Malaya MAIN LINE OF RESISTANCE (MLR) U.S forces term for the main enemy defense line, or what the British called “forward defended localities.” MAJDANEK See Lublin-Majdanek MAKIN ATOLL Seized by the Japanese in early 1942 along with the rest of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Makin Atoll was one of the principal targets of Operation GALVANIC in late 1943 In the interim, the Japanese built a seaplane base hosting 500 service personnel It was guarded by a small combat garrison of under 400 The U.S Army’s entirely green 27th Infantry Division still took four days to overcome the garrison Almost all the lightly armed Japanese service troops were killed, at a cost of 64 American casualties The 27th Division was subjected to heavy Marine Corps criticism Its reputation, along with Army–Marine Corps relations, never fully recovered U.S casualties related to Makin increased sharply when a Japanese submarine sank a waiting escort carrier with a loss of 644 lives See also Tarawa MALAYA The Japanese invasion of the British colony of Malaya began almost simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) The invasion by 60,000 highly experienced veterans of the Japanese 25th Army, under General Tomoyuki Yamashita, proceeded down the Malay peninsula with Singapore as the ultimate target The British had over 120,000 British and Indian Army troops in Malaya, but they were unbloodied before the fight and badly led during it by General Arthur Percival They also lacked proper air cover The British were taken by surprise at the speed of the Japanese assault, which was greatly aided by bicycle troops moving swiftly over roads paved earlier by the British Percival failed to pull back in time to avoid being partially flanked, then failed to defend well-prepared positions at the Jitna Line The Japanese broke through the Jitna Line on the third day The British moved again, harassed and harried by Japanese planes all down the narrow roads to which their retreat religiously stuck Advance Japanese units overran more British positions in the north, taking many prisoners and half the British motorized transport In rapid succession the Japanese took Penang, Kuala Lumper, and Jahore The British lost 25,000 men during the campaign, with most taken prisoner Many wounded suffered horrendous treatment in Japanese captivity until they died of neglect or were killed The rest suffered cruel imprisonment for the duration of the war The Japanese lost 4,500 men in the Malayan campaign Surviving British forces holed up on the island fortress of Singapore, which thereafter fell with alarming ease That reflected low British morale, a fact known to Winston Churchill and the War Cabinet but kept secret from the public and Parliament From 1943 the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and its Australian equivalent supplied a small Malay peninsula guerilla force that harassed the Japanese occupiers and supported Malays who spied on the Japanese headquarters in 697