JN026
King & Country
‘Nambu’ pistol in one hand, samurai sword in the other this officer leads his men from the front.
In the early hours of December 8, 1941, the Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan simultaneously invaded the British colonies of Malaya and Hong Kong. Just over nine weeks later they had conquered Malaya, captured Hong Kong and saw the rising sun flag fly over the city of Singapore ... In the long history of the British Empire this was the single biggest defeat ever suffered by military force of arms and signaled the beginning of the end of Britain in the Far East. By the time the Japanese entered Singapore they had suffered just 10,000 casualties ... British and Empire forces losses totaled over 130,000 killed, wounded and captured. Although, on the British side, there were a myriad of military disasters and blunders there were also many individual acts of bravery and heroism.