80 years ago, a fierce battle was raging in Malaya. Here's all five of my videos on the Malayan Campaign stitched together in to one hour long documentary. Hope you all enjoy it- let me know if you'd like more older videos of mine in this format! Also check the poster out! You can get 20% off at the moment on all posters with the code XMAS21 historigraph.creator-spring.com/
FYI the thumbnail image for this video did whatever the opposite of popping is. I found it in my feed almost by accident close to an Operations Room release that I also came on accidentally. Maybe a photograph more dramatic than a mainly blue square would help?
Thank you for this important work, documenting history, and presenting it on a map is very much a great tool for learning, especially for certain people like myself
58:16 As a Malaysian Indian and a A+ student in all history class, I shall say I failed as a parent. My son and daughter doesn't even know who Leftnan Adnan was. I'm ashamed being a Malaysian citizen for not teaching my son and daughter about the history of Malaya and the warriors who shed their blood for our country. We miss you Leftnan Adnan. You would have been a great role model for tons of Malaysian and Singaporean youngsters.
We have Experience age is Peace today Because of this great brave people who sacrifice their lives to Protect people lives ...get youngsters today Doesn't even care about our history...they busy Enjoy lives...
Yes Adnan Saidi fought till last breath! And the coward General Percival surrendered! My father was a soldier till fall of Singapore in 1941 became a Japanese POW,escaped and killed some Jap soldiers stealing their rifles with his colleagues after American Mustang bombers attacked the barracks.
I was raised and live in Kuantan, also near the naval base and not too far from air base. Till today, WW2 bunkers stood still along side Kuantan's shores.
I have known about the fall of Malaya and Singapore for a long time, mainly by reading about WW ll. Mostly I knew about the sinking of the "Prince of Wales" and "Repulse". Watching this Documentary really opened my eyes to all of the causes for such a fall to occur. I didn't realize the ineptitude of the "Brass" was so bad. Never underestimate the enemy!
i mean the chinese troops were pretty crap, a lot of them didnt have proper equipment, training and armoured vehicles, plus a lot of them werent loyal to the government, the only "proper" troops were a few german trained divisions but those were all but destroyed by 1940@@nwofoe2866
I’m retired military and listening to this makes me cry to see good soldiers lost by total incompetence and cowardness by commanders. How do you advance or retreat without OPs security and a response plan.
Its terribly unfortunate but the reality was that the British Army and its Imperial contingents were widely stretched by this phase of the war. The best commanders and troops had been called to Europe and pretty much everything in the Malay campaign was second or third rate. The exception being the Australian, Indian and British troops who fought hard and distingushed themselves on a number of occasions. Tragically they were badly equipped and led by Generals who were no more capable than a mere Brigade commander. Percival got a lot of hate after the war and probably rightly so but in the end, he just wasn't up to the task. He'd been given an impossible command for his abilities. A more capable defensive commander might have made better use of the situation but Percival's experience was only leading smaller commands and he'd never had to fight an engagement against a superior regular force before. Add to this he was was potentially a bit of a sadist, self-involved and arrogant. The troops in Malay had no real prospect of success when led by such a man.
Watched the original episodes but don't mind the refresher. At just over 1 hour, the video is only slightly shorter than the time taken by the Japanese to capture Malaya.
This campaign should be referred to informally as "The Japanese Blitzkrieg". Every minute of this video, I kept expecting to hear Rommel's name. It's so much like his famous dash in France. Lead tanks supported by mobile (motorcycles in Rommel's case, bicycles for the Japanese) troops smashing through defenses so fast as to catch rear units off guard due to them not having been able to find out about breakthroughs.
I am seriously impressed by this video. The information given combined with the graphics is second to none. Well done Historigraph Extra, i will be subscribing.
I have often wondered what happened in Malaya. This documentary clearly and concisely explains how we the British, simply weren’t adequately prepared .. What an utter disaster. “Least we forget”.
and then you british only save the european and abandoned the local people in Penang. They got bombed everyday straight. The locals(malay) get tortured and raped by japanese soldiers after that. What a shame
If you have a naval base half way around the world it would be far better sending a smaller number of the newest and best ships instead of large numbers of old ships. The ideal would be the new ships are such a deterrent they never see use. But in open hostilities it's easier keeping 3 modern ships full of fuel, coal, ammunition and rations. And they're easier to hide and stay out on cruises without needing resupply. So if you have a dozen old battleships they'll be used better within a few dozen miles of home ports. The home ports can do the necessary patch work repairs needed to keep them in action. Repairs that couldn't happen half way around the world. I never thought about this till now.
Thanks for this video, we can learn a lot from this. I would like to dedicate to leftenan (lieutenant) Adnan and his unit who historically not only managed to hold off attacks even in small numbers but also forced the Japanese to retreat many times in their attempt to capture Opium Hill. He always keep on fighting even without bullets until he died from torture. If only the British had sent backup the situation might have been better. If they manage to advance forward, it will at least raise the morale of the other soldiers.
Grest job sir. Top notch content. Unbelievable to me that the best historical content continues to be made by individual contributors like yourself. Even the history channel in the US when it actually did history never made content of this caliber.
Best WWII documentary on the invasion of Malaya n Singapore during the Japanese war campaign in the far east. Historical details n well formatted for viewers....👍🙏.
6:18 - - A British aircraft carrier was supposed to support that naval force from Singapore, but it got stranded in a coral reef and not usable. If I remember right, the accident of the carrier happened in the Caribbean Sea.
Excellent synopsis of why Britain was defeated in Malaya. It was an episode of history that is conveniently forgotten about by the jingoistic crowd who love to harp on about B of Britain, Churchill etc. One wonders what difference a single regiment of cruiser tanks would have made though? As the old adage goes, if your opponent doesn't have tanks, then even poor tanks are good ones. The Japanese were able to push that sitiation to their advantage. Also British arrogance defeated by determined warriors on bicycles. It was a national disgrace and embarrassment and this video should be played at Schools in Britain it is more significant and relevant to the Uk's position in the World as well as explains a lot about why Britain lost its position as a global power. Way more pertinent than the Charge of The Light Brigade IMHO.
>"One wonders what difference a single regiment of cruiser tanks would have made though?" It would have been destroyed. Both sides had tanks; the japanese had superiority.
Just shows how the disbandment of the Empire had fragmented a lot of Aspects for Britain. Still picking up the pieces from WW1 back then and threw ourselves to Africa, Asia, and Europe all over again!
Arthur Percival did ask for Tanks , anti-tanks , planes and various gear, BUT someone in Central command think Soviet was more important, Japan won't attack USA and sent these gears there. The soldiers he asked for arrived late and worst without standard personal weaponry and ammo. Even local militia were better armed.
Very interesting Documentary. I was a baby in 1941. Lives was extremely difficult,. In 1956 I joined the British Army. (Army Boys Trade School in short ABTS). and in 1960 I was a trained telecommunication technician serving in the Commonwealth Communications of Army Network, (COMCAN) , The army barrack in the video (at 1:02:19) is very much similar as in Nee Soon Garrison, while I was In the Army Boys Trade School. The documentary also mentioned the Alexandra Hospital , This was the British Army Hospital Ayer Rajah road. This documentary bring my memory back as technician in the Tape Relay Centre repairing Teleprinters and several Mobile Telecommunications Trucks that regularly plied to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, That was 70 years ago. Thanks to this video.
Every Japanese soldier who was in that offensive, was faced by more than 2 British or Commonwealth soldiers facing him as defenders. This is important and it was not mentioned in this well-informed documentary.
