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Arthur Ernest Percival was a British Army officer and World War I hero. 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 a smaller invading Imperial Japanese Army force was and remains the largest capitulation in British military history, and it fatally undermined Britain's prestige as an imperial power in the Far East. However, years of under-funding of Malaya's defences combined with the inexperienced, under-equipped nature of the Commonwealth army make it possible to hold a more sympathetic view of his command.