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{{Short description|WWII battle on 8 December 1941}}

{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Kota Bharu
| partof = the [[Battle of Malaya]], [[World War II|Second World War]]
| image = Bachok Beach.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Bachok Beach, Kota Bharu, July 1941, possibly one of the Japanese landing points.
| date = 8 December 1941
| place = [[Kota Bharu]], [[British Malaya|Malaya]]
| casus =
| territory =
| result = Japanese victory
| combatant1 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[British Empire]]:
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}
* {{flagcountry|British Raj}}
{{flag|Australia}} {{flagcountry|Dominion of New Zealand}}
| combatant2 = {{flagicon|Empire of Japan}} [[Empire of Japan]]
| commander1 = {{flagicon|UK}} [[Robert Brooke-Popham]] {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Arthur Percival]]<ref>{{cite web|first=Klemen |last=L |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/percival.html |title=Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924050711/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/percival.html |archive-date=24 September 2011 }}</ref> {{flagicon|British India}} [[Lewis Heath]] {{flagicon|British India}} [[Arthur Edward Barstow|Arthur Barstow]] {{flagicon|British India}} [[Billy Key]] {{flagicon|British India}} [[Arthur Edward Cumming|Arthur Cumming]] {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Conway Pulford|C.W.H. Pulford]]
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Tomoyuki Yamashita]] {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Hiroshi Takumi]] {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Renya Mutaguchi]] {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} [[Shintarō Hashimoto]]<ref>{{cite web |first = Klemen |last = L |url = https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/hashimoto.html |title = Rear-Admiral Shintaro Hashimoto |date = 1999–2000 |work = Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |access-date = 30 March 2021 |archive-date = 10 April 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230410224516/https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/hashimoto.html |url-status = dead }}</ref>
| units1 = '''British India''': [[Indian III Corps|III Indian Corps]] [[9th Infantry Division (India)|9th Indian Division]] [[11th Infantry Division (India)|11th Indian Division]] [[No. 27 Squadron RAF]]{{sfn|Niehorster|2020}} [[No. 36 Squadron RAF]]{{sfn|Niehorster|2020}} [[No. 62 Squadron RAF]]{{sfn|Niehorster|2020}} [[No. 205 Squadron RAF]] '''Australia''': [[No. 1 Squadron RAAF]]<ref>{{citation |publisher=Australian War Memorial |url= http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11019second_world_war.asp |title=1 Squadron RAAF}}</ref> [[No. 8 Squadron RAAF]]<ref>{{citation |publisher=Australian War Memorial |url= http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11033.asp |title=8 Squadron RAAF}}</ref> [[No. 21 Squadron RAAF]]<ref>{{citation |publisher=Australian War Memorial |url= http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11055.asp |title=21 Squadron RAAF}}</ref> [[No. 453 Squadron RAAF]]<ref>{{citation |publisher=Australian War Memorial |url= http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11149.asp |title=453 Squadron RAAF}}</ref> '''New Zealand''': 
[[No. 488 Squadron RNZAF]]
| units2 = [[Twenty-Fifth Army (Japan)|Twenty-Fifth Army]]: [[5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|5th Division]] [[18th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|18th Division]] [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]
| strength1 = N/A
| strength2 = 1 light cruiser 4 destroyers 2 minesweepers 1 submarine chaser 3 troopships<ref name="SENDAI">{{citation|last1=Hackett|first1=Bob|last2=Kingsepp|first2=Sander |title=IJN SENDAI: Tabular Record of Movement|url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/sendai_t.htm|work=Imperial Japanese Navy Page|access-date= 4 January 2011}}</ref> 5,300 infantry
| casualties1 = 68 killed 360 wounded 37 missing{{sfn|Warren|2002|p=64}}
| casualties2 = 3 troopships damaged<ref name="SENDAI"/> 320 killed 538 wounded{{sfn|Warren|2002|p=64}}<ref>Rahill, Siti, ([[Kyodo News]]) "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091210f2.html Remembering the war's first battle]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 10 December 2009, p. 3.</ref>
| notes =
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Malaya}}
{{Campaignbox Pacific 1941}}
{{Campaignbox South-East Asia}}
}}

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]],<ref>{{harvnb|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."</ref> 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,{{sfn|Dull|2007|p=37}} Indian [[Coastal defence and fortification|coastal defence]]s, and artillery fire.<ref name="Generals at War">{{cite episode |title=The Battle of Singapore |series=Generals at War |number=6
|url=https://www.magellantv.com/series/generals-at-war/the-battle-of-singapore |url-access=subscription |publisher=Windfall Films |network=[[National Geographic Channel]] |air-date=2009-09-21 |minutes=50}}</ref>

