Battle of Malaya: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Malaya - Defence of Johore

Battle of Malaya - Defence of Johore

As the Japanese attempted to outflank the Australians to the west of Gemas, one of the bloodiest battles of the campaign began on January 15 on the peninsula's the West coast near the Muar River. Bennett allocated the weak 45th Indian Brigade to defend the river's South bank but the unit was outflanked by Japanese units landing from the sea and the Brigade was effectively destroyed and its commander Brigadier Duncan killed.

Led by AIF Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, the retreating Indian troops supported by Australians formed Muar Force and fought a desperate four day withdrawal, to allow the remnants of the Commonwaealth troops withdrawing from northern Malaya to avoid being cut off and to withdraw past the Japanese to safety. When Muar Force reached the bridge at Parit Sulong and found it to be firmly in enemy hands, Anderson, with mounting numbers of dead and wounded, ordered 'every man for himself'. Those that could took to the jungles, swamps and rubber plantations in search of their battalion headquarters at Yong Peng. The wounded were left to the mercy of the Japanese and all but two out of 135 were tortured and killed in the Parit Sulong Massacre. Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson was awarded a Victoria Cross for his fighting withdrawal.

On January 20, further Japanese landings took place at Endau, in spite of an air attack by obsolete Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bombers. The final Commonwealth defensive line in Johore of Batu Pahat-Kluang-Mersing was now being attacked along its full length. Unfortunately Percival had resisted the construction of fixed defences in Johore , as on the North shore of Singapore, dismissing them in the face of repeated requests to start construction from his Chief Engineer, Brigadier Ivan Simson, with the comment "Defences are bad for morale".

On January 27, 1942 Percival received permission from General Wavell to order a general retreat across the Johore Strait to the island of Singapore.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Defence of Johore", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki