Lets take a look at Malaya...

[Trooper117]

A brief look at the air war over Malaya...

 

If you are going to invade Malaya, then you absolutely need to do this... a very bad day for the Royal Navy.

Some startling mistakes and lack of preparation from the Navy and the Air Force, along with total mismanagement and preparation from the government...

[wheelsup_cavu]

That would be another good area to model. I always liked flying the Buffalo over the Malacca straight in IL-2 1946.

 

Wheels 

[ÆþelrædUnræd]

36 minutes ago, wheelsup_cavu said:

I always liked flying the Buffalo over the Malacca straight in IL-2 1946.

Aye - especially since the Dutch also flew them there 🙂

The Dutch Buffaloes performed pretty decent too it seems; a quick google search shows 55 kills vs 30 losses (not including 15 destroyed on the ground, and apparently a few others lost to accidents). During one mission on February 19, 8 Buffaloes intercepted 35 bombers escorted by 20 Zeros, for a total of 11 kills against 4 losses. Even if overclaiming and perhaps an exaggerated size of the Japanese escort are accounted for, that's still an impressive number that discounts the idea that the Dutch and British air forces in the area were completely overwhelmed and outclassed to such an extent that they barely performed at all.

Edited June 6, 2023 by ÆþelrædUnræd

[BlitzPig_EL]

The KNIL also operated Hawk 75 A7s, with Wright Cyclones instead of Pratt & Whitney Wasps.

Edited June 6, 2023 by BlitzPig_EL

[Boom]

The air battles over Malaya and Singapore were desperate events. Poor communications, bad staff work, outdated aircraft and a gross underestimation of the enemy all had their effect.

A couple of excellent books to read on the subject are:

[wheelsup_cavu]

Thanks for the recommendations @Boom.

 

Wheels

[Chief_Mouser]

Can't have Malaya without the Wildebeest! Although the poor devils flying them against the invasion fleet had about as much chance as the Swordfish attacking the the German ships in the Channel Dash.

 

 

 

[Calos_01]

On 6/8/2023 at 9:45 AM, Chief_Mouser said:

Can't have Malaya without the Wildebeest! Although the poor devils flying them against the invasion fleet had about as much chance as the Swordfish attacking the the German ships in the Channel Dash.

I´m with you. As for books about battles over Malaya, I can recommend these two 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Calos_01

[Trooper117]

Yes, there is also another book to add to that set by Christopher Shores, the 'Air War For Burma'... all excellent books.

But 'Bloody Shambles' will explain why the British had such a problem with the Buffaloes and other aircraft at their disposal...

Edited June 11, 2023 by Trooper117

[Jason_Williams]

I really hope someday we can cover such theaters. I love the Buffalo. Cool history.

Jason

[Ojisan_Mjoelner]

And the Hawk 75 😍

RAF pilots claimed they could outturn Oscars in them

[Chief_Mouser]

A couple more books for you. Cheers.

 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

On 6/8/2023 at 9:45 AM, Chief_Mouser said:

Wildebeest

 

No problem if the above is a typo, in fact, I know so few English that I had a doubt and checked the orthograph: it's Wildebeest for the African mammal and Vildebeest for the aircraft (Vickers Vildebeest - Wikipedia). So... why the plane'name is spelt with a "V"? Where does this come from?

 

[Chief_Mouser]

4 hours ago, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

 

No problem if the above is a typo, in fact, I know so few English that I had a doubt and checked the orthograph: it's Wildebeest for the African mammal and Vildebeest for the aircraft (Vickers Vildebeest - Wikipedia). So... why the plane'name is spelt with a "V"? Where does this come from?

 

This gets interesting. One site I saw claims that Vildebeest was a spelling error and that it was always pronounced Wildebeest. Hard to believe, really. Vickers developed the Vincent from the Vildebeest at a very early stage, which suggests to me that the 'V' was intentional otherwise it would have been the Vickers Wincent 😁 😜.

I've always thought it was the Wildebeest but what do I know? Definitely spelled with a 'V' though.

Cheers.

[migmadmarine]

I imagine it was named that way to try and keep with a Vickers theme of naming aircraft with names starting in V

[Trooper117]

A look at the initial landings made by the Japanese...

Things get worse at Jitra...

 

[Trooper117]

The end in Malaya...

 

 

[Boom]

There's no getting away from the fact that the Malayan campaign, from the British side, was poorly executed. Ill-trained troops (the 11th Indian being a good example), overconfidence of the General Staff in Britain, poorly developed to non existent defences, piecemeal feed-in of troops, lack of tanks and aircraft support all combined to create a situation that quickly spiralled out of control.

The really sad and frustrating thing about the Malayan campaign is that how the Japanese would execute their attack had already been foretold in great detail waaayyyy back in 1937, when Major General William Dobbie (GOC Malaya 1935-1939, later to play a crucial role in the defence of Malta) undertook a study of the defences of Malaya. He predicted that landings would be made at Singora, Pattani and Kota Bharu and recommended that large reinforcements be sent to and active defence lines be developed across the north of the peninsula. The powers that be in England decided instead to rely on a strong naval presence at Singapore.

Again in 1940 Lieutenant General Lionel Bond (then GOC Malaya 1939-1941)) also recommended that Dobbie's plan be put into effect, with especial emphasis on a large increase of aircraft for both defence and attack. Again planners in Britain settled for a strong naval presence to deter Japan. Oddly enough though Bond, despite agreeing with Dobbie's threat assessment, developed his own war plans on the strategy of close defence of southern Johore and Singapore Island. So almost no development of defence lines across the peninsula was carried out in that critical 2 year period, when the threat from Japan was looming large.

So when poor old Lieutenant General Percival arrived in late April 1941 as GOC Malaya, he found that no preparation had been undertaken for defences north of Johore. Percival was imminently familiar with Dobbie's 1937 recommendations, as he was Dobbie's chief of staff at that time, and had overseen the study. He inherited a mess. He immediately set training in motion for his largely inexperienced troops and their commanders, and ordered the commencement of defence lines at strategic positions on the Malay peninsula. He also agitated Britain for tanks and aircraft, but to little avail. 

It was all too little, and too late. And Percival, along with Brooke-Popham, would forever be the scapegoat associated with the fall of Malaya. When the real fault lay with those in Britain during those critical years 1937-1941.

[Trooper117]

Yes Boom... I agree!