Bombing of Singapore (1941)

1941 Japanese air raid on Singapore

Bombing of Singapore

Part of the Malayan Campaign, Pacific War

A dead civilian lying on the floor of a five-foot way along South Bridge Road, victim of the Japanese air attack on Singapore.
| Date| 8 December 1941

|

Location|

Singapore

Result|  Inconclusive
Belligerents

United Kingdom

* Straits Settlements

Dalforce|

Japan

* Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

Units involved
Malaya Command|  Mihoro Air Group
Strength
Various number of anti-aircraft guns
1 battleship
1 battlecruiser|  17 aircraft[1]
Casualties and losses
61 killed
133 wounded|  N/A

* v
* t
* e

Malayan campaign

* Japanese invasion/Kota Bharu
* Singapore bombing
* Prince of Wales & Repulse
* Jitra
* Krohcol
* Gurun
* Kampar
* Slim River
* Gemas
* Muar
* Endau
* Singapore
* Sarimbun Beach
* Kranji
* Bukit Timah
* Pasir Panjang

* v
* t
* e

South-East Asian Theater

French Indochina

* Franco-Thai War
* Ko Chang
* Invasion
* Coup de main
* August Revolution

* * *

Thailand

* Invasion
* Air raids

* * *

Malaya and Singapore

* Invasion
* 1st Singapore
* Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse
* Jitra
* Krohcol
* Gurun
* Kampar
* Slim River
* Gemas
* Muar
* Parit Sulong Massacre
* Endau
* 2nd Singapore

* * *

Dutch East Indies

* 1st Borneo
* Manado
* Tarakan
* Balikpapan
* Ambon
* Makassar Strait
* Sumatra
* Palembang
* Badung Strait
* Timor
* USS Langley
* 1st Java Sea
* Sunda Strait
* Java
* 2nd Java Sea
* 8 June 1945
* 2nd Borneo
* Tarakan
* North Borneo
* Balikpapan

* * *

Indian Ocean

* 27 February 1941
* 8 May 1941
* Sydney vs Kormoran
* Japanese raiders
* Andaman and Nicobar
* Homfreyganj massacre
* Christmas Island
* 1st Indian Ocean
* Easter Sunday Raid
* Madagascar
* Cocos Islands mutiny
* Réunion
* 13 November 1943
* 11 January 1944
* 14 February 1944
* 2nd Indian Ocean
* 17 July 1944

* * *

Burma, India and China

Japanese invasion of Burma

* Bilin River
* Sittang Bridge
* Pegu
* Taukkyan
* Yunnan-Burma Road
* Tachiao
* Oktwin
* Toungoo
* Shwedaung
* Prome
* Yenangyaung

Burma campaign (1942–1943)

* Arakan
* The Hump
* Chindits

Burma campaign (1944)

* Chindits (II)
* Admin Box
* U Go
* Imphal
* Sangshak
* Tennis Court
* Kohima
* Myitkyina
* Mogaung
* Mount Song

Burma campaign (1944–1945)

* Meiktila & Mandalay
* Pakokku
* Hill 170
* Ramree Island
* Tanlwe Chaung
* Dracula
* Elephant Point
* Sittang Bend

The bombing of Singapore was an attack on 8 December 1941 by seventeen G3M Nell bombers of Mihoro Air Group (Mihoro Kaigun Kōkūtai),[2] Imperial Japanese Navy, flying from Thu Dau Mot in southern Indochina. The attack began at around 0430, shortly after Japanese forces landed on Kota Bharu, Kelantan in northern Malaya.[3] It was the first knowledge the Singapore population had that war had broken out in the Far East.[3]

## Background

[edit]

The attack on Singapore was assigned to 34 bombers of Genzan Air Group (Genzan Kaigun Kōkūtai) and 31 bombers of Mihoro Air Group.[4] Their targets were RAF Tengah, RAF Seletar, Sembawang Naval Base and Keppel Harbour.[5]

Six squadrons from both air groups took off from southern Indochina on the night of 7 December 1941. However, bad weather conditions were encountered while over the South China Sea.[4] Thick clouds offered poor visibility for the pilots, while rough winds caused most of the formations to become separated. After several attempts to regroup failed, Lieutenant Commander Niichi Nakanishi, Wing Commander of Genzan Air Group, ordered them to abort mission and return to base,[2] thereby reducing the impact of a much heavier raid.[4] Only seventeen G3M bombers of Mihoro Air Group reached Singapore on schedule, unobstructed by bad weather.[2]

### The Attack

[edit]

The Japanese formation was detected by a radar station in Mersing, Johor, Malaya, almost an hour before they reached Singapore. Three Brewster Buffalo fighters of No. 453 Squadron RAAF were on standby at RAF Sembawang. However, Flight Lieutenant Tim Vigors' request to scramble and intercept the Japanese bombers was denied.[6] Air Chief Marshal Robert Brooke-Popham feared that the anti-aircraft batteries would fire on the friendly fighters, despite Vigors being an experienced night fighter in the Battle of Britain. He was supplemented by the belief that the Buffalo fighter was only suited for daylight fighting and could not be used at night. Paradoxically, there were 12 Bristol Blenheim Mark IF night fighters of No. 27 Squadron RAF stationed in Sungai Petani, Malaya, but were being used as ground-attack aircraft.[7]

The streets were still brightly lit despite air raid sirens going off at 0400, allowing pilot navigators to locate their targets without difficulty. Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Headquarters was not even manned, and there was no blackout as police and power station officials could not find the employee who had the key to the switch (only two practice blackouts were conducted in September 1941 before the raid).[3] When the bombers began their attack at 0430, Allied anti-aircraft guns immediately opened fire. The battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse also responded, but no aircraft was shot down. A formation of nine bombers flew over without releasing their bombs to draw the searchlights and anti-aircraft guns away from the other group. They were flying at 12,000 feet, while the second formation was at 4,000 feet.[3]

### Aftermath

[edit]

Mitsubishi G3M Nell of Mihoro Air Group, carrying bombs externally. Civilians hiding in an air raid shelter at Tiong Bahru Estate during a Japanese bombing raid in December 1941. Two women grieving over a child killed in an air raid at Jinrikisha Station on 3 February 1942.

