Japanese Invasion Of Malaya Map

Planes operating from northern malaya could make a mess of an invasion fleet if they were aggressively handled.

Japanese invasion of malaya map. Following the japanese invasion of malaya on 8 december 1941 the british colonial authorities accepted the malayan communist party s mcp standing offer of military co operation and on 15 december all left wing political prisoners were released. Through these networks and prior to the invasion the japanese knew where the commonwealth forces were based and their unit strengths had good maps of malaya and had local guides available to provide them with directions. Without oil japan faced the choice of either withdrawing from its conquests or invading the oil rich east indies and further provoking the us. Historical map of south southwest asia 10 december 1941 japanese invasion of thailand and malaya.

Throughout much of world war ii malaya north borneo later known as sabah labuan and sarawak were under japanese occupation. The campaign in malaya 7 december 1941 15 february 1942 the top image on the right hand side shows the entire map. The japanese invasion of malaya 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. This chronology of the japanese invasion was compiled by james tann a heritage blogger in the lead up to the 72nd anniversary of the fall of singapore on 15 february 1942.

Kota bharu capital of kelantan state on malaysia s northeast coast was in 1941 the royal air force s raf and royal australian. The japanese army invasion of singapore island begins with the crossing at lim chu kang. Malaya was a major prize for the japanese as it produced 38 of the world s rubber and 58 of the world s tin. The japanese forces for the invasion were assembled in 1941 at hainan island and in french indo china.

The japanese commander for the attack on malaya was general yamashita. To view a close up of the map showing the level of printed detail please click on the bottom image on the right hand side. In july 1941 the japanese moved into southern indochina prompting the us and britain to freeze japan s assets and cut off its oil supplies. The capture of singapore would provide japan with a highly valuable military base in the region and it would also greatly undermine british authority in the region.