Arthur Percival

Arthur Ernest Percival
Percival, pictured here as GOC Malaya Command, December 1941
Born(1887-12-26)26 December 1887
Aspenden, Hertfordshire, England
Died31 January 1966(1966-01-31) (aged 78)
Westminster, London, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1914–1946
RankLieutenant-General
Service number8785
UnitEssex Regiment
Cheshire Regiment
Commands heldMalaya Command (1941–1942)
44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division (1940–1941)
43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division (1940)
2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment (1932–1934)
7th (Service) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (1918)
Battles/warsFirst World War

Russian Civil War

Anglo-Irish War
Second World War

AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order & Bar
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Military Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (3)
Croix de guerre (France)
Spouse(s)
Margaret Elizabeth MacGregor Greer
(m. 1927; died 1953)
Children
  • Dorinda Margery Percival (daughter)
  • Alfred James MacGregor Percival (son)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese[1]
Simplified Chinese

Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, MC, OStJ, DL (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) was a senior British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period but is most noted for his defeat in the Second World War, when he commanded British Empire forces during the Japanese Malayan Campaign and the subsequent Battle of Singapore.

Percival's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army force, the largest surrender in British military history, undermined Britain's prestige as an imperial power in East Asia.[2][3] His defenders, such as Sir John Smyth, have argued that under-funding of Malaya's defences and the inexperienced, under-equipped nature of the Empire army in Malaya, not Percival's leadership, were ultimately to blame.[4]

  1. ^ "僑領紛紛反駁白思華誹謗報告政府不信華僑豈是華僑未盡衛土之責". Nanyang Siang Pau (in Chinese). 6 March 1948. p. 5.
  2. ^ Taylor, English History 1914–1945, p657
  3. ^ Morris, Farewell the Trumpets, p452
  4. ^ Smyth, Percival and the Tragedy of Singapore

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