The 'Raiders Passed' signal was sent out at 0500.[3] The bombers succeeded in bombing the airfields at Seletar and Tengah, damaging three Bristol Blenheim bombers of No. 34 Squadron RAF.[4] A number of bombs also fell on Raffles Place. 61 people were killed and more than 700 were injured. Most of the casualties were troops of the 2/2nd Gurkha Rifles, 11th Indian Infantry Division. The Japanese bombers all returned safely to Thu Dau Mot.[8]

Though the bombing caused only minor damage to the airfields, it stunned the British Far East Command. Despite intelligence reports of Japanese aircraft performance in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the command did not believe Japan's air forces were capable of striking Singapore from airfields more than 600 miles away in Indochina. The raid came as a surprise to Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, who "hardly expected the Japanese to have any very long-range aircraft."[4]

> Rudely awakened in the small hours of the morning by the screams of air raid sirens and the roar of ack ack guns and in the clear moonlit sky around a formation of Japanese bombers. Bombs were dropped but none fell in our area. So the war in the Far East started – all day we heard news bulletins telling of the wide spread treachery of the Japs – Well! They've asked for it – !! – Diary and 'Line' book written by the pilots of No. 453 Squadron RAAF[9]

Singapore had respite from further air raids while the Japanese focussed their attacks on Allied positions in northern Malaya. The next raid occurred on the night of 16/17 December 1941. This was minor attack on RAF Tengah by two Japanese Ki-21s. The next serious raid on Singapore City was on the night of 29/30 December. The Japanese launched their first daylight raid on 12 January 1942, a day after their capture of Kuala Lumpur allowed them to shift aircraft of the IJAAF to southern Malaya.

## See also

[edit]

* Battle of Singapore
* Bombing of Singapore (1944–45)

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ First bomb raid on Singapore, Chua, Alvin, 25 November 2014, archived from the original on 26 December 2008, retrieved 20 January 2010
2. ^ a b c Full text of "ZERO!", E. P. Dutton & Co. r Inc., retrieved 20 January 2010
3. ^ a b c d e Owen 2001, page 36
4. ^ a b c d e Burton 2006, page 96
5. ^ Imperial Japanese Navy Air Assault of Singapore, Mike Yeo, archived from the original on 10 February 2010, retrieved 20 January 2010
6. ^ Stenman and Thomas, page 45
7. ^ Burton 2006, page 97
8. ^ First bomb raid on Singapore, Chua, Jeanne, 29 September 1997, archived from the original on 26 December 2008, retrieved 20 January 2010
9. ^ The RAAF in Malaya, ww2australia.gov.au, archived from the original on 7 October 2009, retrieved 15 January 2010

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Lee, G. B. (1992). Syonan: Singapore under the Japanese 1942–1945 (pp. 18, 24). Singapore: Singapore Heritage Society.
* Singapore: An illustrated history 1941 – 1984 (p. 16). (1984). Singapore: Information Division, Ministry of Culture
* Tan, B. L. (1996). The Japanese Occupation 1942 – 1945: A pictorial record of Singapore during the war (pp. 16, 26–27). Singapore: Times Editions
* Stenman, Kari and Andrew Thomas. Brewster F2A Buffalo Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84603-481-7.
* Owen, Frank. The Fall of Singapore. Penguin Books, 2001. ISBN 0-14-139133-2
* Burton, John. Fortnight of infamy: the collapse of Allied airpower west of Pearl Harbor. Naval Institute Press, 2006. ISBN 1-59114-096-X

## External links

[edit]

Library resources about
Bombing of Singapore (1941)

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* Imperial Japanese Navy Air Assault on Singapore, by Mike Yeo

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Imperial Japanese surprise attacks and battles of December 1941

Topics|

* Attack on Pearl Harbor
* Battle of Hong Kong
* Battle of Guam (1941)
* Battle of Wake Island
* First Bombardment of Midway
* Shelling of Johnston and Palmyra
* Invasion of Gilbert Islands
* Bombing of Rangoon (Burma)
* Japanese invasion of Thailand (Battle of Prachuap Khiri Khan)
* Invasion of Borneo

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* Japanese invasion of Vigan

Malaya|

* Battle of Gurun
* Battle of Jitra
* Battle of Kampar
* Battle of Kota Bharu
* Battle of Kuala Lumpur
* Bombing of Singapore (1941)
* Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse

Related|

* Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire
* Day of Infamy speech
* Philippines campaign (1941–1942)
* Malayan campaign
* Battle of Changsha (1941–1942)
* Dutch East Indies campaign
* List of shipwrecks in December 1941
* USS Wake capture
* HMS Peterel sunk
* Invasion of Shanghai International Settlement

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Strategic bombing during World War II

* Area bombardment
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China|

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