Battle of North Borneo
Battle of North Borneo | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Pacific theatre of the Second World War | |||||||
![]() Members of a patrol from 'A' Company, Australian 2/43rd Battalion, disembark from a boat and walk along a large fallen tree, as they move inland to investigate reports of Japanese activity. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
![]() ![]() |
![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Units involved | |||||||
![]() |
| ||||||
Strength | |||||||
≈29,000–30,000 men | ≈8,800 men (Allied estimate) | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
114 killed or died of wounds 221 wounded |
At least 1,234 killed 130 captured |
The Battle of North Borneo took place during the
Background
Strategic situation and planning
Codenamed
The first stage of the Allied campaign in Borneo had begun in May 1945 when a
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/N_borneo_ops_1945.jpg/300px-N_borneo_ops_1945.jpg)
In preparation for the landings, commencing in March, the Allied
Opposing forces
A total of 29,000–30,000 men were committed by the Allies to secure North Borneo,
Meanwhile, Allied intelligence estimated that there were approximately 31,000 Japanese troops on Borneo,
Battle
Labuan
Two main landings were undertaken by the Australians in North Borneo on 10 June. After concentrating at Morotai Island in May, where complex landing rehearsals were undertaken,
Despite the initial progress the fighting on Labuan intensified during this time as the Japanese defenders retreated inland to a heavily fortified position known as "the Pocket" and attempted to hold the Australians along the dense jungle ridges and thick swamps. The 2/12th Commando Squadron was brought ashore from divisional reserve on 12 June and was given the task of clearing the outlying areas of resistance that had been bypassed during the initial advance on the island,[31] By 14 June, the Australians had secured the island, apart from those Japanese contained within the Pocket.[32] Despite considerable artillery and armoured support, a company-level attack by the 2/28th Battalion was turned back on 14 June, and as a result further preparatory fires were called upon to soften up the Japanese defences.[31]
At this stage of the war, Australian commanders were under strict orders to limit their casualties, and "avoid unnecessary risks", utilising fire support where possible to reduce Japanese defences prior to attacking.[32] Commencing on 17 June, an intense three day naval and aerial bombardment was laid down in an effort to reduce the Japanese defences. Meanwhile, 100 Japanese attacked the Australian brigade's maintenance area and the airfield before the Australians launch a renewed attack on 21 June.[7][33] At this time, two companies of infantry from the 2/28th Battalion assaulted the Japanese position. Supported by indirect fire support from sea and air, and direct fire support from tanks and flamethrowers, the Australians overwhelmed the Japanese defenders and cleared the remaining resistance from Labuan. After the battle 180 Japanese dead were counted, bringing the total killed during the fighting on Labuan to 389. Against this the Australians suffered 34 killed and 93 wounded.[34][35]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/2-13th_Infantry_Battalion_patrol_around_Miri_in_1945_%28AWM_photo_115189%29.jpg/220px-2-13th_Infantry_Battalion_patrol_around_Miri_in_1945_%28AWM_photo_115189%29.jpg)
Brunei and Muara Island
The second Allied landing that took place on 10 June, consisted of two battalions of Brigadier
At Seria the Australians found the 37 oil wells ablaze, having been deliberately lit by the Japanese defenders as they withdrew, and engineers from the 2/3rd Field Company were called up to put out the fires, a task which took over three months to complete.[40] Kuala Belait was reached on 24 June.[32] Having secured its objectives, the 20th Brigade then began patrolling operations, using landing craft to move quickly along the various rivers and streams that punctuated the coastline.[41] The initial priority of Japanese troops on the mainland was to withdraw inland. As a result, only minor clashes occurred, against Japanese rearguards, which were generally poorly equipped and inexperienced. Resistance and aggressiveness amongst these rearguard elements stiffened as the Australians moved beyond Miri.[42] Generally, the guerrilla forces in the interior carried out their operations separately from the conventional forces that focused mainly upon the coastal areas. However, some co-ordinated action was achieved during the campaign. During July, guerrillas assigned to Operation Semut captured Marudi, on the Barem River, as part of efforts to disrupt the Japanese withdrawal from Miri. A strong Japanese counter-attack retook the village from the lightly armed Semut operatives, after which the guerrillas linked up with conventional Australian infantry from the 2/17th Battalion to capture it once again on 15 July.[43] During the course of their involvement in the campaign, the 20th Brigade's casualties were relatively light, suffering only 40 casualties.[44] Throughout late June and into August, RAAF aircraft including Mosquitos and Beafighters attacked Japanese targets throughout North Borneo, including barges, shipping, barracks and airfields, sinking an 800-ton vessel near the Tabuan River and destroying several Japanese aircraft on the ground. Wirraways were also used to provide tactical reconnaissance, and other fighters flew close air support sorties.[45]
Weston
Another landing was made by Allied forces on 16 June on the mainland at
The Allies assessed that Beaufort, which lay on the main Japanese avenue of withdrawal, was held by between 800 and 1,000 Japanese troops seeking to keep key egress routes open.
