 On 8 December 1941 , Japanese forces landed at Kota Bharu in northern Malaya . Just two days after the start of the invasion of Malaya , Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk 50 miles off the coast of Kuantan in Pahang , by a force of Japanese bombers and torpedo bomber aircraft , in the worst British naval defeat of World War II . Allied air support did not arrive in time to protect the two capital ships . After this incident , Singapore and Malaya suffered daily air raids , including those targeting civilian structures such as hospitals or shophouses with casualties ranging from the tens to the hundreds each time . 
