Eighty Years Ago: Asia Pacific, Feb 5 – 11, 1942

Feb 5, 1942: RMS Empress of Asia, an ocean liner converted into a troop transport, is sunk by Japanese dive bombers while carrying men and materiel to the beleaguered garrison in Singapore

Feb 6, 1942: Japanese forces continue their advance in Dutch East Indies, seizing Samarinda on east coast of Borneo. Photo shows Japanese soldiers next to a group of Dutch nuns

Feb 7, 1942: US-Filipino I Corps launches assault against Japanese forces on Bataan peninsula, succeeding in encircling several units

Feb 8, 1942: Japanese troops land on Singapore island, menacing Britain’s ‘Gibraltar of the East’, previously considered an impregnable fortress

Feb 9, 1942: For a second consecutive day, Japanese Army unloads troops on Singapore island

Feb 10, 1942: Japanese troops pour down Malay peninsula towards beleaguered British fortress of Singapore

Feb 11, 1942: Japanese troops battle British, Australian and Indian units in the Bukit Timah area on Singapore island

Categories: War

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