==Preparations==
{{Main|Japanese invasion of Thailand|Operation Krohcol|Operation Matador (1941)}}
The Japanese invasion plan involved landing troops from the [[5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|5th Division]] at [[Pattani, Thailand|Pattani]] and [[Songkhla]] on [[Thailand]]'s east coast, and troops from the [[18th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|18th Division]] at [[Kota Bharu]] on Malaya's northeast coast. The forces landing in Thailand were to push across to the west coast and invade Malaya through the northwestern [[Unfederated Malay States|state]] of [[Kedah]], while the eastern landing force would attack down the east coast from Kota Bharu and into the interior of Malaya.

The British plan for defending against an attack from Thailand into northwestern Malaya was a pre-emptive strike into southern Thailand, known as [[Operation Krohcol]], to take strategically vital positions and delay the enemy attack. The British plan for the defence of the east coast of Malaya consisted of fixed beach defences by the [[9th Infantry Division (India)|Indian 9th Infantry Division]] along the northern stretch of coastline and two-thirds of the [[8th Division (Australia)|Australian 8th Division]] defending the southern stretch of coastline (the other third was deployed to [[Battle of Ambon|Ambon]],<ref>{{cite web |first=Klemen |last=L |title=The Japanese Invasion of Ambon Island, January 1942 |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/ambon.html |access-date=4 October 2020}}</ref> [[Battle of Timor (1942-43)|West Timor]],<ref>{{cite web |first=Klemen |last=L |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/timor_dutch.html |title=The Japanese Invasion of Dutch West Timor Island, February 1942 |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925120236/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/timor_dutch.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Battle of Rabaul (1942)|Rabaul]]<ref>{{cite web |first=Klemen |last=L |url= https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/rabkav.html |title= The capture of Rabaul and Kavieng, January 1942 |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942}}</ref>)

The Japanese attack force was drawn from Lieutenant General [[Tomoyuki Yamashita]]'s [[Twenty-Fifth Army (Japan)|25th Army]]. It sailed from [[Sanya|Samah Harbour]] on [[Hainan Island]] on 4 December 1941. Additional ships carrying more troops joined the convoy from [[Saigon]] in southern [[Vietnam]], [[French Indochina]]. An RAAF reconnaissance [[Lockheed Hudson]] discovered the Japanese convoy. [[Tom Phillips (Royal Navy officer)|Admiral Sir Thomas Phillips]], the British naval commander, Far East ordered the [[battlecruiser]] {{HMS|Repulse|1916|6}} to cancel its trip to [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]], [[Australia]], and return to Singapore as quickly as possible.<ref name="Klemen Kota Bharu">{{cite web |last1=L |first1=Klemen |last2=Kossen |first2=Bert |last3=Bernaudin |first3=Pierre-Emmanuel |last4=Niehorster |first4=Leo |last5=Takizawa |first5=Akira |last6=Carr |first6=Sean |last7=Broshot |first7=Jim |last8=Leulliot |first8=Nowfel |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/kota_bharu.html |title=Seventy minutes before Pearl Harbor – The landing at Kota Bharu, Malaya, on December 7, 1941 |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |display-authors=1 |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412115608/http://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/kota_bharu.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The invasion force was spotted again on 7 December by a [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|Catalina]] flying boat of [[No. 205 Squadron RAF]], but the Catalina was shot down by five [[Nakajima Ki-27]] fighters before it could radio its report to air headquarters in Singapore.{{sfn|Warren|2002|p=86}} Flying Officer Patrick Bedell, commanding the Catalina, and his seven crew members became the first Allied casualties in the war with Japan.<ref name="Klemen Kota Bharu"/>

Prior to the invasion the Japanese had recruited a small number of disaffected Malays into a [[fifth column]] organization called the "Tortoise Society". The Malayan police were aware of the society's existence and had arrested a number of its leaders just prior to the Japanese landings. At Kota Bharu members of the society provided assistance to the invasion army and acted as guides.<ref>Jap fifth column in Malaya was small, Allington Kennard, The Straits Times, 24 August 1947, Page 6</ref>