Yes, but the combat readiness of each Japanese soldier was at least three to four times higher than that of each British soldier, his need for food and supplies much lower. It is certain that European soldiers, from their colonial comfort, were no match for them!
Arthur Percival was a WW2 version of our Harry. He should never have been promoted above 2nd Lt. He surrendered. Australians are still bitter over this surrender.
After the war, Yamashita said, “I felt if we had to fight in the city we would be beaten.” He went on to say that his strategy at Singapore was “a bluff, a bluff that worked.”
My father fought in Singapore. He told me that once the reservoir and power stations were was taken there was no prospect of holding ta large city completely without power, water or sewerage; the civilian deaths would have been massive and the city would have fallen by siege anyway. Yamashita in fact stopped his advance once the Changi reservoir fell.
@@kenoliver8913 it was a strategic mistake by Percival to fall back on a little island , denying himself room for maneuver and to had the chance to counter attack. his forces could have been much more effectively employed in johor. the long frequent retreats and not being able acclimatize to jungle environment then had helped bred a 'fortress Singapore mentality '. the British land forces were well stocked in most provisions of war in Malaya but being led by men not ready for hard battle. it was a fact that japanese troops would have been out of artillery ammunition among others, if they held out for another week or so. there's a great book on the campaign by the Australian call 'A Bitter Fate'
@@shumyinghon Oh, all true. But you have to realise that Britain had more vital commitments much closer to home. So they sent only second rate equipment and second rate commanders, both known to be not good enough to face Germany. If you think Percival had a hard time dealing with Yamashita imagine what Rommel would have done to him.
@@kenoliver8913 is this what you think that's going through Percival's mind when he was fought the battle from Sg Petani to Singapore? that he is better off facing battle hardened japanese troops vs Rommel's? the British outnumbered the Japanese 3:1 and well provisioned in many ways, at least the land forecs were. had they stood their ground like they did in imphal and Kohima they would have foiled the Japanese advance. but because there's a good homely fortress waiting for them, they hastened to it. Gen Percival was not new to Malaya. he studied the possibilities of an invasion years ago. he knew the terrain and did not prepare extensively enough. at the end Malaya and Singapore might still have fallen, but what if he had held on by fighting harder?
Yamashita troops didn't hv much food + ammunition if British manage to defend longer. Another one he not expecting happened, British retreat earlier before they cross to Singapore and left Malayan army over there to defend. Well he offer those soldier to surrender but we know Malaya soldier like India, faithful and loyalty.
Love your work, love the video. Only thing I would say is the music that plays during the transitions between the original videos is way too loud. Apart from that, fantastic work as always
These ships were lost for the same reason that a lot of losses in the beginning of the Pacific War. There was a universal thought that the little guys in Japan were inferior to Europeans. That they did not measure up.
Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan (29 July 1910 - 13 February 1942) was a captain in the British Indian Army who was convicted of treason, after spying for Japan during the Malayan campaign of World War II.[1][2] Heenan was reportedly killed by his wardens while in custody during the Battle of Singapore. According to Heenan's biographer, Peter Elphick, these events were suppressed by British Commonwealth military censors.[1]
According to Elphick's Book 'Singapore The pregnable fortress', a Military Police Sgt shot Heenan in the back of the head and dumped his body in the sea!
There was an unknown British officer who accompanied and was assisting the Japanese at Parit Sulong where the surrendered wounded of the 2/19th and 2/29th Battalions AIF and 45th Indian Brigade were massacre This British officer is mentioned in "The Knights Of Bushido" a short history of Japanese war crimes, and in "Massacre At Parit Sulong" the accounts of the of the two witnesses of the massacre
"despite what you've heard" the naval guns can fire inland, as someone who heard this myth too I'll explain more about it. I'm not sure how common this variant is across Malaysia but when I was a kid I was usually told a somewhat slapstick and inaccurate summary of the whole invasion (although the absurd nature did help me remember enough to do research when I grew up) Basically it went something like "The British were afraid of a naval invasion and faced all their guns in Singapore towards the sea, then the Japanese caught them by surprise by riding bicycles all the way from Thailand and attacking from behind " As a kid everyone would laugh at the idea soldiers with all their machinery were using bicycles, and the fact it actually worked.
Because Japanese didn't have four wheel Jeeps, like US Army !bonded Army trucks cant cross swampy terrain back in 40s pathways were more than roads,cycling is better and faster then walking and less tiring
The British concentration was mostly on Singapore but not the Malayan hinterland. On this, Churchill committed the biggest historical and tactical blunder.
Vary good documentary that all Malaysians should watch. It is so unfortunately that Malaysian Text Book never included proper Japanese Occupation of Malaya in the syllabus and most Malaysian knew too little about the Japanese Invasion, furthermore, there is too little "landmarks"of WWII in Peneisular Malaysia, except the ""Tugu Peringatan Jepun Australia Sungai Kelamah"" of Gemencheh Battle in Negeri Sembilan.
Once Japanese entered Malaya, British abandoned Penang (part of Straits Settlements) at that time to fend for themselves. The people of Penang never forget that.
Let me get this straight. Two Indian divisions were there to protect an airfield with their supplies concentrated there only to find the RAF unilaterally abandoned it and then burnt the supplies the ground forces needed? Nice.
Japan occupied Malaya and committed all sorts of atrocities against the local population. Prior to the invasion, the locals held the British in high esteem, tolerating their imperialism because they felt perhaps the British were better in administrating the land and they could protect them from invasion. All that changed after the war. Malaya wanted independence. British failed in protecting them, either ran off or surrendered.
Great uncle was a RM aboard Repulse.. survived the sinking and fought a fighting retreat back to Singapore and evaded the surrender back to Ceylon. Continued fighting the Japanese from Burma to PNG.
More than 800 Japanese soldier died after fight against 42 army of malay regiment ..I'm very proud of this , impressive! - May God (Allah) bless them - ..😢🤲
They're a long way from Pulau Tioman, are too deep for most too dive and the Chinese have stolen much of them, no doubt while Pahang officials were paid to look the other way.
The Aussie troops(the majority who, displayed a lot of backbone and performed in exemplary fashion)were roundly criticised by a lot ignorant people who were abdicating blame
The people criticising them were British officers who had saved their own skins and escaped to India.The Australians suffered 76% of the Battle casualties despite being only about 8% of the allied forces .
I have a letter written by American Civilians returning home to the Philippines in November of 1941. Their American President Liner was routed South before they disembarked in Manila on Nov 11, 1941. Thre Brewster Buffalo fighter was built by an automobile coach building company.
@@tomfrazier1103 The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was named after the carriage maker...but they weren't the same company. Brewster & Co., the carriage maker, went out of business in 1935.
"By November 7th, Japan [its military clique] had settled on December 8th ..." (3:54). This is a correct statement because Japan (and the Crown colony of Hong Kong; and British Borneo), British Malaya, and Singapore were on the west side of the International Date Line, while Hawaii was on the east side of the International Date Line. So December 8, 1941 in Japan was December 7, 1941 in Hawaii.
There was an audio issue that I had to fix, and then I basically decided I think it fits better on this channel as its essentially repeat content. I don't want it to mess with the main channel's algorithm
Born in 1947 in Penang; heard stories about the atrocities and some kindness by the Japanese invading forces in Penang but nothing else until now - never too late to learn, I suppose. Thank you.
