High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, CB, DSO Bar, OBE, MC, OStJ, DL (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) 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.