==Landings at Kota Bharu==
[[File:Hudson decoy.jpg|thumb|left|A [[decoy]] [[Lockheed Hudson]] at [[RAF Kota Bharu|Kota Bharu Airfield]], c. 1941.]]
Air Marshal Sir [[Robert Brooke-Popham]], commanding officer of the British Forces in the Far East, fearing that the Japanese Fleet was trying to provoke a British attack and thus provide an [[Casus belli|excuse to go to war]],{{sfn|Richards|Saunders|1954|pp=16–17}} hesitated to launch [[Operation Matador (1941)|Operation Matador]] on 7 December. ''Matador'' was the British plan to destroy the invasion force before or during the landing. He decided to delay the operation, at least for the night. Shortly after midnight on 7/8 December, Indian soldiers patrolling the beaches at [[Kota Bharu]] spotted three large shadows: the transport ships [[MS Awazisan Maru|''Awazisan Maru'']], ''[[Ayatosan Maru]]'', and ''[[Sakura Maru]]'', dropping anchor approximately {{convert|3|km|nmi mi|lk=on|abbr=on}} off the coast. The ships were carrying approximately 5,200 troops of the Takumi Detachment (Major-General [[Hiroshi Takumi]], aboard ''Awazisan Maru''). Most of these troops were veterans of the war in [[China]].<ref name="Klemen Kota Bharu"/>

The Japanese invasion force consisted of units from the 18th Division. The assault troops came from the 56th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Yoshio Nasu, aboard ''Sakura Maru''), supported by one mountain artillery battery of the 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Katsutoshi Takasu), the 12th Engineer Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Ichie Fujii), the 18th Division Signal Unit, one company of the 12th Transport Regiment, one company of the 18th Division Medical Unit, and No. 2 Field Hospital of the 18th Division Medical Unit. They were escorted by a fleet (Kota Bharu Invasion Force) under the command of Rear-Admiral [[Shintaro Hashimoto]], consisting of the [[light cruiser]] {{Ship|Japanese cruiser|Sendai||2}}, [[destroyer]]s {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Ayanami|1929|2}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Isonami|1927|2}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Shikinami|1929|2}}, and {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Uranami|1928|2}}, [[minesweeper]]s [[No.1-class minesweeper (1923)|''No. 2'']] and [[No.1-class minesweeper (1923)|''No. 3'']], and [[submarine chaser]] [[No.4-class submarine chaser|''No. 9'']].<ref name="Klemen Kota Bharu"/>

The invasion began with a bombardment at around 00:30 local time on 8 December (2:00 local time in Tokyo on 8 December, 17:00 GMT on 7 December). The Japanese carrier planes flying toward [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] were about 50 minutes away from their destination. The attack on Pearl Harbor started at 01:48 Kelantan local time (3:18 Japanese time on 8 December, 18:18 GMT, 7:48 Hawaii time on 7 December). As a result, it is usually referred to as the 7 December attack in the USA. The loading of landing craft began almost as soon as the transports dropped anchor. Rough seas and strong winds hampered the operation and a number of smaller craft capsized.{{sfn|Dull|2007|p=37}} Several Japanese soldiers drowned. Despite these difficulties, by 00:45 the first wave of landing craft was heading for the beach in four lines.<ref name="Klemen Kota Bharu"/>

[[File:Jzikb.jpg|thumb|[[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]]s of 22nd Air Flotilla at RAF Kota Bharu after its capture from Allied forces, c. 1942.]]

The defending force was the 8th Indian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier [[Berthold Wells Key|B. W. Key]]) of [[Indian 9th Infantry Division]] (Major General [[Arthur Edward Barstow|A. E. Barstow]]), supported by four [[3.7-inch Mountain Howitzer]]s of the 21st Mountain Battery ([[Indian Artillery|IA]]) (Major J. B. Soper). The 3/17th Bn, [[17th Dogra Regiment|Dogra Regiment]], under the command of Lieutenant Colonel G.A. Preston,<ref name="History of the Dogra Regiment">{{cite web| url= http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/rgt-dogra.htm|title= Dogra Regiment |publisher=Globalsecurity.com|access-date=2009-05-23}}</ref> had responsibility for the {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=on}} stretch of coast which was the chosen landing site. The British fortified the narrow beaches and islands with [[land mine]]s, [[barbed wire]], and [[Bunker#Pillbox|pillbox]]es. They were supported by the 73rd Field Battery of the 5th Field Regiment, [[Royal Artillery]], deployed adjacent to the nearby airfield.{{sfn|Jeffreys|Anderson|2005|p=35}} The area defended by the 3/17th Dogras consisted of the narrow beaches of Badang and Sabak at Kota Bharu. The beaches were split by two estuaries that led to the mouth of the Pengkalan Chepa River through a maze of creeks, lagoons and swampy islands, behind which was the Kota Bharu airfield and the main road inland.{{sfn|Percival|1946}}

