Battle of Kota Bharu

The Battle of Kota Bharu began just after midnight on 8 December 1941 (local time) before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was the first major battle of the Pacific War, and was fought between ground forces of the British Indian Army and the Empire of Japan.

Battle of Kota Bharu
Part of the Battle of Malaya, Second World War

Bachok Beach, Kota Bharu, July 1941, possibly one of the Japanese landing points.
Date8 December 1941
Location
Kota Bharu, Malaya
Result Japanese victory
Belligerents

British Empire:

 Australia
 New Zealand		 Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Robert Brooke-Popham
Arthur Percival
Lewis Heath
Arthur Barstow
Billy Key
Arthur Cumming
C.W.H. Pulford		 Tomoyuki Yamashita
Hiroshi Takumi
Renya Mutaguchi
Shintarō Hashimoto
Units involved

British India:
III Indian Corps
9th Indian Division
11th Indian Division
No. 27 Squadron RAF
No. 36 Squadron RAF
No. 62 Squadron RAF
No. 205 Squadron RAF
Australia:
No. 1 Squadron RAAF
No. 8 Squadron RAAF
No. 21 Squadron RAAF
No. 453 Squadron RAAF
New Zealand:

No. 488 Squadron RNZAF		 Twenty-Fifth Army:
5th Division
18th Division
Imperial Japanese Navy
Strength
N/A 1 light cruiser
4 destroyers
2 minesweepers
1 submarine chaser
3 troopships
5,300 infantry
Casualties and losses
68 killed
360 wounded
37 missing		 3 troopships damaged
320 killed
538 wounded

Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan State on Malaysia's northeast coast, was, in 1941, the Royal Air Force's (RAF) and Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) base of operations in Northern Malaya. There was an airstrip at Kota Bharu and two more at Gong Kedak and Machang. Japanese losses were significant because of sporadic Australian air attacks, Indian coastal defences, and artillery fire.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.