WWII battle on 8 December 1941
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 ,[ 11] and was fought between ground forces of the British Indian Army and the Empire of Japan .
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.[ 13]
^ L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival" . Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 . Archived from the original on 24 September 2011.
^ L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Rear-Admiral Shintaro Hashimoto" . Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 .
^ 1 Squadron RAAF , Australian War Memorial
^ 8 Squadron RAAF , Australian War Memorial
^ 21 Squadron RAAF , Australian War Memorial
^ 453 Squadron RAAF , Australian War Memorial
^ a b Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander, "IJN SENDAI: Tabular Record of Movement" , Imperial Japanese Navy Page , retrieved 4 January 2011
^ Rahill, Siti, (Kyodo News ) "Remembering the war's first battle ", Japan Times , 10 December 2009, p. 3.
^ Burton 2006 , p. 91: "The first major battle of the Pacific War was under way more than two hours before Japan's carrier planes descended on Hawaii."
^ "The Battle of Singapore" . Generals at War . Episode 6. Windfall Films. 21 September 2009. 50 minutes in. National Geographic Channel .