1945 World War II Base in Borneo
Naval Base Borneo and Naval Base Dutch East Indies was a number of
United States Navy
Advance Bases and bases of the
Australian Armed Forces in
Borneo and
Dutch East Indies during
World War II . At the start of the war, the island was divided in two:
British Borneo and Dutch East Indies. Both
fell to the
Empire of Japan ,
Japan occupied British Borneo and
the Dutch East Indies in 1942 until 1945.
[1]
[2]
History
Map of the 1942
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command
To the north, the
US Naval Base Philippines fell to Japan before Borneo in 1941 and 1942, as such many US Navy ships and submarines escaped the
Philippines and traveled south to ports in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies. On 25 November 1941 knowing that hostile Japan actions in the Pacific was coming,
Admiral Hart , commander of the
Asiatic Fleet , movef
Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 57 (
USS Whipple ,
USS Alden ,
USS John D. Edwards and Edsall ) with the
destroyer tender
USS Black Hawk , to
Balikpapan , Borneo, so the whole fleet would not be at
Manila Bay in the Philippines. As Japan advanced south into Borneo these vessels fled further south to form the new
US Naval Bases in Australia .
[1] Some of the
Royal Netherlands Navy vessels, like
Netherlands submarines :
HMAS K9 and
HNLMS K VIII , also fled to bases in Australia.
[3] With the
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) the
Allies tried to limit the advance of Japan. ABDACOM did not have enough troops or supplies to carry out the mission. Japan viewed the Dutch East Indies as a prize for its vast quantities of natural resources. In 1941, the Dutch East Indies was a major producer of: rubber,
oil ,
quinine , coffee, tea,
cacao , coconut, sugar, pepper, and tobacco. Due to
Japan's aggression in China and other places, the US put an
oil embargo on Japan.
[4]
[5]
During the
Borneo campaign in 1944 and 1945 the Allies both built new bases and used captured Japan bases for staging advances in Borneo and the Philippines.
[6] Many ports and cities held by Japan did not
surrender until the end of the war.
[1]
[7]
[8] As the Allies won more battles and moved in on Japan, Japan moved many of the 1942
Prisoners of war , mostly British and Australian in the 1945
Sandakan Death Marches . Like the
Bataan Death March of 1942, many died in the Marches.
[9]
[10]
Dutch East Indies became independent from the
Netherlands and Japan on 27 December and is now the nation of
Indonesia .
[11] British Borneo the northern parts of the island of Borneo, became the nation of
Brunei on 1 January 1984 and parts became two states in
Malaysia .
[12] For current base since 1949 see
Indonesian Navy .
Naval Bases
Naval Base Morotai , Major US Base opened September 1944, staging action in Philippines. Fleet Post Office # 936.
[13]
Naval Base
Sanga-Sanga , on
Tawi-Tawi Island , support
Sanga-Sanga Airfield
[16]
[17]
Naval Base Brunei Bay at
Brunei Bay with
Australian Army also to support
Brunei Airfield
[18]
Naval Base Tarakan at
Tarakan with Australian forces, after
Battle of Tarakan . Fleet Post Office # 1157
[19]
Naval Base Balikpapan at
Balikpapan , Fleet Post Office # 1156, use after fall of US Naval Bases in the Philippines retaken in June 1945 in the
Battle of Balikpapan
[20]
Naval Base Batavia at
Batavia , Java (now Jakarta )Fleet Post Office #1155 (lost March 1, 1942)
[21]
Naval Base Banjermassin at
Banjarmasin , Borneo Fleet Post Office #1158 (lost in
Battle of Banjarmasin )
Naval Base Samarinda, in 1942 ABDACOM operated from the port at
Samarinda to support
Samarinda Airfield
[22]
Naval Base Java, in 1942, the US set up a port to deliver
planes and bombers to
Yogyakarta Airfield as part of ABDACOM.
[23]
Naval Base Sourabaya at
Sourabaya Java, Fleet Post Office # 3043
Naval Base Tjilatjap, also called Naval Base Cilacap at
Cilacap
Java , in 1942 ABDACOM operated from the port at
Tjilatjap . Base supported Pasiran Airfield. The
USS Langley (CV-1) was sunk on her way to deliver more planes to Tjilatjap.
[24]
Saumlaki Seaplane Base in Saumlaki Bay used in 1942 by US Navy and
Netherlands Naval Aviation . On
Tanimbar Islands in
Maluku province .