The Dogras immediately opened intense fire on the invasion force with artillery and machine guns. By midnight, the first waves of Japanese troops were heading toward the beach front in landing craft. Colonel [[Masanobu Tsuji]] wrote in his book about the Malaya Campaign:

{{cquote|The enemy pillboxes, which were well prepared, reacted violently with such heavy force that our men lying on the beach, half in and half out of the water could not raise their heads.{{sfn|Tsuji|1997|p=75}} }}

The first and second waves of Japanese soldiers were pinned down by the intense fire from the Dogra's pillboxes and trenches but after vicious hand-to-hand fighting a breach was made in the defences on the south bank of the estuary.{{sfn|Percival|1946}} On the northern bank the Japanese were pinned down on an island where dawn found them trapped in the open. Allied aircraft from the nearby airfields began attacking the invasion fleet and the soldiers trapped on the island. Japanese casualties in the first and second waves were heavy.{{sfn|Tsuji|1997}}{{page needed|date=October 2020}} The Japanese managed to get off the beach only after the two pill box positions and supporting trenches were destroyed. Despite their heavy resistance, the Dogras were forced to retreat to their defences in front of the airfield.<ref name="History of the Dogra Regiment"/> Brigadier Key brought forward his reserves; the [[12th Frontier Force Regiment|2/12th Frontier Force Regiment]] and the [[13th Frontier Force Rifles|1/13th Frontier Force Rifles]] to support the Dogras. At 10:30, Key ordered an attempt to retake the lost beaches with the 2/12th Frontier Force Regiment attacking from the south and the 1/13th Frontier Force Rifles attacking from the north. The fighting on the beaches was heavy with both sides suffering more casualties. The British forces made some progress but were unable to close the breach. In the afternoon, a second attack went in but failed again to close the breach.{{sfn|Percival|1946}}

The airfield at Kota Bharu had been evacuated and by dusk on 8 December, with very low visibility, and Japanese troops were now able to infiltrate between the British units and with possible threats of landings further south, Brigadier Key asked for permission from Major-General Barstow (9th Division commander) and Lieutenant General Heath (III Corps commander) to withdraw if it became necessary.{{sfn|Percival|1946}}

==Air attacks==
[[File:RAAF Hudson.jpg|thumb|Lockheed Hudson aircraft of No. 1 Squadron under assembly at [[RAAF Base Richmond|RAAF Station Richmond]]. The Hudson in the right foreground was flown by [[Flight Lieutenant|Flt Lt]] John Lockwood, who led the first Allied attack against the Japanese. He and his wingmen heavily damaged the Japanese freighter, [[MS Awazisan Maru|''Awazisan Maru'']], causing its abandonment.{{sfn|Burton|2006|p=92}}]]

No. 1 Squadron [[Royal Australian Air Force|RAAF]] based at RAF Kota Bharu launched 10 [[Lockheed Hudson]] bombers to attack the Japanese transports, each loaded with four {{convert|250|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} bombs. In the 17 sorties flown, they lost two Hudsons shot down and three badly damaged. One Hudson, flown by [[Flight Lieutenant]] John Graham Leighton Jones, crashed into a fully laden landing craft after being hit while strafing the beachhead, killing some 60 Japanese soldiers on board. Only five Hudson bombers remained airworthy at the end of the battle.{{sfn|Burton|2006|p=96}}

All three Japanese troopships were significantly damaged, but while the ''Ayatosan Maru'' and ''Sakura Maru'' were still able to sail, the ''Awazisan Maru'' was left burning and abandoned.{{sfn|Burton|2006|p=95}} The attacks by No. 1 Squadron RAAF killed or wounded at least 110 of its crew.{{sfn|Burton|2006|p=95}} The wreck later sunk on its own or was [[torpedo]]ed by the Dutch submarine {{HNLMS|K XII||2}} on 12 December.<ref name="Dutch Submarines: The submarine KXII">{{citation |title=Dutch Submarines: The submarine KXII |url= http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_kxii.htm |publisher= Dutch Submarines |access-date=4 January 2011}}</ref>

Despite the strong defence, Takumi had three full infantry battalions ashore by mid morning of 8 December. Counter attacks launched by Brigadier Key failed and the Japanese took Kota Bharu town on the 9th. After fierce fighting during the night, threatening the airfield, Lt Col [[Arthur Edward Cumming|Arthur Cumming]]'s 2/12th Frontier Force Regiment attempted to hold the airfield with a rearguard action before the Japanese succeeded in taking it.{{sfn|Smith|2006}}{{page needed|date=October 2020}} Cumming was later awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] for his actions. Key asked for and was given permission to withdraw from Kota Bharu.{{sfn|Jeffreys|Anderson|2005|p=35}}

