Arthur Ernest Percival | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Percival, pictured here as GOC Malaya Command, December 1941 | |||||||||||
Born | Aspenden, Hertfordshire | 26 December 1887||||||||||
Died | 31 January 1966 Westminster, London | (aged 78)||||||||||
Allegiance | United Kingdom | ||||||||||
Service/ | British Army | ||||||||||
Years of service | 1914–1946 | ||||||||||
Rank | Lieutenant-General | ||||||||||
Service number | 8785 | ||||||||||
Unit | Essex Regiment Cheshire Regiment | ||||||||||
Commands | Malaya 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/wars | First World War | ||||||||||
Awards | Companion 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 |
| ||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 白思華[1] | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 白思华 | ||||||||||
|
Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, MC, OStJ, DL (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) was a British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period, but is best known for his defeat in the Second World War, when Percival commanded British Commonwealth forces during the Malayan campaign, which culminated in a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Singapore.
Percival's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army, which was the largest of its kind in British military history, significantly undermined Britain's prestige and military position in East Asia.[2][3] Some historians, such as Sir John Smyth, have argued that under-funding of British Malaya's defences and the inexperienced, under-equipped nature of the Commonwealth forces in Malaya, not Percival's leadership, were ultimately to blame for the defeat.[4]