HISTORY & EDUCATION
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
On 7 December 1941, a surprise Japanese strike on the US Pacific Fleet brought America into the Second World War — and set in motion the invasion of Malaya that would decide the fate of thousands of Scottish soldiers.
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07:48
FIRST BOMBS FALL
353
AIRCRAFT INVOLVED
2,403
AMERICANS KILLED
8
BATTLESHIPS HIT
OVERVIEW
A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
In the early hours of 7 December 1941, Japanese aircraft launched a surprise assault on the United States Pacific Fleet at its base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In under two hours, four battleships were sunk, four more damaged, and more than 2,400 American servicemen and civilians were killed.
The attack was not an isolated strike. That same night Japanese forces began landing at Kota Bharu in British Malaya — more than an hour before the first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor — and within hours struck Hong Kong, opening the wider Pacific War that would draw Scotland's soldiers into years of fighting and, for many, captivity in the Far East.
For the Scottish regiments already serving in the Far East — the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and the Gordon Highlanders in Malaya and Singapore, and the Royal Scots in Hong Kong — Pearl Harbor was the spark. Within weeks, many of these men would themselves become prisoners of the Japanese, facing captivity, forced labour, and the Thai-Burma Death Railway.
TIMELINE
The Attack, Hour by Hour
06:00
First Wave Launches
Japanese aircraft carriers, positioned undetected north of Hawaii, launch the first wave of 183 aircraft toward Pearl Harbor.
07:48
Attack Begins
The first bombs fall on Pearl Harbor. Battleship Row and nearby airfields come under sustained attack within minutes.
08:10
USS Arizona Destroyed
A bomb detonates the forward magazine of USS Arizona. The battleship sinks in minutes, killing 1,177 of her crew.
09:45
Attack Ends
The second wave withdraws. In under two hours, the US Pacific Fleet has suffered catastrophic losses.
8 DECEMBER 1941
America Enters the War
President Roosevelt calls it "a date which will live in infamy." Congress declares war on Japan within hours.
8 DECEMBER 1941
Malaya and Hong Kong Attacked
Japanese forces, which had begun landing in Malaya shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor, strike Hong Kong — the opening moves of the wider Pacific War.
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“They were ordinary men placed in extraordinary circumstances — and they endured the unendurable.”
— SCOTLAND FEPOW TRUST