The attack began at around 0430, shortly after Japanese forces landed on Kota Bharu, Kelantan in northern Malaya.

[4] Only seventeen G3M bombers of Mihoro Air Group reached Singapore on schedule, unobstructed by bad weather.

[2] The Japanese formation was detected by a radar station in Mersing, Johor, Malaya, almost an hour before they reached Singapore.

[7] The streets were still brightly lit despite air raid sirens going off at 0400, allowing pilot navigators to locate their targets without difficulty.

Despite intelligence reports of Japanese aircraft performance in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the command did not believe Japan's air forces were capable of striking Singapore from airfields more than 600 miles away in Indochina.

So the war in the Far East started – all day we heard news bulletins telling of the wide spread treachery of the Japs – Well!

453 Squadron RAAF[9]Singapore had respite from further air raids while the Japanese focussed their attacks on Allied positions in northern Malaya.

The Japanese launched their first daylight raid on 12 January 1942, a day after their capture of Kuala Lumpur allowed them to shift aircraft of the IJAAF to southern Malaya.