Arthur Percival

Arthur Percival

His Early Life

Arthur Ernest Percival was born on 26 December 1887 in Aspenden Lodge, Aspenden near Buntingford in Hertfordshire, England, the second son of Alfred Reginald and Edith Percival. His father was the Land Agent of the Hamel's Park estate and his mother came from a Lancashire cotton family.

World War II 

He was a British Army officer and World War I veteran. He built a successful military career during the interwar period but is most noted for his involvement in World War II, when he commanded the forces of the British Commonwealth during the Battle of Malaya and the subsequent Battle of Singapore.

Percival's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army force is the largest capitulation in British military history, and it permanently undermined the United Kingdom's prestige as an imperial power in the Far East.[1][2] However, current knowledge about the years of under-funding of Malaya's defences and the inexperienced, under-equipped nature of the Commonwealth army has enabled certain commentators to hold a more sympathetic view of his command.

Citation : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Percival