From Kota Bharu to Singapore
A short account of the landings, the retreat down the peninsula and the surrender in February 1942.
The first landings
Japanese forces came ashore near Kota Bharu in the early hours of 8 December 1941, local time. That date falls one day after the date used for Pearl Harbor in Hawaii because the attacks were on opposite sides of the International Date Line. Fighting on the peninsula developed alongside Japanese landings in southern Thailand.
The withdrawal south
British, Indian and Australian formations took part in the defence. As positions were lost, the line of withdrawal shifted down the peninsula. On 31 January the last Commonwealth troops crossed to Singapore and a section of the causeway was demolished.
The fighting continued on Singapore Island in February. The surrender on 15 February marked the beginning of a different phase of the war for residents and prisoners. The campaign timeline sets the peninsula and island phases alongside one another.