That the Parliament notes the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the South China Sea, off the east coast of present-day Malaysia, on 10 December 1941; understands that, in this engagement, the Naval Battle of Malaya, 840 British seamen lost their lives with most of the survivors subsequently entering Japanese captivity, in which many died; acknowledges that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill later described news of the sinkings as the most direct shock he had ever received; understands that the attacks took place within 72 hours of Japan’s surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on 7 December, killing 2,335 civilians and military personnel; recognises that US President Roosevelt described the latter as a “date that will live in infamy”, and remembers all those killed during the Battle of Malaya and the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Supported by:
Clare Adamson, Annabelle Ewing, Russell Findlay, Murdo Fraser, Pam Gosal, Christine Grahame, Bill Kidd, Ruth Maguire, John Mason, Stuart McMillan, Alexander Stewart, Paul Sweeney, Evelyn Tweed