This Day in History: 1941-12-09

The 2nd Battalion left Ipoh and moved north to join the 11th Indian Division on the Jitra Line along the River Bata in Malaya, a poorly-fortified defensive line intended to block the Japanese advance from Thailand. In the first day’s fighting, in which the Battalion was ‘only lightly engaged’, they lost 70 Gurkha Other Ranks.

Map of Malaya showing Ipoh and the Jitra defensive line