Portal:Singapore/Selected biography/11

Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, MC, OStJ, DL (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) 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 involvement in World War II, when he commanded the forces of the British Commonwealth during the Battle of Malaya and the subsequent Battle of Singapore.

Percival's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army force is the largest capitulation in British military history, and it permanently undermined Britain's prestige as an imperial power in the Far East. However, the desired air force strength of 300 to 500 aircraft was never reached due to other pressing defense needs in Britain, the Middle East and the Soviet Union. Whereas the Japanese invaded with over two hundred tanks, the British Army in Malaya did not have a single one. This inexperienced, under-equipped nature of the Commonwealth army has enabled certain commentators to hold a more sympathetic view of his command.