Just moments before the infamous attack at Pearl Harbor, another little-known storm was building over 6,000 miles away on the distant shores of Kota Bharu in Malaya. Whispers of nearby Japanese troop movements had earlier reached British ears on the Malay Peninsula, fueling unease. But on December 7, 1941, the British put a potentially vital defensive operation on hold, hesitant to act without American backing. Little did they know that the US would soon have its own hands full. As midnight broke the next day, British-Indian soldiers, the guardians of Malaya, caught sight of three looming Japanese ships. The British were about to become the first Allied fighters in the Pacific Theatre… before the war had even really started.