==See also==
*[[Japanese Order of Battle, Malayan Campaign]]
*[[Malayan Campaign]]
*[[Malaya Command|Malaya Command – Order of Battle]]
*[[Operation Krohcol]]
*[[Operation Matador (1941)]]
*[[Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite web |publisher=Australian War Memorial |url= http://www.awm.gov.au/units/ |title=Australians at War}}
* {{cite book |last=Burton |first=John |title=Fortnight of Infamy: The Collapse of Allied Airpower West of Pearl Harbor |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=2006 |isbn=1-59114-096-X |oclc=255121507}}
* {{cite book |last=Dull |first=Paul S |title= A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941–1945 |page=37 |url= {{GBurl|SLfti-Dc1AcC|p=37}} |isbn=978-1-59114-219-5 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=2007 |access-date=4 October 2020}}
* {{cite web |last1=Hackett |first1=Bob |last2=Kingsepp |first2=Sander |title=Imperial Japanese Navy Page |url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/}}
* {{cite book |last1=Jeffreys |first1=Alan |last2=Anderson |first2=Duncan |title=British Army in the Far East 1941–45 |series=Battle Orders |volume=13 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford |date=2005 |isbn=1-84176-790-5 |oclc=907132823}}
* {{cite web|first=Klemen |last=L |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |title=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |date=1999–2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |archive-date=26 July 2011 }}
* {{cite web |last=Niehorster |first=Leo |url=http://niehorster.org/017_britain/41-12-08/no_223_group.html |title=Order of Battle, Royal Air Force, Far East Command, Norgroup, 8th December 1941 |date=21 February 2020 |work=World War II Armed Forces – Orders of Battle and Organizations |access-date=4 October 2020}}
* {{cite web |last=Percival|first=Arthur |title=Chapter IX – The Battle For Kedah |year=1946 |work=Percival's Official Report to the British Government |publisher=FEPOW Community |url= http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/arthur_lane/Percivals_Report/html/battle_for_kedah.htm |access-date=2009-05-23}}
* {{cite web |last=Pike |first=John |url= http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/index.html |title=Military |publisher=Globalsecurity.com |access-date=2009-05-23}}
* {{cite news |last=Rahill |first=Siti |department=Kyodo News |url= http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091210f2.html |title=Remembering the war's first battle |newspaper=[[The Japan Times]]|date=10 December 2009 |page=3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Denis |title=The Fight Avails |first2=Hilary St. G. |last2=Saunders |series=Royal Air Force 1939–1945 |volume=II |date=1954 |publisher=[[HMSO]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-11-772114-2 |url=http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-RAF-II/index.html |access-date=4 October 2020}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Colin |title=Singapore Burning |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2006 |location=London |isbn=978-0-14-101036-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Tsuji |first=Masanobu |editor-last=Howe |editor-first=H. V. |translator-last=Lake |translator-first=Margaret E. |title=Japan's Greatest Victory, Britain's Worst Defeat |publisher=Spellmount |location=Staplehurst, Kent |date=1997 |isbn=1-873376-75-8 |oclc=38337840 }}
* {{cite book |last=Warren |first=Alan |title=Britain's Greatest Defeat, Singapore 1942 |publisher=Hambledon and London |location=London |date=2002 |url=https://archive.org/stream/singapore1942bri00warr |url-access=registration |isbn=1-85285-328-X |oclc=1036868327 |ol=18479046M}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/asia-and-the-pacific/asian-mainland/asian-mainland-index-1941.htm Worldwar-2.net: Timeline of the Invasion of Malaya]
*[http://www.far-eastern-heroes.org.uk/2nd_Lt_Robert_Hartley/html/japanese_invade.htm Far Eastern Heroes website]

{{coord missing|Malaysia}}

{{Dec41attacks}}

[[Category:Kota Bharu]]
[[Category:British Malaya in World War II]]
[[Category:Malaysia in World War II]]
[[Category:Invasions by Japan|Malaya]]
[[Category:World War II invasions]]
[[Category:1941 in British Malaya]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1941]]
[[Category:Military history of Malaya during World War II]]
[[Category:Military history of Singapore during World War II]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Australia]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving India]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom|J]]
[[Category:Vietnam in World War II]]
[[Category:British Malaya]]
[[Category:Straits Settlements]]
[[Category:December 1941 in Asia]]

Battle of Kota Bharu - Revision history

Deidre67J44 at 08:10, 9 January 2026