Japanese attacks on 8 December 1941, the date west of the international date line when Pearl Harbor was bombed on the morning of 7 December local time east of the date line, abruptly ended peace in the Pacific. The attacks were widespread and almost simultaneous. The attack on Kota Bharu on the Malay peninsula had occurred before that on Pearl Harbor and, reduced to a common Australian time, all occurred between 0330 and 1000 hours on 8 December and all but the attack in Malaya were air attacks. At Kota Bharu the Japanese were landing forces to begin the campaign to occupy Southeast Asia and the Dutch East Indies. On 8 December 1941 the Netherlands government in exile declared war on Japan with the Governor General in the East Indies issuing a proclamation accepting the challenge to resist Japanese expansion. KPM ships were immediately involved in the defense efforts but despite Allied efforts and the formation of a specif command to defend the Malay Barrier the collapse came quickly.