By 29 June, the Japanese began to withdraw from Beaufort in small groups.
Aftermath
Following the capture of Papar, the Australians ceased offensive actions on Borneo and the situation remained largely static until a ceasefire came into effect in mid-August.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Burning_oil_wells_at_Seria_%28Brunei%29_1945.jpg/220px-Burning_oil_wells_at_Seria_%28Brunei%29_1945.jpg)
After the fighting was over, the Australians began the task for establishing British civil administration, rebuilding the infrastructure that had been damaged and providing for the civilians that had been displaced in the fighting.[1][62] This proved to be a significant undertaking, with the 9th Division working to establish hospitals, dispensaries, and schools. Sanitation and drainage had not been provided by the Japanese, and the local population was suffering from disease and was malnourished. Infrastructure was re-built by Australian engineers, while 9th Division medical personnel provided medical aid directly to locals.[63] The 132-kilometre (82 mi) North Borneo railway was also re-established.[64] Houses that were destroyed in pre-invasion bombardment and later fighting were also rebuilt.[65] Following the ceasefire, there were still a large number of Japanese troops in North Borneo—by October 1945 it was estimated that there were over 21,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians still in North Borneo—and the 9th Division was made responsible for organising the surrender, provisioning and protection of these personnel.[66] They were also tasked with liberating the Allied civilian internees and prisoners of war that were being held at Batu Lintang camp in Kuching, Sarawak,[67] and with disarming the guerrillas that had been assigned to Operations Agas and Semut.[68]
As civil administration was slowly restored, in October 1945, the
See also
Notes
- Footnotes
- ^ Odgers 1988, p. 183 provides the figure of 30,000 men, while Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 252 provides the figure of 29,000. Long (1963), p. 459 provides the figure of 29,361 and breaks this down as: 14,079 men from the 9th Division; 3,726 corps support troops; 4,730 base sub-area troops, 5,729 Royal Australian Air Force personnel and 1,097 American and British personnel.
- ^ A Japanese "army" of World War II was equivalent to an Allied corps, and usually commanded between two and four divisions.[20]
- Citations
- ^ a b c "Battle of North Borneo". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
- ^ Shindo 2016, p. 67
- ^ Pratten 2016, pp. 298–299
- ^ Long 1963, p. 453.
- ^ Rottman 2002, p. 258.
- ^ Gin 1999, p. 56.
- ^ a b c d e f g Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 252
- ^ a b c Odgers 1968, p. 466.
- ^ a b Keogh 1965, p. 444
- ^ Long 1963, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 307
- ^ Pratten 2016, pp. 307–309
- ^ a b Pratten 2016, pp. 300–301
- ^ McKenzie-Smith 2018, pp. 2047–2049.
- ^ Johnston 2002, p. 186.
- ^ Odgers 1988, p. 183
- ^ Long 1963, p. 458
- ^ a b Long 1963, p. 456
- ^ Keogh 1965, p. 447
- ^ Rottman 2005, p. 23.
- ^ Bullard 2016, p. 43.
- ^ a b Keogh 1965, p. 434.
- ^ Dredge 1998, p. 574.
- ^ Shindo 2016, pp. 68–70.
- ^ Pratten 2016, pp. 303–304
- ^ Odgers 1968, pp. 473 & 475.
