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Battle of Jitra
The Battle of Jitra was fought between the invading Japanese and Allied forces during the Malayan Campaign of the Second World War, from 11–13 December 1941. The British defeat compelled Arthur Percival to order all Allied aircraft stationed in Malaya to withdraw to Singapore.
Allied defences at Jitra were not complete when the Pacific War broke out. Barbed wire lines had been erected and some anti-tank mines laid but heavy rains had flooded the shallow trenches and gun pits. Many of the field telephone cables laid across the waterlogged ground also failed to work, resulting in a lack of communication during the battle.
Two brigades of Major General David Murray-Lyon's 11th Indian Division held the front line. On the right was the 15th Indian Infantry Brigade, composed of 1st Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment, the 1st Bn 14th Punjab Regiment and the 2nd Bn 9th Jats; on the left was the 6th Indian Infantry Brigade, composed of the 2nd Bn East Surrey Regiment, the 1st Bn 8th and 2nd Bn 16th Punjab Regiments. Batteries from the 155th Field Regiment, the 22nd Mountain Regiment and the 80th Anti-tank Regiment provided the artillery support. The 28th Indian Infantry Brigade, consisting of three Gurkha battalions was placed in divisional reserve.
The British front line was as long as 14 mi (23 km), stretching across both roads and a railway and far beyond on either side, from the jungle-clad hills on the right, via flooded rice fields and a rubber tree estate to a tidal mangrove swamp on the left.
After Operation Matador—a forestalling attack into Thailand—was cancelled, the 11th Indian Division moved back to defensive positions around Jitra. The Jitra position was still in an extremely poor condition on 8 December 1941 and Murray-Lyon needed time to complete the defences. Malaya Command came up with a secondary plan to delay the Japanese; three mini-Matadors (Krohcol, Laycol and an armoured train), that would hopefully keep the Japanese away from Jitra long enough for Murray-Lyon to get his defences in shape. Krohcol invaded Thailand from south-east of Jitra and was partially successful in delaying the Japanese but unsuccessful in its main objective. The other two columns, Laycol and the armoured train operated from north of the Jitra position. (see also Japanese invasion of Thailand)
After the Japanese invasion of Thailand with the landings at Singora and Patani on 8 December 1941, they attacked toward north-west Malaya. To help delay the Japanese, three columns were dispatched from Malaya. In front of the 11th Indian Division, two columns were sent out. The first was an armoured train manned by a platoon from the 2/16th Punjab, which was sent to Perlis (almost halfway to Singora) where it blew up a railway bridge and then withdrew to Malaya.
Laycol, the second column consisted of 200 truck-borne soldiers from the 1/8th Punjab Regiment, under Major Eric Robert Andrews, supported by a couple of 2-pounder anti-tank guns of 273 Battery, 80th Anti-Tank Regiment and two sections of engineers. Laycol advanced up the Trunk Road from Jitra to 10 mi (16 km) across the Thai border at the town of Ban Sadao. Laycol had just completed their defensive positions at 21:00 on 9 December when the vanguard of the Japanese 5th Division—about 500 men of the 5th Division Reconnaissance Regiment and 1st Tank Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Saeki—came down the Trunk Road with lights blazing. The Laycol anti-tank guns destroyed two tanks and damaged a third, before Laycol packed up and headed back to the 1/14th Punjab positions at Changlun, 6 mi (9.7 km) south of the border. When Laycol crossed the border they destroyed the bridge and parts of the road behind them, hoping to delay the Japanese further.
Major General Murray-Lyon—realising that the positions at Jitra were still not ready—ordered Brigadier K. A. Garrett to take the 1/14th Punjab and the 2/1st Gurkha Rifles to positions on the Trunk Road north of Jitra, in an attempt to delay the Japanese advance until 12 December. Garrett placed the 1/14th Punjab (Lt.Col. James Fitzpatrick) at Changlun, 6 mi (9.7 km) from the Thai border and the 2/1st Gurkhas (Lt.Col. Jack Fulton) at the village of Asun (Kampung Asun) just a few miles north of Jitra.
