Over the years, one often-repeated statement published online, in books and repeated in oral histories of World War 2 is that the Allied powers – specifically the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) – bombed Kuala Lumpur in what was then Japanese-occupied Malaya.
Is this true, or are people remembering things wrongly?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Yes, this is true and in fact, Kuala Lumpur was bombed at least three times by the USAAF in World War 2 – with the first instance being on Jan 28, 1942.
According to "The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology, 1941-1945" by Kit C. Carter and Robert Mueller, this was when B-17 bombers based in Palembang attacked Japanese-held airfields near Kuala Lumpur and Kendari in Indonesia.
This was then followed by a lull until 1945, when B-29 bombers could be based in range; according to Carter and Mueller, around 50 of these aircraft attacked the Central Railroad Repair Shops at Kuala Lumpur on Feb 19, with some bombing from as low as 1,000ft (305m).
They added that four others hit an airfield near Alor Setar, Kedah and a railway yard near Martaban, now Mottama in Myanmar.
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Finally, in the last of three raids on March 10, 1945, 24 B-29s attacked a railway yard in Kuala Lumpur, with one diverting to attack an airfield near Alor Setar and three bombing a freighter in the channel leading to Port Swettenham, now Port Klang.
Sources:
Carter, Kit C.; Mueller, Robert (1991). The Army Air Forces in World War II: Combat Chronology, 1941-1945. Washington, D.C.: Center for Air Force History.
https://archive.org/stream/
