The 5th Division landed on the east coast of Thailand at Singora and Patani on December 8, 1941. The 5th Division fought its way through northern and central Malaya. It was particularly successful at the battle of Jitra on 11 December 1941 and the battle of Slim River on 6 January 1942. In both battles, it defeated the Indian 11th Infantry Division. At the Battle of Slim River, the 5th Division's 41st Infantry Regiment, supported by tanks, swept through sixteen miles of British defenses, shattering the exhausted combatants of the 11th Indian Division and inflicting an estimated 3,000 casualties.