Despite the onslaught, it would be wrong to assume every defender gave in without a fight. Members of rank and file would have shown great courage in resisting the invaders, often at great cost.
One such individual was a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF) whose valiant acts in battle would earn him a Victoria Cross. The highest military award in the British armed forces is given to soldiers who showed great courage in the course of their service.
This man was Arthur Stewart King Scarf, fondly known as “Pongo” to his friends.
On April 28, the descendants of Scarf’s widow sold the Cross to raise awareness about the man’s heroism, with the medal auctioned off for £682,000 (RM3.7 million), according to the UK’s “Daily Mail”.
Born in London just a year before World War I, Scarf had always had a fascination with aviation. After being rejected by the Royal Navy, he tried his hand at joining the air force and, in 1936, finally got his wish.
In September 1939 – right before World War II began in Europe – Scarf was transferred to Malaya, not knowing he would never return home.
During his time here he worked with fellow aviator Frank Griffiths, who would later write a book on his experiences flying the skies during the war.
“It is said that there are seven qualities required of a pilot which no written exam can reveal. They are sense of responsibility, leadership, anticipation, resourcefulness, hardihood, courage, and ability to get on with people,” Griffiths wrote.
Scarf was said to have possessed these qualities, and yet he failed to make a good impression on his superiors, often showing up late for rallies and parades.
Nevertheless, he was a popular colleague and a charming gentleman. In April 1941, Scarf tied the knot with Elizabeth Sally, a nurse serving in Penang.
Any marital bliss he enjoyed was soon disrupted by the outbreak of war at the end of the year, with the Japanese moving in swiftly on Malaya.
Scarf, then 28, was attached to the No. 62 Squadron, which was based in Alor Setar and came under heavy Japanese attack. What remained of the squadron regrouped and relocated to Butterworth, where they received new orders.
They learnt the Japanese aircraft were coming from a base in Singora, Thailand, and were ordered to bomb this base to slow the attacks.
But just as they were about to take off, a Japanese bombing raid devastated the British planes, with only one surviving and taking off into the air.
This was the Blenheim bomber piloted by none other than Scarf, who saw the devastation but decided to continue the mission single-handedly.
While a single bomber plane could do little physical damage, Scarf believed pressing on with the attack would at least keep up the morale of his colleagues stranded on the ground.
So he flew on and, surprisingly, managed to reach his target and drop his bombs, though it came at a heavy price.
Throughout the journey to and from Singora, he was attacked repeatedly by Japanese aircraft, with heavy fire ripping through the plane’s hull. Sprays of enemy fire shattered his left arm and left holes in his chest and back.
Despite these mortal wounds, he managed to stay conscious and kept the plane flying, only to crash-land in Alor Setar intact.
He was rushed to a hospital where, by coincidence, his pregnant wife Sally was working nearby. She donated two pints of her blood to try and save him.
According to a nurse attending to him, the dying pilot remained cheerful in his last moments of consciousness, saying to her: “Don’t worry, keep smiling, chin up.”
The doctors worked hard to save his life but, in the end, he slipped away after two hours of emergency surgery.
With the rapid success of the Japanese forces, his tale of gallantry was forgotten until the end of the war. It was only in 1946 that Sally finally received the posthumous Victoria Cross.
While Scarf was initially buried in Alor Setar, his remains would later be exhumed and relocated to the Taiping War Cemetery.
His grave can still be visited today, and on it reads: “His love of life was only exceeded by the courage encompassing his death.”