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Malayan Campaign
The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between British Commonwealth army units and the Imperial Japanese Army, with minor skirmishes at the beginning of the campaign between British Commonwealth and Royal Thai Police. The Japanese had air and naval supremacy from the opening days of the campaign. For the British, Indian, Australian, and Malayan forces defending the colony, the campaign was a total disaster. The operation is notable for the Japanese use of bicycle infantry, which allowed troops to carry more equipment and swiftly move through thick jungle terrain. Royal Engineers, equipped with demolition charges, destroyed over a hundred bridges during the retreat, yet this did little to delay the Japanese. By the time the Japanese had captured Singapore, they had suffered 9, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast Pacific Ocean theater, the South West Pacific theater, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Soviet–Japanese War. The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back as far as 19 September 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December (8 December Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese simultaneously invaded Thailand, attacked the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong as well as the United States military and naval bases in Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines. The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Murray-Lyon
Major General David Murrey Murray-Lyon, (14 August 1890 – 4 February 1975) was an officer in the British Indian Army. His final appointment was as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 11th Indian Infantry Division in Malaya until he was relieved of his duty by Lieutenant General Arthur Percival. He was taken prisoner when Singapore fell to the Japanese, and spent the rest of the war in captivity. Early life Murray-Lyon was born in Glendale, Northumberland, on 14 August 1890, the eldest son of Dr Thomas Malcolm Lyon, and a grandson of David Murray Lyon of Ayr, Scotland. He married Meredith Napier in 1916, they had two daughters and one son. Military service Murray-Lyon was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery of the Territorial Force, the British Army's part-time reserve force, in 1908. He transferred to the 3rd Battalion (Depot), King's Own Scottish Borderers, as part of the reserve of officers, in 1910. In 1911 Murray-Lyon became a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobutake Kondō
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. As commander of IJN 2nd Fleet, the Navy's principal detached force for independent operations, Kondō was regarded as second in importance only to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Biography Early life and career Kondō was a native of Osaka. He graduated at the head of his class of 172 cadets from the 35th session of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1907. As a midshipman he served on the cruiser ''Itsukushima'' and battleship ''Mikasa''. After his commissioning as ensign, he was assigned to the cruiser ''Aso'', destroyer ''Kisaragi'' and battleship ''Kongō''. From 1912-1913, he was a naval attaché to the United Kingdom. After his return to Japan, he served briefly on the ''Fusō'', then in a number of staff positions throughout World War I. From 1916-1917, he was chief Gunnery Officer on ''Akitsushima''. After the end of the war, Kondō attended the Naval Staff College, and was promoted to lieutenant co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renya Mutaguchi
was a Japanese military officer, lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and field commander of the IJA forces during the Battle of Imphal. Biography Mutaguchi was a native of Saga Prefecture. He graduated from the 22nd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1910 and from the 29th class of the Army Staff College in 1917. Mutaguchi served in the Japanese forces with the Siberian Intervention against the Bolshevik Red Army in the Russian Far East. Afterwards, he was sent as a military attaché to France. Promoted to major in 1926 and colonel in 1930, from 1933–1936 he served in the General Affairs Section of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff in Tokyo, before being transferred to China in 1936 to take command of the Japanese garrison force in Beijing. He was commander of the IJA 1st Infantry Regiment in China from 1936–1938. Units responsible to Mutaguchi were involved in the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 7 July 1937, which helpe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takuma Nishimura
was a Japanese army general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, active in the invasion and occupation of British Malaya. After the Japanese surrender, he was tried and convicted in British Singapore as a war criminal for his role in the Sook Ching massacres. After four years imprisonment he was handed to Australian authorities for trial on the Parit Sulong Massacre and executed by hanging by the then Australian Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Early military career A native of Fukuoka prefecture, Nishimura was a graduate of the 22nd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1910, and subsequently attended Army Engineering School. He graduated from the 32nd class of the Army Staff College in 1920. He served most of his career in various staff and administrative posts within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. Nishimura served as presiding judge at the court-martial of army officers responsible for the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai Tsu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takuro Matsui
Takurō Matsui (松井 太久郎; Fukuoka Prefecture, 3 December 1887 – 10 June 1969) was a Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Matsui commanded the Western District Army between 15 July 1938 and 9 March 1940. He received command of the 5th Japanese Division on 15 October 1940, which fought at that time in China in the Second Sino-Japanese War. On 8 December 1941, his division landed on the beaches of Southern Thailand and fought with success in the Malayan Campaign and the following Battle of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ....Yenne, p. 96 On 11 May 1942, he was replaced at the head of the division by Lieutenant General Yamamoto Tsutomi. On 18 March 1943 he became Chief of Staff of the China Expeditionary Army, a pos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomoyuki Yamashita