Prajurit2 Inggris yang bertempur melawan tentara Jepang di Semenanjung Malaya ini terdiri atas Seaforth Highlanders, Commandos ( pasukan elit/khusus Inggris ), Gurkha, dan juga India. Kekalahan tentara Inggris di Semenanjung Malaya ini juga yang terbesar dalam Perang Dunia 2.
Ini adalah video dokumenter dari Britania Raya ( Inggris ) tentang Pertempuran Malaya ( Malaysia ) pada Perang Dunia 2. Tahukah anda pemirsa dari Indonesia ? Film dokumenter ini menceritakan pertempuran antara tentara Inggris melawan tentara Jepang di Semenanjung Malaya selama Perang Dunia 2.
Arcording to book i read so many blunder making by a r parcival the malayan comander at that time.....he is stubborn too.....looking down enemies too.....so many failed under her command.....
Yes I have spent time in Malaya from Khota Bharu to Kuantan to Gemis in the south... Not forgetting Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang et. Inner Malaysia with the right precautions and coastal defences have cause the Japanese hell traversing it. The Japanese did not have to worry about that thanks to the idle lazy so called leaders of those forced to surrender.👀
A small error at the start of the video. The landing at Kota Bahru North East Malaya took place about 40 minutes before the attack on Pearl Harbour. It is the Date Line that causes the error. Survey of PoW's wreck showed 3 torpedo hits (not 4) in the second attack.
Wonder who the commander was of that Japanese tank column that pressed on and caused so much panic. A real firebrand! Anyone know the name? What happened to him later?
Unfortunately, I have lent a certain highly relevant book to a Malaysian friend. The author was briefly mentioned by the narrator here. I have forgotten his name right now, but he was the notorious IJA intelligence officer in partial charge of the Singora landings. He was very much a hands-on officer, so his book almost certainly names the officer in charge of the tank column. It is even possible that the author was part of that command chain, as he took a very active role in the Jitra Line action. It might take a few weeks for the book to be returned here in Southern Thailand. That intelligence officer would definitely be well described as a firebrand. I know a few facts about this demise, however. He was also involved in Indonesia for a while, and was there suspected of cannibalism. It involved a group of half-starved Japanese officers eating the cooked liver of a dead allied airman. In the eventual Burmese route, he was briefly detained in Yangon, escaped to Thailand and was rearrested there. He was helped to escape by a Thai cop and was last seen crossing the border with that cop to Vientiane in Laos. He eventually returned to Japan, but as an IJA officer, he was hardly welcome there any longer. He left and made his way to North Vietnam, and was probably a military advisor to Ho Chi Minh. He eventually made it to Laos again. It was rumored that he was killed there by a tiger, but perhaps he just engineered his own disappearance into SEA oblivion. There were no further reports.
I was told they were able to decode the message about the attack of Malaya but failed to know it is the same code to attack Pearl Harbour. Also there was a massacre of 1500 Chinese in an interior settlement of a Chinese village called Titi in the state of Negeri Sembilan and I wonder what was the objective to do so. The massacre was carried out cold blooded within 10 hours.
My father live in japanese occupations eras in former malaysia@ malaya.. they are cold blooded..cruelty..far more aggresive compared than the communist. .young girls are so dangerous to live fears of japanese terror of rapes and sex slaves..many are sent to be hidden in families home in rural areas..far from japanese occupations..many are been captured and becomes sex slaves. .thousand endup commiting suicide..no one are allowed to keep radios..if been caught keeping radio will be capitated..death penalty..and then they stealing food and any sources to funding their survival of wars from local civilians..anything will be taken by force..almost to 4 years in japanese brutality..
@@梨花落羽 Such a peculiar idea. It is a pity that the Japanese militarists and the German Nazis lost the war. Because they are anti-human and evil. I was amazed that your text was actually Chinese. Is this how CCP brainwashes you at the moment? It's fun. A Japanophile from China. But I think it's also hard for CCP to accept your values.
I lived in Singapore and visited the WW2 battlefields. The simple fact is that the preparations and communications were wholly inadequate. Air superiority was a minor advantage, whichever side had it. They knew well in advance that the key landing zones in Malaysia and the route access through Thailand. They even had a well structured Plan Matador. But they failed in every respect to prepare themselves and had not anything close to defence in depth. Zero logistics planning. No laid in caches. No strategy to let the Japanese to take ground, stretch its own logistics and enter prepared positions. Inertia, silly assumptions combined with a hubris culture with regards to the performance of the Japanese army, are the core reasons for the defeat. They surrendered with 3 times that of the Japanese attacking. Who were almost out of ammo and food. Had they dragged into prepared positions and delayed them a few weeks, Japan would have been overstretched, unsupported and out of resources. Percival had a track record for brutality but not for intelligence. He lacked any strategic competence. An over promoted staff officer.
General Percival was a stupid, bigoted man. He was the commander of the British Army in Ireland during their war for independence and was soundly defeated by a small group of irregulars. Yet Britain still had enough confidence in him to give him a huge army to command in East Asia
Pasukan Inggris yang bertempur melawan tentara Jepang ini adalah bagian Southeast Asia Command ( Komando Asia Tenggara ) dibawah pimpinan Lord Louis Mountbatten. Tentara Jepang berhasil mengalahkan tentara Inggris di Semenanjung Malaya ini.
I am Thai here. I know the historic movement in Southeast Asia all too well during the outbreak in WWII. Siam was renamed to Thailand prior a few months before the commencement date of WWII in 1939. The documentary narrator kept on mentioning "Siam" on several occasions throughout the storyline. It is such a disappointment to me that he did not not dig deep into the research about the forgotten Axis-collaborator, which happened to be the only Japanese-collaborationist in Southeast Asia to enable the Japanese invasion of British Malaya.
any "collaborationist" is better than collaborationist of british empire most evil regime ever on earth in terms of number, extent and duration, of its atrocities and victims.
I remembered reading a biography about Malaysia's (then Malaya) first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman saying that the Thais tolerated Malaya as a younger brother. And for a time, for decades, young Malayans saw Bangkok as the better destination to seek their fortunes. The Prime Minister of Malaya then even had a brother serving in the Thai Army. It wasn't Singapore back then which was considered to be part of Malaya proper. What I am trying to say here is that the British Colonials should have expected or had some inkling that the Japanese would probably invade Malaya via Thailand. The Thai military had already been overwhelmed by fascism to a large extent that they probably wouldn't mind any attacks on their neighbours, so long as their Japanese overmasters didn't turn their attention too hastily to Thailand itself. I blame the British Colonials for being too laid back, too busy nursing their pints of 🍺 in the bigger towns.
@@harimaumalaya9146 Every Thai with something to defend with fought the invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army (I.J.A.) on 8 December 1941. Thailand was only on I.J.A.'s side because Thailand was under duress (held hostage) after losing that fight to the I.J.A. (for example, just like France lost to the armed forces of Germany in June 1940 causing Vichy France to be an ally of Germany).
Its amazing how inneffective early ww2 naval AA guns were. The prince of wales bombarding 8 bombers with 66 high calibur guns and failing to take down a single one is insane.
Anti air guns are ridiculous inaccurate. The radars on the colonial Navy ships were not functioning due to well weather conditions of the far east , humidity etc . So when radar was not guiding the guns , then the colonial sailors couldn't create a anti air screen until the bombers came within visual range , by that time it was too late lol.
My grandfather eyewitness how IJA defeat the British at our hometown Jitra just in single day , he knew British will be defeated soon and these IJA are truly warrior ...but when he saw how IJA treat POW ...he confidence .they will occupied us for short time....because these cruel warrior are came from Hell....