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Battle of Jitra
The Battle of Jitra was fought between the invading Japanese and Allied forces during the Malayan Campaign of the Second World War, from 11–13 December 1941. The British defeat compelled Arthur Percival to order all Allied aircraft stationed in Malaya to withdraw to Singapore.
Allied defences at Jitra were not complete when the Pacific War broke out. Barbed wire lines had been erected and some anti-tank mines laid but heavy rains had flooded the shallow trenches and gun pits. Many of the field telephone cables laid across the waterlogged ground also failed to work, resulting in a lack of communication during the battle.
Two brigades of Major General David Murray-Lyon's 11th Indian Division held the front line. On the right was the 15th Indian Infantry Brigade, composed of 1st Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment, the 1st Bn 14th Punjab Regiment and the 2nd Bn 9th Jats; on the left was the 6th Indian Infantry Brigade, composed of the 2nd Bn East Surrey Regiment, the 1st Bn 8th and 2nd Bn 16th Punjab Regiments. Batteries from the 155th Field Regiment, the 22nd Mountain Regiment and the 80th Anti-tank Regiment provided the artillery support. The 28th Indian Infantry Brigade, consisting of three Gurkha battalions was placed in divisional reserve.
The British front line was as long as 14 mi (23 km), stretching across both roads and a railway and far beyond on either side, from the jungle-clad hills on the right, via flooded rice fields and a rubber tree estate to a tidal mangrove swamp on the left.
After Operation Matador—a forestalling attack into Thailand—was cancelled, the 11th Indian Division moved back to defensive positions around Jitra. The Jitra position was still in an extremely poor condition on 8 December 1941 and Murray-Lyon needed time to complete the defences. Malaya Command came up with a secondary plan to delay the Japanese; three mini-Matadors (Krohcol, Laycol and an armoured train), that would hopefully keep the Japanese away from Jitra long enough for Murray-Lyon to get his defences in shape. Krohcol invaded Thailand from south-east of Jitra and was partially successful in delaying the Japanese but unsuccessful in its main objective. The other two columns, Laycol and the armoured train operated from north of the Jitra position. (see also Japanese invasion of Thailand)
After the Japanese invasion of Thailand with the landings at Singora and Patani on 8 December 1941, they attacked toward north-west Malaya. To help delay the Japanese, three columns were dispatched from Malaya. In front of the 11th Indian Division, two columns were sent out. The first was an armoured train manned by a platoon from the 2/16th Punjab, which was sent to Perlis (almost halfway to Singora) where it blew up a railway bridge and then withdrew to Malaya.
Laycol, the second column consisted of 200 truck-borne soldiers from the 1/8th Punjab Regiment, under Major Eric Robert Andrews, supported by a couple of 2-pounder anti-tank guns of 273 Battery, 80th Anti-Tank Regiment and two sections of engineers. Laycol advanced up the Trunk Road from Jitra to 10 mi (16 km) across the Thai border at the town of Ban Sadao. Laycol had just completed their defensive positions at 21:00 on 9 December when the vanguard of the Japanese 5th Division—about 500 men of the 5th Division Reconnaissance Regiment and 1st Tank Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Saeki—came down the Trunk Road with lights blazing. The Laycol anti-tank guns destroyed two tanks and damaged a third, before Laycol packed up and headed back to the 1/14th Punjab positions at Changlun, 6 mi (9.7 km) south of the border. When Laycol crossed the border they destroyed the bridge and parts of the road behind them, hoping to delay the Japanese further.
Major General Murray-Lyon—realising that the positions at Jitra were still not ready—ordered Brigadier K. A. Garrett to take the 1/14th Punjab and the 2/1st Gurkha Rifles to positions on the Trunk Road north of Jitra, in an attempt to delay the Japanese advance until 12 December. Garrett placed the 1/14th Punjab (Lt.Col. James Fitzpatrick) at Changlun, 6 mi (9.7 km) from the Thai border and the 2/1st Gurkhas (Lt.Col. Jack Fulton) at the village of Asun (Kampung Asun) just a few miles north of Jitra.