was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquering Malaya and Singapore in 70 days earning him the sobriquet "The Tiger of Malaya" and led to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill calling the ignominious fall of Singapore to Japan the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British military history. Yamashita was assigned to defend the Philippines from the advancing Allied forces later in the war, and while unable to prevent the Allied advance, he was able to hold on to part of Luzon until after the formal Surrender of Japan in August 1945. After the war, Yamashita was tried for war crimes committed by troops under his command during the Japanese defense of the occupied Philippines in 1944. Yamashita denied ordering those war crimes and denied having knowledge that they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hisaichi Terauchi
Count was a '' Gensui'' (or field marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army, commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group during World War II. Biography Early military career Terauchi was born in Tokyo Prefecture, and was the eldest son of '' Gensui'' Count Terauchi Masatake, the first Governor-General of Korea and the 9th Prime Minister of Japan. At the age of four, his father was transferred to France, and he was sent to live with his maternal aunt in Yamaguchi. Due to his family's close connections with former Chōshū Domain, he was officially registered as a resident of Yamaguchi Prefecture around that time. After his father returned from an overseas assignment, the family moved back to Tokyo. He graduated from the 11th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1899, and served as a junior officer in the Russo-Japanese War with the Guards 2nd Infantry Battalion. After the war, Terauchi returned to the Army Staff College and graduated from the 21st class in 1909 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lai Teck
Lai Teck (real name Phạm Văn Đắc; 1901–1947) was a leader of the Communist Party of Malaya and Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army. A person of mixed Sino-Vietnamese descent, prior to his arrival in Malaya, Lai Teck was believed to have led his life as Truong Phuoc Dat until 1934, during which Dat disappeared and Lai Teck appeared. Biography Lai Teck was a shadowy character whose real name and background are unknown. He was believed to be born under the name of Hoang A Nhac or Phạm Văn Đắc in the Bà Rịa (now Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province) in 1901. According to his successor Chin Peng, He curiously chose the party alias 'Wright' which, given the Chinese pronunciation of English words beginning with the letter 'r' soon became distorted to Lai Te. This was further mangled, depending on who was writing or speaking English, to 'Loi Teck', 'Lai Teck' and 'Lighter'. Lai Teck was believed to have served the French as a spy in Indochina but been uncovered. It wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leong Yew Koh
Major General Tun Leong Yew Koh (; 22 August 1888 – 12 January 1963) was a Malayan politician who served as the 1st Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca from the independence of the Federation of Malaya in August 1957 to August 1959 and Minister of Health from 1955 to 1956, Minister of Health and Social Welfare from 1956 to 1957 and Minister of Justice from 1959 to his death in January 1963. Being a Kuomintang member himself and serving under the Republic of China government from 1932 and later become the leader of Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Army branch in Perak from 1942 until 1945, he is one of the founder of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) in 1949 and the party first secretary-general. Early life and background Born in Salak Utara, Sungai Siput, Perak on 22 August 1888, Leong was the son of Leong Yew Teen, who was responsible in developing Salak Utara. He went to Canton for his early education. At age 13, he came back to Malaya from China and studied in Ang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conway Pulford
Air Vice Marshal Conway Walter Heath Pulford, (26 January 1892 – 10 March 1942) was a senior Royal Air Force officer during World War II. Pulford commanded British forces in the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the subsequent fall of Singapore. Pulford died of exhaustion and malaria after his evacuation vessel was attacked by Japanese aircraft and ran aground on an uninhabited island. Early life Pulford was born in Agra, India the son of Russell Richard and Lucy Anne Pulford. Naval career Pulford began his career in the Royal Navy in 1905 as a Naval Cadet at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. After serving as a midshipman on and , and as a sub-lieutenant on , he became a pilot on the aircraft carrier in December 1914. RAF career In January 1920, Pulford left the Navy for the Royal Air Force, becoming a squadron commander in 1921. Pulford attended the RAF Staff College in 1922 and the Imperial Defence College in 1929. Second World War In 1941 he attempted to build up t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Phillips (Royal Navy Officer)
Admiral Sir Tom Spencer Vaughan Phillips, (19 February 1888 – 10 December 1941) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the First and Second World Wars. He was nicknamed "Tom Thumb", due to his short stature. He is best known for his command of Force Z during the Japanese invasion of Malaya, where he went down with his flagship, the battleship . Phillips was one of the highest ranking Allied officers killed in battle during the Second World War. Early and private life Phillips was the son of Colonel Thomas Vaughan Wynn Phillips, Royal Artillery and Louisa Mary Adeline de Horsey Phillips, daughter of Admiral Algernon de Horsey. Phillips was married to Lady Phillips, of Bude, Cornwall. Phillips was 5'4" (162 cm) tall. At the time of his death at the age of 53, he was one of the youngest admirals in the Royal Navy and one of the youngest commanders-in-chief. Navy career Phillips joined the Royal Navy in 1903 as a naval cadet following education at Stubbington House ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
