Battle of Kota Bharu

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.
Date	8 December 1941
Location	Kota Bharu, Malaya
Result	Japanese victory
Belligerents
British Empire: United Kingdom; India; 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

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,^[12] 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c Niehorster 2020.
^ 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
^ ^a ^b Warren 2002, p. 64.
^ 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."
^ Dull 2007, p. 37.
^ "The Battle of Singapore". Generals at War. Episode 6. Windfall Films. 21 September 2009. 50 minutes in. National Geographic Channel.

[1] 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.

[2] L, Klemen (1999–2000). "Rear-Admiral Shintaro Hashimoto". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942.

[FOOTNOTENiehorster2020-3] Niehorster 2020.

[4] 1 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial

[5] 8 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial

[6] 21 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial

[7] 453 Squadron RAAF, Australian War Memorial

[SENDAI-8] Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander, "IJN SENDAI: Tabular Record of Movement", Imperial Japanese Navy Page, retrieved 4 January 2011

[FOOTNOTEWarren200264-9] Warren 2002, p. 64.

[10] Rahill, Siti, (Kyodo News) "Remembering the war's first battle", Japan Times, 10 December 2009, p. 3.

[11] 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."

[FOOTNOTEDull200737-12] Dull 2007, p. 37.

[Generals_at_War-13] "The Battle of Singapore". Generals at War. Episode 6. Windfall Films. 21 September 2009. 50 minutes in. National Geographic Channel.

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