Japan's earliest notable interaction as a nation with Singapore occurred while Singapore was still a part of the Straits Settlements. Coinciding with the December 8th surprise attack on the US naval base Pearl Harbor and the same-day attack of the British colony of Hong Kong, the Japanese empire also launched an attack on the Straits Settlements. Japan, having taken control of French Indochina in 1940, was able to launch multiple attacks and, partly due to an alliance with Thailand, took control of large swathes of the Malay Archipelago over the next two months, concurrently bombing Singapore with increasing frequency. On the 31st of January 1941, Malaya fell to the Japanese, and the last of the retreating Allied forces destroyed the bridge between Malaya and Singapore and began to prepare for a full attack on Singapore.