Buloh Kasap Bridge, Malaya – Japanese tank & cycle troop fighting
‘About 4,000 British troops and their equipment were stranded in central Malayawhen Japanese tanks broke through their lines and seized a raod bridge, curtailing their withdrawal. The capital, Kuala Lumpur, was abandoned by the Allies on 11th Jan, 1941 and the retreat continued to gather pace. The Allies had no tanks with which to blast the enemy while the Japanese rolled over the inhospitable terrain with something in the order of 300.’
Probably a Japanese Type 97 Chi Ha Tank.
Source: World War 2 Handbook, Abbeydale Press (2004) pg 41
“To defend the Northern Malayan Thailand frontier alone 40 battalions and 3 machine-gun regiments and 2 anti-tank regiments, with normal tank support, are the minimum required”
(Singapore Defence Conference, 1940)
“In all of Malaya there were only 32 battalions and no tanks at all to resist the Japanese”
(Singapore Defence Conference 1940)
Source: The Naked Island by Russell Braddon; 1955 edition Pan Books Ltd, Pg 284
Allied troops were at the end of their tether and very weary after holding postion, then withdrawing time and time again, due largely to the fact that the Japanese Imperial Army had over 300 tanks. The allied troops moral suffered knowing that they did not have even one tank or any anti tank guns to begin with. Added to this was the Japanese dominance in the air and on the seas as within a very short time, naval support and air support was destroyed – only leaving Vilderbeasts – bi planes nicknames ‘the flying coffin’ and a handful of Buffallo Brusters. Moral was at an all time low.
Source: Keith Bettany