought between the British Commonwealth forces and Japanese Imperial Army, starting from 8th December 1941with the landing of the Japanese Army on Patani and Singora in Southern Thailand and Kota Bharu in Northern Malaya, led by Gen Tomoyuki Yamashita. With better military equipment compared to the Commonwealth forces, the Japanese Army surged down the peninsula with breath-taking speed and manoeuvres in which Gen A.E Percival declared the retreat of all Commonwealth forces to Singapore on 27th January 1942. After 8 days of fighting in Singapore, the Malayan Campaign was declared over on 15th February 1942 with the surrender of Singapore by Gen A.E Percival.
The SAF can learn significantly from the Malayan Campaign.

They were considered obsolete for the European theatre and, combined with inexperienced pilots with poor training, was quickly wiped out by the Japanese Airforce and played no further part in the Malayan Campaign. British airfields were then quickly taken over by the Japanese and used in their bombing raids of the peninsula.
The Naval Force Z had arrived right before the outbreak of war. However, Japanese air superiority led to the sinking of both main ships on 10 December, leaving the east coast of Malaya exposed which allow the Japanese to continue their landings. With both the Airforce and Navy out of action so early in the war, it was left to the Commonwealth land forces to defend the whole of peninsula.
The Commonwealth land forces were inexperienced and poorly trained in just about all aspects of fighting—they were completely untrained for the jungle warfare ahead of them. They had no tanks, since planners in London believed that armour was unsuited for jungle warfare and would not send any tanks and anti-armour weapons were few. Many soldiers in the 11th Indian Division, for instance, had never even seen a tank. The defenders were also equipped with heavy boots; heavy backpacks and attire were poorly camouflaged and unsuitable for the jungle