The Malaya Campaign (1941-1942)

**Outcome**:
* Japanese Army fails to capture the strategically essential port of Singapore
* Allies liberate the majority of Malaya

* German Empire
* Admiral George Fieber
* General Ian Bale
* Admiral Gunther Lutjens
* General Erwin Rommel
* 140,000 Men
* 23 Tanks
* 380 Aircraft

February 1942
* ~ 200,000 Men
* ~ 300 Tanks
* ~ 500+ Aircraft
* 70,000 Men
* 200 Tanks
* 568 Aircraft

February 1942
* 85,000 Men
* 230 Tanks
* 11,500 Wounded
* 8,000 Killed
* 15,000 Wounded
* 9,800 Killed
* 55,200 Captured

The **Malaya Campaign** was fought between Allied and Japanese forces in British Malaya from December 8th 1941 to August 22nd 1942 during the **Great Pacific War**. Most of the campaign was centered around the bloody and pivotal ***Battle of Singapore,*** characterized by brutal infantry warfare in the swamps and jungles of Malaya and the bloodshed in the streets of Singapore. Though Japanese forces initially made great gains, occupying virtually most of Malaya and forcing British forces to retreat all the way to Singapore, the die-hard British (later Anglo-German) resistance at Singapore served as a rock for the Allied cause. The Japanese siege of the city eventually failed due to determined, superior Allied forces continually reinforced and resupplied by sea.

The Japanese Empire initially hoped to conquer British Malay due to the strategically invaluable port of Singapore, a city considered by Britain and others to be "the Gibraltar of the East", dominating the straits and waters in its area. The city itself was a fortified fortress with powerful anti-naval defences and a well-supplied Garrison, all supported by the strong presence of the powerful Royal Navy. Japanese attempts at capturing the city were eventually repulsed by determined British, Indian, and Commonwealth troops due to the city's natural and artificial defences. Japan's failure to support its troops via the sea due to the massive British and German naval presence in this part of the Pacific proved crucial as British warships, including modern German Battleships and Heavy Cruisers, provided invaluable coastal support to the Allied defenders. Lead by the British General James Brigham, the defenders of Singapore eventually counter-attacked the Japanese after being bolstered by German reinforcements in June of 1942, and waged a counter-campaign for most of June and August, eventually expelling Japanese forces to the farthest reaches of Northern Malaya.

The Allied perseverance and eventual victory at Singapore, alongside with the Allied victory at Hanoi, is today considered by many to be a turning point of the war in favour of the Allied cause. The Japanese failure to capture Singapore allowed British and German fleets to maintain a vital and crucial port of operations in the heart of the Pacific. The port and airfields of Singapore would continue to serve as a backbone of the British and Allied war effort in the Southeast Asia. Japanese casualties in the battle, coupled with a sharp loss of tanks and many highly experienced troops trained for such an operation, also greatly weakened Japan's capabilities in mainland Southeast Asia. Finally, the boost of morale and confidence, as well as the invaluable experience gained by the British Army, would go on to boost the future Allied war effort in the region.

## Background

### **British**

Britain had been embroiled in conflict with Japan since early 1940 as a result of the Japanese invasions of Hong Kong and Burma. Though Hong Kong fell after a handful of fierce Weeks of fighting, British land forces had managed to stalemate Japanese forces in Burma. The Burma front would go on to become one of the most bloody theatres of war in the Pacific due to the fierce and savage guerilla and ambush campaigns waged by British, Commonwealth, and Burma loyalists in their attempts of stopping the Japanese advances. The British forces evacuated from Hong Kong would go on to join the Dutch defenders of the Dutch East Indies. The *British Expeditionary Force* was deployed in the Dutch East Indies alongside Australian and New Zealand armies to aid the Dutch in the defence of the colony.

In late 1941, Japan declared war on France and invaded French Indochina. The invasion threatened the British right flank as Japanese forces now threatened to outflank the British defenders by crossing through French Indochina. The French setback to Hanoi emboldened the Japanese army in Burma, and despite the French managing to eventually prevail in holding the Japanese at Hanoi, the British defences faltered as a result and the defenders were forced on a fighting retreat westwards to India. The worsening condition in Burma prompted directly affected Malaya as the condition required the transfer of a handful of British warships from the Malayan and Dutch East Indies to Southern China to defend the Burma shore and transport reinforcements.

British forces in Malaya as of December 8th, 1941, consisted of around 140,000 men lead by Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, with Brigadier General James Brigham as his second in command. Percival had a commendable military career during the interwar period and was confident in his forces being able to resist a potential Japanese invasion. The invasion of Indochina in November prompted Britain to approve the transfer of significant amounts of aircraft to bolster the defence of Malaya, bringing the amount of aircraft up from around 250 up to around 380 by December 8th. In addition, the British approved the transfer of more modern tanks and equipment to the colony, though some of this would not arrive until the end of January of the next year.

The British forces, consisting of a mix of British, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and Malaysian forces, were a mix of quality to say the least. Many of the British units, who had seen action at either Hong Kong, Burma, or the Dutch East Indies, were the most aptly trained and battle-ready. However, many of the Australian and Indian units were either under-strength, ill-trained, or inadequately equipped to be considered at full strength. The local Malaysian units, save for a handful of units stationed in Singapore and trained by the British, were particularly poorly trained and equipped and were usually just local militia raised for the defence of the Colony at the outset of hostilities between Britain and Japan in 1940.