Japan liberated asia from the evil force, war is always horrible, but what Japan did during that time was pale in comparison to what the european colnialist had done previously, the r@ped muder looting enslaving native american, asia africa middle east by european colonialist whom I suppose you all belong to, can no longer be measured by numbers, comparing japan atrocities to euro colonialist crime is like comparing a petty theft with serial killers, and now you can sit down relaz rewrite history and pretend to be a good guy, disgusting.
@@CountBMonty so it is ok to destroy everything then rebuild then pretend to be the good guy who save world?? British done it in systematic and structured way more than anybody else, using your twisted ligic , rwst of world ahould enslave r@pe murder loot britain, then say …oops everybody’s done this and now after all destroyed, i ambgoona end this!! What a twiated sick logic!
@@CountBMonty this is like serial cannibalistic murderrer jeffrey dahmer saying, look jack the ripper had commited crime too, i am the good guy now and in jail thus ending my crime spree,
Ya, I had heard about all this but now after watching this account, I realise what the British are all about, they had no right to use Indians,Gurkhas, Malayans and others as fodder for their own greed for power and riches.They should fight their own battles with Allies.They still have not learnt their lesson have they, snooty as ever,esp. the English.
Tell us please: Do you have difficulty walking upright because of the weight of the chips on your shoulder?... and perhaps you shouldn't try to rewrite history. It is unarguable that the defence of Malaya was a display of military unpreparedness, incompetence, poor training and worse leadership on the part of the British. On the other hand, by the end of the war, the British Indian Army was, and remains, the largest volunteer army there has ever been in the history of the world. These people were your grandparents and great grandparents. They joined up and fought, and fought bravely, to ensure that the Japs did not overrun the whole of the Indian sub continent. They knew perfectly well that in doing so, they were prolonging British rule in India. They gave their lives to defend the status quo. Do you think they did this because they were stupid? Or do you think they did it because they actually thought that what they had was worth fighting for?
Very comprehensive and detailed examination of the horrendous defence of Malaya. I would have liked to see a bit about the technical superiority of the Japanese Air Force like the Zero Fighters. Malaya could have been defended and the Japanese defeated but due to British arrogance and racist attitude toward the "Japs" and their treatment of their allies, especially in the years leading up the War, everything possible went wrong. Read up on Malayan society before the War to see what I mean. The British Colonists there and elsewhere in the far east were not the same strong and decent kind of people as the population back in Britain. A cousin of mine, a middle-aged businessman and his family were captured in Hong Kong and he did not survive Stanley Internment Camp. The failure at Hong Kong was not as bad as the debacle in Malaya but still entirely preventable.
The Zero fighter was flown by the Naval Arm and flown from Aircraft Carriers - the aircraft flown in Malaya would not have met the Zero but the aircraft they met were still better than everything except the Hurricane.
Gen AE Percival fault.. he underestimated the Japanese .and ignored Gen Ivan Simson suggestion and reports regarding the need of construct defensive structure to halted the Japamese.. thats why Malaya was invaded within 3 months.. the Brits only cares about the tin mines/ rubber / Oil n other raw mineral on Malaya but didnt care about defending them.. Bad Intels as they should know there are many Japanese company at that time operating In Malaya since before WW2
Considering, the British knew a far superior enemy force was coming for months, the obvious choiche would have been to prepare for partisan and trench warefare in the hills and jungles. However, the British were probably way to arrogant to consider fighting a partisan war, digging tunnels in the jungles. Which leads to the question, on which side was the local population? AFAIK Malaya was the British colony where the population was on best terms with the colonizers.
80 years ago, a fierce battle was raging in Malaya. Here's all five of my videos on the Malayan Campaign stitched together in to one hour long documentary. Hope you all enjoy it- let me know if you'd like more older videos of mine in this format!
Also check the poster out! You can get 20% off at the moment on all posters with the code XMAS21 historigraph.creator-spring.com/
FYI the thumbnail image for this video did whatever the opposite of popping is. I found it in my feed almost by accident close to an Operations Room release that I also came on accidentally. Maybe a photograph more dramatic than a mainly blue square would help?
Love this format! Keep em coming :)
Hi how would I be able to make contact with you on use of your video as part of an exhibit and possibly having a Malay translation
Great effort! Would be good if you could put down the references used.
Thank you for this important work, documenting history, and presenting it on a map is very much a great tool for learning, especially for certain people like myself
According to local malays, the Japanese Intel has been in malaya years before the 1941. They know the terrain better then the British.
They had their spies all over South East Asia
The British been there for a couple decade before the invasion.
Amoi jepon kahwin dengan lelaki melayu pon ada😂
that was their tactics used all over asia. japanese spies were also instrumental in giving information that helped the japanese attack pearl harbour.
@@zrolyn6367it was about a century or so, actually. But it was for resources not war.
58:16 As a Malaysian Indian and a A+ student in all history class, I shall say I failed as a parent. My son and daughter doesn't even know who Leftnan Adnan was. I'm ashamed being a Malaysian citizen for not teaching my son and daughter about the history of Malaya and the warriors who shed their blood for our country. We miss you Leftnan Adnan. You would have been a great role model for tons of Malaysian and Singaporean youngsters.
We have Experience age is Peace today Because of this great brave people who sacrifice their lives to Protect people lives ...get youngsters today Doesn't even care about our history...they busy Enjoy lives...
@@ayahpinkofficial2769 yeah. Things have changed rapidly
KSSM syllabus in BM do include about Left Adnan as one of the literature book today.
Fortunately, we study about him in our history books. I remember.
Yes Adnan Saidi fought till last breath! And the coward General Percival surrendered! My father was a soldier till fall of Singapore in 1941 became a Japanese POW,escaped and killed some Jap soldiers stealing their rifles with his colleagues after American Mustang bombers attacked the barracks.
I was raised and live in Kuantan, also near the naval base and not too far from air base.
Till today, WW2 bunkers stood still along side Kuantan's shores.
I have known about the fall of Malaya and Singapore for a long time, mainly by reading about WW ll. Mostly I knew about the sinking of the "Prince of Wales" and "Repulse". Watching this Documentary really opened my eyes to all of the causes for such a fall to occur. I didn't realize the ineptitude of the "Brass" was so bad. Never underestimate the enemy!
after watching the Japanese in China, nobody should have underestimated them.
@@nwofoe2866 I agree. Prejudice will cloud a person's mind, which is what happened.
That 2 ships did nothing except huge loss of lives on the Allied side and further lowered the morale of the soldiers tasked in the defence of Malaya.
i mean the chinese troops were pretty crap, a lot of them didnt have proper equipment, training and armoured vehicles, plus a lot of them werent loyal to the government, the only "proper" troops were a few german trained divisions but those were all but destroyed by 1940@@nwofoe2866
I’m retired military and listening to this makes me cry to see good soldiers lost by total incompetence and cowardness by commanders. How do you advance or retreat without OPs security and a response plan.
totally agree,,
Winston Churchill for you
Ask Percival... Dumb AF.
Its terribly unfortunate but the reality was that the British Army and its Imperial contingents were widely stretched by this phase of the war. The best commanders and troops had been called to Europe and pretty much everything in the Malay campaign was second or third rate. The exception being the Australian, Indian and British troops who fought hard and distingushed themselves on a number of occasions. Tragically they were badly equipped and led by Generals who were no more capable than a mere Brigade commander. Percival got a lot of hate after the war and probably rightly so but in the end, he just wasn't up to the task. He'd been given an impossible command for his abilities. A more capable defensive commander might have made better use of the situation but Percival's experience was only leading smaller commands and he'd never had to fight an engagement against a superior regular force before.
