Japanese troops take cover behind steam engines in Johore, Malaya

The Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Malay Peninsula on 8 December 1941, landing in the north at Khota Bharu in Malaya and Pattani and Songkhla in Thailand. Kuala Lumpur was taken on 11 January and Johore, capital of Malaya’s southern state, fell on 14 January. The Japanese had fought the 700 kilometres from their northern landings to the southern tip of the peninsula in less than two months.

The final stages of their advance down the Malayan Peninsula culminated in the surrender of all British forces, and the occupation of the British naval base on Singapore Island.