British planners believed that a good defence of Singapore would require a defence of the entire Malaysian peninsula. However, without adequate reinforcements of tanks and planes, both Percival and Brigham did not consider this to be feasible. A couple weeks prior to the invasion, as Japanese build-ups were detected, the British approved the layering of defences throughout Northern and Central Malaysia. However, by December 8th, British defences were not fully ready and the invasion caused a domino styled fall as British forces were continuously outflanked and defeated by superior Japanese forces who possessed more experience, training, and ample equipment.

### **German**

The Malayan Campaign was the first official military endeavour undertaken by Germany in the *Great Pacific War,* a controversial involvement back home but widely supported internationally by its European allies*.* Germany, possessing no colonial possessions in the Pacific, initially did not have much motive to enter the war. However, Germans have been training Chinese soldiers since the late 1920's, soldiers who have been caught in the Chinese Civil War since 1927, and embroiled in a bloody conflict against Japanese forces since the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War in 1936. Germany was also deeply invested in China's industry, sending German engineers, workers, and advisers to help with the modernization of China's industry and economy. The ***Sino-German Cooperation***, as it became known, was instrumental in the development of China as a power. German weapons and equipment, German training and military critique, and most important of all, German help, instruction, and advisement on Chinese industrial reform and modernization proved crucial in giving China the capability to resist the Japanese invasion from 1936 onwards.

Germany, as a result, felt a sliver of responsibility and compassion towards China when it was drowned in military conflict. Germany as a whole had a lot of invested interest in China, particularly the access to China's vast amounts raw resources. Industrial and military resources such as Tungsten, Antimony, Iron, and Coal were all sold cheaply in bulk to Germany by China, and the Japanese occupation of the coal-rich province of Manchuria, as well occupation of Chinese mining and supply sites of these materials throughout the war greatly damaged this relation. However, the tension break point occurred on December 13th, 1937, when the Japanese invaded the Chinese city of Nanking and conducted the ***Nanking Massacre.*** During the massacre, the Japanese (perhaps by accident) murdered numerous senior ranking German military advisers, including Lt. Col. Hermann Voigt-Ruscheweyh, as a well as a number of German businessmen and engineers. Germany became embittered and instantly denounced Japan for killing international non-combatants and for killing German military personnel. Though Japan formally apologized and claimed that the murders were a mistake, Germany further denounced the obscene massacre of the city of Nanking and became one of the first countries to begin an embargo of Japan.

Germany promptly strengthened its commitment to China as a result of the massacre. Germany began to lend military hardware to Chinese soldiers, provided financial loans, and sent additional military and industrial advisers, as well as several Engineer Corps that landed in China in 1938 to begin directly kick-starting Chinese factories. Germany also formed a small but modern Pacific Fleet (composed of numerous modern Battleships and Heavy Cruisers) that arrived in Southern Chinese and British ports in late 1938 as a show of arms and Germany's continually increasing commitment to China. In early 1939, Japan attempted to invade the Chinese island of Hainan. German warships, which were docked in the key ports of the Island, blocked the ***Qiongzhou Strait*** in February as a show of force. Japan, yet unwilling to make war with European powers in 1939, backed down and ignored the island.

In 1940, Japan began to invade British and Dutch holdings in the Pacific to help stimulate their stalling war effort in mainland China. By this point, Germany was prepared to enter the war to fully prove its commitment to China, as well as to support one of its now closest Allies, Britain, but hesitated due to unpopular public opinion back home and reports from the German navy that they were still unprepared for large scale naval operations, particularly mass infantry transport, in the Far East. Germany remained neutral until 1941, when Japan invaded Hong Kong, British Malaya, and French Indochina. The beginning of hostilities against France finally convinced Germany to commit to the war, as public opinion in Germany suddenly changed sharply against the Japanese, who they now saw a warmongers seeking senseless war against European powers. On November 16th, 1941, the Japanese emperor received a telegraph from the German Foreign relations office; a declaration of war on the Japanese Empire. Barely hours later, the emperor received a second telegraph that said German warships had sunk several small Japanese warships in the *Qiongzhou Strait.*

**Invasion of Malaya**

When Japanese forces crossed into Malaya, most of the German presence in this region was concentrated in European ports and military bases scattered throughout the south-east Pacific, with the largest garrisons being near the French port of Saigon and Chinese ports scattered throughout the *Hainan Peninsula.* Upon Germany's beginning of hostilities with Japan, Japan drafted an invasion of Hainan now that they could engage the German ships blocking passage. The small *German Pacific Expeditionary Fleet* sunk several small Japanese ships in the first days of hostilities but was forced on the retreat as larger Japanese warships arrived. The German fleet would operate in the South Chinese sea for much of the war from this point on; their first engagement in the Gulf of Tonkin, known as the *First Battle of Tonkin.* The Battle is known for the fierce exchange of large firepower between Japanese and German ships, the former of whom were originally chasing the latter. The *SMS Bismarck,* the capital ship of the German Pacific Fleet, suffered substantial damage in the encounter when a Japanese shell hit the command tower and killed half of the officers on board. Admiral *Gunther Lutjens,* who would become a notable German war hero later in the war, was heavily wounded in the incident. The *SMS Prinz Eugen,* a German heavy cruiser, was also criticially damaged in the encounter. A handful of German destroyers were sunk as well at the cost of only one Japanese cruiser. The small Germany navy was able to retreat when the Japanese were tricked into believing that a British fleet had arrived to provide assistance. The British Battleship *HMS Hood* and the Cruisers *HMS Norfolk* and *HMS Suffolk* managed to arrive and aided the heavily battered *Bismarck, Prinz Eugen*, and what remained of the German Destroyers to make their retreat. Nearby Allied air presence and overextension eventually made the Japanese back off.