Add to this he was was potentially a bit of a sadist, self-involved and arrogant. The troops in Malay had no real prospect of success when led by such a man.
Thank you for mentioning about Leftenan Adnan..The Malaya Soldier leader that make Yamashita also angry due to Japanese delay invasion..
You need to thank the indian
Yes, we study about him in our history books.
@@VaniMurali-j2kIndian run with british
Bukit Chandu still exists in Singapore today.
Excellent video. As much as I have always liked the World at War series this video was far more detailed and easier to follow because of the graphics.
Watched the original episodes but don't mind the refresher. At just over 1 hour, the video is only slightly shorter than the time taken by the Japanese to capture Malaya.
This campaign should be referred to informally as "The Japanese Blitzkrieg". Every minute of this video, I kept expecting to hear Rommel's name. It's so much like his famous dash in France. Lead tanks supported by mobile (motorcycles in Rommel's case, bicycles for the Japanese) troops smashing through defenses so fast as to catch rear units off guard due to them not having been able to find out about breakthroughs.
I mean, breakthroughs and double envelopments and such have been a thing for a long time, this isn’t specific to any country or military
Same like at the pearl harbour. The spy came as tourist.
Why Rommels name, it was General Heinz Guderian who came up with the idea of 'Blitzkrieg' and led the armoured attack on France.
I am seriously impressed by this video. The information given combined with the graphics is second to none. Well done Historigraph Extra, i will be subscribing.
This is truly Awesome. Thank you for a whole Hour of this.
I have often wondered what happened in Malaya. This documentary clearly and concisely explains how we the British, simply weren’t adequately prepared .. What an utter disaster. “Least we forget”.
and then you british only save the european and abandoned the local people in Penang. They got bombed everyday straight. The locals(malay) get tortured and raped by japanese soldiers after that. What a shame
My grandfather was a member of Force136 in Malaya during WW2.
as was my granduncle
Hahaha.. lie
the european colonialist who destroyed looted and enslaved the world , I suppose?
@@joshualai2827 my grandfather active in Johor.
Then My Ancestor Is Dato Bahaman,That Killed Many Colonial Ambassador, And Melayu Barua When He Alive
As malaysian malay. I say tq for this documentary
Wow, what an amazing video presentation. Really worth a tv special, thanks.
If you have a naval base half way around the world it would be far better sending a smaller number of the newest and best ships instead of large numbers of old ships. The ideal would be the new ships are such a deterrent they never see use. But in open hostilities it's easier keeping 3 modern ships full of fuel, coal, ammunition and rations. And they're easier to hide and stay out on cruises without needing resupply. So if you have a dozen old battleships they'll be used better within a few dozen miles of home ports. The home ports can do the necessary patch work repairs needed to keep them in action. Repairs that couldn't happen half way around the world. I never thought about this till now.
You don’t need to think about this. Hopefully, British naval force never have to sail so far away from their home ports again.
hindsight 20/20
Great documentary - much appreciated.
Thanks for this video, we can learn a lot from this. I would like to dedicate to leftenan (lieutenant) Adnan and his unit who historically not only managed to hold off attacks even in small numbers but also forced the Japanese to retreat many times in their attempt to capture Opium Hill. He always keep on fighting even without bullets until he died from torture. If only the British had sent backup the situation might have been better. If they manage to advance forward, it will at least raise the morale of the other soldiers.
hello, from malaysia.. i was inform story from my grandpa british was overconfident with their warship... but when it sink.. morale drop.
Grest job sir. Top notch content. Unbelievable to me that the best historical content continues to be made by individual contributors like yourself. Even the history channel in the US when it actually did history never made content of this caliber.
This is straight up a intire analysis on the war dang!
Really hope this guys channel makes a comeback these videos are amazing.
58:18 Al-Fatihah...
Best WWII documentary on the invasion of Malaya n Singapore during the Japanese war campaign in the far east. Historical details n well formatted for viewers....👍🙏.
6:18 - - A British aircraft carrier was supposed to support that naval force from Singapore, but it got stranded in a coral reef and not usable. If I remember right, the accident of the carrier happened in the Caribbean Sea.
Excellent synopsis of why Britain was defeated in Malaya. It was an episode of history that is conveniently forgotten about by the jingoistic crowd who love to harp on about B of Britain, Churchill etc. One wonders what difference a single regiment of cruiser tanks would have made though? As the old adage goes, if your opponent doesn't have tanks, then even poor tanks are good ones. The Japanese were able to push that sitiation to their advantage. Also British arrogance defeated by determined warriors on bicycles. It was a national disgrace and embarrassment and this video should be played at Schools in Britain it is more significant and relevant to the Uk's position in the World as well as explains a lot about why Britain lost its position as a global power. Way more pertinent than the Charge of The Light Brigade IMHO.
>"One wonders what difference a single regiment of cruiser tanks would have made though?"
It would have been destroyed. Both sides had tanks; the japanese had superiority.
Just shows how the disbandment of the Empire had fragmented a lot of Aspects for Britain. Still picking up the pieces from WW1 back then and threw ourselves to Africa, Asia, and Europe all over again!
This is why Malaya love British in anyway
Arthur Percival did ask for Tanks , anti-tanks , planes and various gear, BUT someone in Central command think Soviet was more important, Japan won't attack USA and sent these gears there. The soldiers he asked for arrived late and worst without standard personal weaponry and ammo. Even local militia were better armed.
Very interesting Documentary. I was a baby in 1941. Lives was extremely difficult,. In 1956 I joined the British Army. (Army Boys Trade School in short ABTS). and in 1960 I was a trained telecommunication technician serving in the Commonwealth Communications of Army Network, (COMCAN) , The army barrack in the video (at 1:02:19) is very much similar as in Nee Soon Garrison, while I was In the Army Boys Trade School. The documentary also mentioned the Alexandra Hospital , This was the British Army Hospital Ayer Rajah road. This documentary bring my memory back as technician in the Tape Relay Centre repairing Teleprinters and several Mobile Telecommunications Trucks that regularly plied to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, That was 70 years ago. Thanks to this video.
You can really see that they still hadn't realized that battle ships were obsolete.
The 2nd Argyll and Sutherland highlanders fought as rear guard practically all the way down Malaya.
Every Japanese soldier who was in that offensive, was faced by more than 2 British or Commonwealth soldiers facing him as defenders.
This is important and it was not mentioned in this well-informed documentary.
Yes, but the combat readiness of each Japanese soldier was at least three to four times higher than that of each British soldier, his need for food and supplies much lower. It is certain that European soldiers, from their colonial comfort, were no match for them!
it was common knowledge by people who informed me
Japanese were outnumbered 4-1
Indian or Australian to be exact
It was actually four.
Excellent narration.
Arthur Percival was a WW2 version of our Harry. He should never have been promoted above 2nd Lt. He surrendered. Australians are still bitter over this surrender.
Thank the Lord that there were no Pommy officers at Milne Bay or the Track.
As a Brit, I loath Percival, the IJA were literally at the point of starving and outnumbered yet Percival surrenders.
After the war, Yamashita said, “I felt if we had to fight in the city we would be beaten.” He went on to say that his strategy at Singapore was “a bluff, a bluff that worked.”
