The battle of Slim River

Following the attack on Kota Bharu on the 8th of December, and the attack on Jitra some six days later, the 25th Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), had gained a foothold in both the east and the west of the Malayan peninsula and pushed on south, with the intention of reaching the southernmost tip of the peninsula as quickly as possible.

The Japanese moved swiftly and decisively on tar and asphalt roads using bicycles, while British troops who were on the retreat from the word go, were often forced to use alternative jungle paths and routes.

The 11th Indian Infantry Division that was initially tasked with defending Jitra regrouped in Trolak, a town some five miles or so away from Slim River and positioned themselves around the Slim River rail-bridge, and the Slim River road-bridge to try and stall Japanese progress.

Japanese troops, who had little difficulty moving south were aware of British troop positions and troops from the 25th Imperial Japanese Army were prepared to meet them head-on.

The defenders had organized three lines of defense, the first line of defense was manned by the 4/19th Hyderabad Division, the second line by the 5/2nd Punjabi Division, and the third was manned by the 2nd Argylls.

The Hyderabad Division, aware of the fact that there were tanks and armored vehicles heading their way, placed obstacles on the roads that would slow the tanks and armored vehicles down.

The attack began on a rainy day, with an aerial bombardment of British positions, followed by a tank attack on the Hyderabad Division and despite the rain, which often caused tanks and armored vehicles to be bogged down, the Japanese tanks made reasonable progress, partly due to the fact that the tanks were travelling on well-built asphalt roads. ??

While Japanese troops were negotiating the impediments, they were subjected to concerted artillery fire, but despite that they were able to breakthrough, and facing imminent defeat, the Hyderabad Division relented and scattered, and soon after lost all contact with support artillery.? ?

Some fell back to the next defensive position manned by the Punjabi regiment where the tanks were hit by a combination of land mines, fire from anti-aircraft guns, and grenades.

The attacking force however found a way around and forced the surviving defenders to retreat, and moved towards the 2nd Argylls.

The IJA pushed on towards the center of the 2nd Argylls, and split the Argylls, right down the middle, grinding their opponents down in an intense battle, and as the tanks moved forward on Slim River road the retreating forces suffered massive casualties especially from repeated machine gun fire from the tanks, and the IJA soon reached the Slim River road-bridge.

At the road-bridge the tanks were met with consistent fire from 40 mm bofors or anti-aircraft guns but it made little or no impression on the armor, and the bridge was quickly taken and any demolition charges neutralized.

The Japanese advance halted after three tanks sent over the bridge, met with artillery fire, and after losing their lead tank, the IJA were forced to retreat temporarily, but British troops were in no position to take advantage of the situation, especially in light of the fact that they were running short of both men and supplies, and were forced to retreat further south.

The battle came at a substantial cost to the British, with almost 3,200 soldiers killed, not to mention the loss of equipment. The IJA got away with minimal casualties.

Copyright ? 2025 by Kathiresan Ramachanderam