Arthur Percival

Who was Arthur Percival?

Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival CB DSO* OBE MC OStJ DL was a British Army officer and World War I veteran. He built a successful military career during the interwar period but is most noted for his defeat in World War II, when he commanded the forces of the British Commonwealth during the Japanese Malayan Campaign and the subsequent Battle of Singapore.

Percival's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army force is the largest capitulation in British military history, which undermined the United Kingdom's prestige as an imperial power in the Far East. However, current knowledge about the years of under-funding of Malaya's defences and the inexperienced, under-equipped nature of the Commonwealth army has enabled certain commentators to hold a more sympathetic view of his command.