My father fought in Singapore. He told me that once the reservoir and power stations were was taken there was no prospect of holding ta large city completely without power, water or sewerage; the civilian deaths would have been massive and the city would have fallen by siege anyway. Yamashita in fact stopped his advance once the Changi reservoir fell.
@@kenoliver8913 it was a strategic mistake by Percival to fall back on a little island , denying himself room for maneuver and to had the chance to counter attack. his forces could have been much more effectively employed in johor. the long frequent retreats and not being able acclimatize to jungle environment then had helped bred a 'fortress Singapore mentality '. the British land forces were well stocked in most provisions of war in Malaya but being led by men not ready for hard battle. it was a fact that japanese troops would have been out of artillery ammunition among others, if they held out for another week or so. there's a great book on the campaign by the Australian call 'A Bitter Fate'
@@shumyinghon Oh, all true. But you have to realise that Britain had more vital commitments much closer to home. So they sent only second rate equipment and second rate commanders, both known to be not good enough to face Germany. If you think Percival had a hard time dealing with Yamashita imagine what Rommel would have done to him.
@@kenoliver8913 is this what you think that's going through Percival's mind when he was fought the battle from Sg Petani to Singapore? that he is better off facing battle hardened japanese troops vs Rommel's? the British outnumbered the Japanese 3:1 and well provisioned in many ways, at least the land forecs were. had they stood their ground like they did in imphal and Kohima they would have foiled the Japanese advance. but because there's a good homely fortress waiting for them, they hastened to it. Gen Percival was not new to Malaya. he studied the possibilities of an invasion years ago. he knew the terrain and did not prepare extensively enough. at the end Malaya and Singapore might still have fallen, but what if he had held on by fighting harder?
Yamashita troops didn't hv much food + ammunition if British manage to defend longer.
Another one he not expecting happened, British retreat earlier before they cross to Singapore and left Malayan army over there to defend.
Well he offer those soldier to surrender but we know Malaya soldier like India, faithful and loyalty.
Love your work, love the video. Only thing I would say is the music that plays during the transitions between the original videos is way too loud. Apart from that, fantastic work as always
40:20 Window pop up.
Blaze it
ah balls
These ships were lost for the same reason that a lot of losses in the beginning of the Pacific War. There was a universal thought that the little guys in Japan were inferior to Europeans. That they did not measure up.
Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan (29 July 1910 - 13 February 1942) was a captain in the British Indian Army who was convicted of treason, after spying for Japan during the Malayan campaign of World War II.[1][2] Heenan was reportedly killed by his wardens while in custody during the Battle of Singapore. According to Heenan's biographer, Peter Elphick, these events were suppressed by British Commonwealth military censors.[1]
According to Elphick's Book 'Singapore The pregnable fortress', a Military Police Sgt shot Heenan in the back of the head and dumped his body in the sea!
@@derekambler Good! He deserved it!
There was an unknown British officer who accompanied and was assisting the Japanese at Parit Sulong where the surrendered wounded of the 2/19th and 2/29th Battalions AIF and 45th Indian Brigade were massacre
This British officer is mentioned in "The Knights Of Bushido" a short history of Japanese war crimes, and in "Massacre At Parit Sulong" the accounts of the of the two witnesses of the massacre
"despite what you've heard" the naval guns can fire inland, as someone who heard this myth too I'll explain more about it.
I'm not sure how common this variant is across Malaysia but when I was a kid I was usually told a somewhat slapstick and inaccurate summary of the whole invasion (although the absurd nature did help me remember enough to do research when I grew up)
Basically it went something like
"The British were afraid of a naval invasion and faced all their guns in Singapore towards the sea, then the Japanese caught them by surprise by riding bicycles all the way from Thailand and attacking from behind "
As a kid everyone would laugh at the idea soldiers with all their machinery were using bicycles, and the fact it actually worked.
Because Japanese didn't have four wheel Jeeps, like US Army !bonded Army trucks cant cross swampy terrain back in 40s pathways were more than roads,cycling is better and faster then walking and less tiring
Damn, a series like this for the Philippines would be quite neat
Tq very much for your diligent efforts... Tq
wTF RAF was doing with the 300+ planes???
The British concentration was mostly on Singapore but not the Malayan hinterland. On this, Churchill committed the biggest historical and tactical blunder.
Vary good documentary that all Malaysians should watch.
It is so unfortunately that Malaysian Text Book never included proper Japanese Occupation of Malaya in the syllabus and most Malaysian knew too little about the Japanese Invasion, furthermore, there is too little "landmarks"of WWII in Peneisular Malaysia, except the ""Tugu Peringatan Jepun Australia Sungai Kelamah"" of Gemencheh Battle in Negeri Sembilan.
Once Japanese entered Malaya, British abandoned Penang (part of Straits Settlements) at that time to fend for themselves. The people of Penang never forget that.
Let me get this straight. Two Indian divisions were there to protect an airfield with their supplies concentrated there only to find the RAF unilaterally abandoned it and then burnt the supplies the ground forces needed? Nice.
The identity of the person who ordered the 'scorched earth' remains unknown... it could be the work of spies or traitors.
You have to advertise your channel more, I'm very interested in your videos and I really barely managed to find this great place
Japan occupied Malaya and committed all sorts of atrocities against the local population. Prior to the invasion, the locals held the British in high esteem, tolerating their imperialism because they felt perhaps the British were better in administrating the land and they could protect them from invasion. All that changed after the war. Malaya wanted independence. British failed in protecting them, either ran off or surrendered.
No mention at all of the Battle on the Bakri Parit Sulong Road
Great uncle was a RM aboard Repulse.. survived the sinking and fought a fighting retreat back to Singapore and evaded the surrender back to Ceylon.
Continued fighting the Japanese from Burma to PNG.
More than 800 Japanese soldier died after fight against 42 army of malay regiment ..I'm very proud of this , impressive! - May God (Allah) bless them - ..😢🤲
You could still see the Prince of Wales and Repulse around Tioman Island.
Really???!?😮😮
They're a long way from Pulau Tioman, are too deep for most too dive and the Chinese have stolen much of them, no doubt while Pahang officials were paid to look the other way.
I was born on 1/10/1941. My parents ran into the jungles on the mainland and remained there until the Japanese had taken penang
Short words, never underestimate your enemy. The British did and they paid a heavy price for that.
nice vid. do you have by any chance making a video on the japanese invasion or borneo?
Why were they going so far out to sea and hugging the Malaysian coast???
The Aussie troops(the majority who, displayed a lot of backbone and performed in exemplary fashion)were roundly criticised by a lot ignorant people who were abdicating blame
The people criticising them were British officers who had saved their own skins and escaped to India.The Australians suffered 76% of the Battle casualties despite being only about 8% of the allied forces .
I have a letter written by American Civilians returning home to the Philippines in November of 1941. Their American President Liner was routed South before they disembarked in Manila on Nov 11, 1941. Thre Brewster Buffalo fighter was built by an automobile coach building company.
So they weren't built by Brewster Aeronautical Corporation? Who built them?
@@Ocrilat Brewster had been coach builders from the 19thCentury and later built auto bodies for luxury makes, the American Rolls-Royce among others.
@@tomfrazier1103 The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was named after the carriage maker...but they weren't the same company. Brewster & Co., the carriage maker, went out of business in 1935.
@@tomfrazier1103 Not that it matters. Vickers originally made cast church bells.