- ^ Gill 1968, pp. 638–640.
- ^ a b Keogh 1965, p. 448
- ^ Odgers 1968, p. 470.
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 301.
- ^ a b Long 1963, p. 472
- ^ a b c d Pratten 2016, p. 302.
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 302
- ^ Odgers 1988, pp. 183–184
- ^ Long 1963, p. 475
- ^ Pratten 2016, pp. 308–309.
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 303.
- ^ Odgers 1968, p. 473.
- ^ Coulthard-Clark 1998, pp. 252–253
- ^ Long 1963, p. 485
- ^ a b Keogh 1965, p. 453
- ^ a b Pratten 2016, p. 304.
- ^ Pratten 2016, pp. 306–309.
- ^ Johnston 2002, p. 228
- ^ Odgers 1968, pp. 473–475.
- ^ Keogh 1965, pp. 453–454
- ^ a b c Keogh 1965, p. 454
- ^ a b Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 253
- ^ Long 1963, pp. 479–481
- ^ Odgers 1988, p. 184
- ^ Johnston 2002, pp. 235–236
- ^ a b c Keogh 1965, p. 455
- ^ Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 254
- ^ Long 1963, p. 495
- ^ Johnston 2002, p. 237
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 191
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 315.
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 190
- ^ Johnston 2002, p. 238
- ^ a b Long 1963, p. 501
- ^ Pratten 2016, pp. 309–310
- ^ Long 1963, p. 496
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 311.
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 314
- ^ Long 1973, p. 461
- ^ Long 1963, p. 561
- ^ Long 1963, p. 563
- ^ Pratten 2016, p. 310.
- ^ Long 1963, p. 581
- ^ Long 1963, p. 565
- ^ Long 1963, p. 577
References
- Bullard, Steven (2016). "Chapter 2: The Emperor's Army: Military Operations and Ideology in the War Against Australia". In Fitzpatrick, Georgina; McCormack, Timothy L.H.; Morris, Narrelle (eds.). Australia's War Crimes Trials 1945–51. Leiden, The Netherlands: ISBN 978-90-04-29205-5.
- Coulthard-Clark, Chris (1998). Where Australians Fought: The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles. St Leonards, New South Wales: ISBN 1-86448-611-2.
- Dredge, A.C.L. (1998). "Order of Battle: Intelligence Bulletin No. 237, 15 June 1946". In Gin, Ooi Keat (ed.). Japanese Empire in the Tropics: Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak Northwest Borneo 1941–1945. Vol. 2. Athens, Ohio: ISBN 0-89680-199-3.
- ISBN 978-0-521-69791-0.
- OCLC 65475.
- Gin, Ooi Keat (1999). Rising Sun Over Borneo: The Japanese Occupation of Sarawak, 1941–1945. Basingstoke, Hampshire: ISBN 0-333-71260-9.
- ISBN 1-86508-654-1.
- OCLC 7185705.
- OCLC 1297619.
- Long, Gavin (1973). The Six Years War: Australia in the 1939–45 War. Canberra: Australian War Memorial and the ISBN 0-642-99375-0.
- ISBN 978-1-925675-146.
- OCLC 1990609.
- Odgers, George (1988). Army Australia: An Illustrated History. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: Child & Associates. ISBN 0-86777-061-9.
- ISBN 978-1-107-08346-2.
- Rottman, Gordon L. (2005). Japanese Army in World War II: Conquest of the Pacific 1941-42. Oxford: ISBN 978-1-84176-789-5.
- Rottman, Gordon L. (2002). World War II Pacific Island Guide. A Geo-Military Study. Westport: ISBN 0-313-31395-4.
- Shindo, Hiroyuki (2016). "Holding on to the Finish: The Japanese Army in the South and South West Pacific 1944–45". In Dean, Peter J. (ed.). Australia 1944–45: Victory in the Pacific. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. pp. 51–76. ISBN 978-1-107-08346-2.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Ooi, Keat Gin (October 2002). "Prelude to Invasion: Covert Operations Before the Re-Occupation of Northwest Borneo, 1944–45". Journal of the Australian War Memorial (37). Australian War Memorial. ISSN 1327-0141. Retrieved 14 February 2014.