"By November 7th, Japan [its military clique] had settled on December 8th ..." (3:54). This is a correct statement because Japan (and the Crown colony of Hong Kong; and British Borneo), British Malaya, and Singapore were on the west side of the International Date Line, while Hawaii was on the east side of the International Date Line.
So December 8, 1941 in Japan was December 7, 1941 in Hawaii.
why you deleted this video from your main channel?
There was an audio issue that I had to fix, and then I basically decided I think it fits better on this channel as its essentially repeat content. I don't want it to mess with the main channel's algorithm
Born in 1947 in Penang; heard stories about the atrocities and some kindness by the Japanese invading forces in Penang but nothing else until now - never too late to learn, I suppose. Thank you.
Prajurit2 Inggris yang bertempur melawan tentara Jepang di Semenanjung Malaya ini terdiri atas Seaforth Highlanders, Commandos ( pasukan elit/khusus Inggris ), Gurkha, dan juga India. Kekalahan tentara Inggris di Semenanjung Malaya ini juga yang terbesar dalam Perang Dunia 2.
Thank you
Jeez..what is up with the music? Starts and stops and sometimes the music is louder than the narration.
Ini adalah video dokumenter dari Britania Raya ( Inggris ) tentang Pertempuran Malaya ( Malaysia ) pada Perang Dunia 2. Tahukah anda pemirsa dari Indonesia ? Film dokumenter ini menceritakan pertempuran antara tentara Inggris melawan tentara Jepang di Semenanjung Malaya selama Perang Dunia 2.
My father had fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the PDF and was awarded the Churchill Defence Medal.
""Under-Leadershp" pretty much explains the Allied forces poor readiness and performance at the start of WW2 in the Pacific.
Arcording to book i read so many blunder making by a r parcival the malayan comander at that time.....he is stubborn too.....looking down enemies too.....so many failed under her command.....
I’m reading “The Storm We Made” by Vanessa Chan. Made me more curious about this battle.
Yes I have spent time in Malaya from Khota Bharu to Kuantan to Gemis in the south... Not forgetting Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang et. Inner Malaysia with the right precautions and coastal defences have cause the Japanese hell traversing it. The Japanese did not have to worry about that thanks to the idle lazy so called leaders of those forced to surrender.👀
You mean the 'British colonizer leaders'.
These Brit overmasters were too busy in their clubs or pubs nursing their pints.
Have you been to the natively Bukit Chandu(Opium Hill)
My maternal uncle fought in this war.
A small error at the start of the video. The landing at Kota Bahru North East Malaya took place about 40 minutes before the attack on Pearl Harbour. It is the Date Line that causes the error. Survey of PoW's wreck showed 3 torpedo hits (not 4) in the second attack.
Wonder who the commander was of that Japanese tank column that pressed on and caused so much panic. A real firebrand! Anyone know the name? What happened to him later?
Unfortunately, I have lent a certain highly relevant book to a Malaysian friend. The author was briefly mentioned by the narrator here. I have forgotten his name right now, but he was the notorious IJA intelligence officer in partial charge of the Singora landings. He was very much a hands-on officer, so his book almost certainly names the officer in charge of the tank column. It is even possible that the author was part of that command chain, as he took a very active role in the Jitra Line action. It might take a few weeks for the book to be returned here in Southern Thailand. That intelligence officer would definitely be well described as a firebrand. I know a few facts about this demise, however. He was also involved in Indonesia for a while, and was there suspected of cannibalism. It involved a group of half-starved Japanese officers eating the cooked liver of a dead allied airman. In the eventual Burmese route, he was briefly detained in Yangon, escaped to Thailand and was rearrested there. He was helped to escape by a Thai cop and was last seen crossing the border with that cop to Vientiane in Laos. He eventually returned to Japan, but as an IJA officer, he was hardly welcome there any longer. He left and made his way to North Vietnam, and was probably a military advisor to Ho Chi Minh. He eventually made it to Laos again. It was rumored that he was killed there by a tiger, but perhaps he just engineered his own disappearance into SEA oblivion. There were no further reports.
9:15 And somewhere, Admiral Lütjens is laughing his arse off.
I was told they were able to decode the message about the attack of Malaya but failed to know it is the same code to attack Pearl Harbour. Also there was a massacre of 1500 Chinese in an interior settlement of a Chinese village called Titi in the state of Negeri Sembilan and I wonder what was the objective to do so. The massacre was carried out cold blooded within 10 hours.
My father live in japanese occupations eras in former malaysia@ malaya.. they are cold blooded..cruelty..far more aggresive compared than the communist. .young girls are so dangerous to live fears of japanese terror of rapes and sex slaves..many are sent to be hidden in families home in rural areas..far from japanese occupations..many are been captured and becomes sex slaves. .thousand endup commiting suicide..no one are allowed to keep radios..if been caught keeping radio will be capitated..death penalty..and then they stealing food and any sources to funding their survival of wars from local civilians..anything will be taken by force..almost to 4 years in japanese brutality..
I can only conclude the British military command was completely incompetent.
My grandfather was there and his ship was confiscated and 2 of his children was shot to death in cross fire. My late father was still in womb.
It is a pity that today's UK completely forgot about this. There were also attempts to ally with the Japanese, as in 1902.
说的英国是正义的一样，英国的邪恶不次于日本德国，英国的殖民地是世界最大的，日本只是学英国的做法。日本德国之所以被批判只是日本德国输了，美国英国苏联和他们没有任何区别！
@@梨花落羽 Such a peculiar idea. It is a pity that the Japanese militarists and the German Nazis lost the war. Because they are anti-human and evil. I was amazed that your text was actually Chinese. Is this how CCP brainwashes you at the moment? It's fun. A Japanophile from China. But I think it's also hard for CCP to accept your values.
Should of allied with the japanese Aussies would of picked you off one by one in the jungle .You all would of put your hands up anyway
@@DarrenWalsh-r3v I just remember being in the jungles of New Guinea. The australians cut the heads of the Japanese like cutting pumpkins.
The 2 British ship sunk of Kelantan coast shows of the Great Japanese Imperial Air Force.
I lived in Singapore and visited the WW2 battlefields. The simple fact is that the preparations and communications were wholly inadequate. Air superiority was a minor advantage, whichever side had it.
They knew well in advance that the key landing zones in Malaysia and the route access through Thailand. They even had a well structured Plan Matador. But they failed in every respect to prepare themselves and had not anything close to defence in depth.
Zero logistics planning. No laid in caches. No strategy to let the Japanese to take ground, stretch its own logistics and enter prepared positions.
Inertia, silly assumptions combined with a hubris culture with regards to the performance of the Japanese army, are the core reasons for the defeat.
They surrendered with 3 times that of the Japanese attacking. Who were almost out of ammo and food.
Had they dragged into prepared positions and delayed them a few weeks, Japan would have been overstretched, unsupported and out of resources.
Percival had a track record for brutality but not for intelligence. He lacked any strategic competence. An over promoted staff officer.
General Percival was a stupid, bigoted man. He was the commander of the British Army in Ireland during their war for independence and was soundly defeated by a small group of irregulars. Yet Britain still had enough confidence in him to give him a huge army to command in East Asia
Pasukan Inggris yang bertempur melawan tentara Jepang ini adalah bagian Southeast Asia Command ( Komando Asia Tenggara ) dibawah pimpinan Lord Louis Mountbatten. Tentara Jepang berhasil mengalahkan tentara Inggris di Semenanjung Malaya ini.
Well done
I am Thai here. I know the historic movement in Southeast Asia all too well during the outbreak in WWII.
Siam was renamed to Thailand prior a few months before the commencement date of WWII in 1939.
The documentary narrator kept on mentioning "Siam" on several occasions throughout the storyline. It is such a disappointment to me that he did not not dig deep into the research about the forgotten Axis-collaborator, which happened to be the only Japanese-collaborationist in Southeast Asia to enable the Japanese invasion of British Malaya.
any "collaborationist" is better than collaborationist of british empire most evil regime ever on earth in terms of number, extent and duration, of its atrocities and victims.
I remembered reading a biography about Malaysia's (then Malaya) first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman saying that the Thais tolerated Malaya as a younger brother. And for a time, for decades, young Malayans saw Bangkok as the better destination to seek their fortunes. The Prime Minister of Malaya then even had a brother serving in the Thai Army. It wasn't Singapore back then which was considered to be part of Malaya proper. What I am trying to say here is that the British Colonials should have expected or had some inkling that the Japanese would probably invade Malaya via Thailand. The Thai military had already been overwhelmed by fascism to a large extent that they probably wouldn't mind any attacks on their neighbours, so long as their Japanese overmasters didn't turn their attention too hastily to Thailand itself. I blame the British Colonials for being too laid back, too busy nursing their pints of 🍺 in the bigger towns.
Thailand is was Japan allies during invation on Malay Panisular. Don't forget that fact.
@@harimaumalaya9146 Musuh ketat zaman Perang Bisik dulu. Jgn pernah dilupakan.
@@harimaumalaya9146
Every Thai with something to defend with fought the invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army (I.J.A.) on 8 December 1941. Thailand was only on I.J.A.'s side because Thailand was under duress (held hostage) after losing that fight to the I.J.A. (for example, just like France lost to the armed forces of Germany in June 1940 causing Vichy France to be an ally of Germany).
My hometown after fall by Japanese, the village name changed to "Syonan Village"
Its amazing how inneffective early ww2 naval AA guns were. The prince of wales bombarding 8 bombers with 66 high calibur guns and failing to take down a single one is insane.
Anti air guns are ridiculous inaccurate.
The radars on the colonial Navy ships were not functioning due to well weather conditions of the far east , humidity etc .
So when radar was not guiding the guns , then the colonial sailors couldn't create a anti air screen until the bombers came within visual range , by that time it was too late lol.
Can you imagine, 130000 out of 138000 troops from British Malaya were killed. Almost 95% !
My grandfather eyewitness how IJA defeat the British at our hometown Jitra just in single day , he knew British will be defeated soon and these IJA are truly warrior ...but when he saw how IJA treat POW ...he confidence .they will occupied us for short time....because these cruel warrior are came from Hell....
I'll never understand how anything British fails to work as its 'too wet'. This rock in the North Atlantic is famous for the endless rain...
The atrocities continued years after. My own great grandfather died in 43 having been worked to death by the Japanese.
Good thing they had enterprising police...
Japan liberated asia from the evil force, war is always horrible, but what Japan did during that time was pale in comparison to what the european colnialist had done previously, the r@ped muder looting enslaving native american, asia africa middle east by european colonialist whom I suppose you all belong to, can no longer be measured by numbers, comparing japan atrocities to euro colonialist crime is like comparing a petty theft with serial killers, and now you can sit down relaz rewrite history and pretend to be a good guy, disgusting.
@@frank6401 The British were the first people to end slavery. Colonising and slavery was done by every single group for all of history.
@@CountBMonty so it is ok to destroy everything then rebuild then pretend to be the good guy who save world?? British done it in systematic and structured way more than anybody else, using your twisted ligic , rwst of world ahould enslave r@pe murder loot britain, then say …oops everybody’s done this and now after all destroyed, i ambgoona end this!! What a twiated sick logic!
@@CountBMonty this is like serial cannibalistic murderrer jeffrey dahmer saying, look jack the ripper had commited crime too, i am the good guy now and in jail thus ending my crime spree,
Ya, I had heard about all this but now after watching this account, I realise what the British are all about, they had no right to use Indians,Gurkhas, Malayans and others as fodder for their own greed for power and riches.They should fight their own battles with Allies.They still have not learnt their lesson have they, snooty as ever,esp. the English.
All volunteers and unlike you none of them were fascist loving cowards.
Tell us please: Do you have difficulty walking upright because of the weight of the chips on your shoulder?... and perhaps you shouldn't try to rewrite history. It is unarguable that the defence of Malaya was a display of military unpreparedness, incompetence, poor training and worse leadership on the part of the British. On the other hand, by the end of the war, the British Indian Army was, and remains, the largest volunteer army there has ever been in the history of the world. These people were your grandparents and great grandparents. They joined up and fought, and fought bravely, to ensure that the Japs did not overrun the whole of the Indian sub continent. They knew perfectly well that in doing so, they were prolonging British rule in India. They gave their lives to defend the status quo. Do you think they did this because they were stupid? Or do you think they did it because they actually thought that what they had was worth fighting for?
Malays Army At That Time Only Have One Platoon Because British Did Not Fully Trust Local Army
Funfact when Malaya fall into Japanese, Siam ask them to hand over 4 Malay states to them as favor for helping with the invasion.
And now you know why Malaysians till now are wary of Peace Thai-style!
@@Balangair1 With Thai and Myanmar still a military run government , and a very ambitious china, this history lesson need to be learned.
Very comprehensive and detailed examination of the horrendous defence of Malaya. I would have liked to see a bit about the technical superiority of the Japanese Air Force like the Zero Fighters. Malaya could have been defended and the Japanese defeated but due to British arrogance and racist attitude toward the "Japs" and their treatment of their allies, especially in the years leading up the War, everything possible went wrong. Read up on Malayan society before the War to see what I mean. The British Colonists there and elsewhere in the far east were not the same strong and decent kind of people as the population back in Britain. A cousin of mine, a middle-aged businessman and his family were captured in Hong Kong and he did not survive Stanley Internment Camp. The failure at Hong Kong was not as bad as the debacle in Malaya but still entirely preventable.
The Zero fighter was flown by the Naval Arm and flown from Aircraft Carriers - the aircraft flown in Malaya would not have met the Zero but the aircraft they met were still better than everything except the Hurricane.
@@derekambler Thanks Derek, I just read the JAF used the Nakajimi Ki-43 Hayabusa, code named "Oscar.'
Gen AE Percival fault.. he underestimated the Japanese .and ignored Gen Ivan Simson suggestion and reports regarding the need of construct defensive structure to halted the Japamese.. thats why Malaya was invaded within 3 months.. the Brits only cares about the tin mines/ rubber / Oil n other raw mineral on Malaya but didnt care about defending them.. Bad Intels as they should know there are many Japanese company at that time operating In Malaya since before WW2
Considering, the British knew a far superior enemy force was coming for months, the obvious choiche would have been to prepare for partisan and trench warefare in the hills and jungles. However, the British were probably way to arrogant to consider fighting a partisan war, digging tunnels in the jungles.
Which leads to the question, on which side was the local population? AFAIK Malaya was the British colony where the population was on best terms with the colonizers.
Prajurit2 Inggris yang sudah kalah perang itu kemudian dikirim ke kamp tawanan perang. Di sana nasib mereka sangat menyedihkan😢.
I live in Malaysia
Fantastico malaya.... Respect from Vietnam... Allahu akhbar.
Referensi : sejarawan Nino Oktorino dan Museum TNI Satria Mandala Jakarta.