[25]
Naval Base Kudat at
Kudat , British North Borneo, Fleet Post Office # 3103
Naval Base Kudat Brunei at
Brunei , British North Borneo, Fleet Post Office # 3104 SF
Naval Base Ceram Island at
Ceram Island , Fleet Post Office # 3135, support post war Boela Airfield, now Boela Airport
Naval Base Talaud Island on
Talaud Islands Fleet Post Office # 3124, post war base (Operation Gossipmonger was canceled)
Naval Base Koepang at
Koepang , Timor, Fleet Post Office # 3049, support post war Koepang Airfield
Naval Base Manado at
Manado , Celebes, Fleet Post Office # 3066, support post war
Mapanget Airfield
Naval Base Kendari at
Kendari , Celebes leet Post Office # 3052, support post war
Kendari Airfield
Australian bases, with US support:
Naval Base Muara Island after
Battle of North Borneo
Naval Base Weston at
Weston, Sabah , after Battle of North Borneo
Dutch East Indies Fleet 1942
The Netherlands had a fleet of vessels in Dutch East Indies in 1942, many were lost in the war and some fled to Australia. The fleet included: Light cruisers:
HNLMS De Ruyter
HNLMS Java and
HNLMS Tromp . Destroyers:
HNLMS Piet Hein ,
HNLMS Van Nes ,
HNLMS Van Ghent ,
HNLMS Kortenaer ,
HNLMS Banckert ,
and
HNLMS Witte de With . Eight
minelayers and
minesweepers .
Light cruiser
HNLMS Sumatra .
K VIII-class submarine
K-VII ,
K-VIII ,
K-IX ,
K-X ,
K-XI ,
K-XII ,
K-XIII ,
K-XIV ,
K-XVI ,
K XVIII and
O-XIX . Gunboat:
HNLMS Soerabaja and light cruiser:
HNLMS Evertsen .
Submarine tender Zuiderkruis.
[30] Major
Dutch East Indies seaports included:
Makassar ,
Tangerang ,
Batavia (Jakarta),
Semarang
Tegal and
Surabaya .
[31]
[32]
The main base of the Dutch East Indies Fleet was at the Soerabaja Naval Base at
Surabaya Java, supported by the Morokrembangan Seaplane Base with
Dornier Do 24
seaplanes . Dutch Naval Base Tandjong Priok at Java was the main sub base.
[33]
The major Islands of the Dutch East Indies were:
Borneo, invaded January 1942, at
Balikpapan ,
Tarakan ,
Samarinda
Sumatra , was
invaded February 1942
Java , was
invaded February 1942
[34]
Timor , was
invaded February 1942
Celebes , now Sulawesi, was invaded in January 1942 at
Manado and
Kendari
Lake Tondano Seaplane Base
[36]
East Nusa Tenggara and
West Nusa Tenggara , invaded February 1942
Maluku Islands , (Moluccas Islands was
invaded in January 1942, including
Ceram Island
Dutch New Guinea in
Western New Guinea , northern ports invaded, see
US Naval Base New Guinea
British Borneo
British Borneo bases lost in the war and occupied by Japan included: Port of
Sandakan , Port of
Muara and
Temburon . The
British Pacific Fleet 's
East Indies Fleet also porting in nearby
Singapore Naval Base . The British South Pacific Fleet joined the 1942
ABDACOM and many of the
British ships were lost in the war. Some ships
retreated to British bases in the Indian Ocean and other free
British Western Pacific Territories .
[37]
[38]
POWs
As in other theaters of war Japan's treatment of POWs and civilians was very poor. Many were exhausted from hunger and disease. Many deaths were caused by the diversion of food, such as rice, to Japanese troops from the Dutch East Indies population. Between 4 and 10 million Indonesians from the Dutch East Indies were turned into Japan's forced labourers, called
romusha . Four million died in the Dutch East Indies as a result of famine and forced labour.
[39]
[40]
International Red Cross packages were not distributed to POWs.
[41]
[42] In the Dutch East Indies there were both massacres and executions of POWs:
[43]
[44]
Bangka Island massacre
Balikpapan massacre
Laha massacre
Rawagede massacre
Pontianak incidents
Sandakan Death Marches
Parit Sulong Massacre
Karoenga massacre on Tarakan Island in January 1942, coastal battery crew
Menado, Celebes Island, January 1942, executions of 12 POWs
Kertosono, Java Island, March 1942 executions of 9 POWs, Dutch marines
Tjiater, Java Island, March 6, 1942 executions of 72 POWs
Kalidjati Airfield massacre, Java Island, March 1942, British RAF ground personnel killed
Samarinda, Borneo Island, March 1942 at airfield Samarinda II 13 KNIL Army POWs shot
Long Nawang, Borneo Island, August 1942 Japan executed many refugees in Kampong, including all crew members from a
Glenn Martin bomber and three crew-members from
Dornier seaplane .
Koetaradja II, Sumatra Island, March 1942, 56 POWs shot and dumped at sea.
Bireuen, Sumatra Island, March 1942, 18 POWs shot at bridge. Four escaped to tell about the 18.
Cargo ship Langkoeas lifeboats attacked by I-158
Tanker Augustina massacre, Western Java Sea, 1942, lifeboat machine-gunned, only 2 survived.
[45]
Gallery
Pacific War Theater Areas map 1942
The Japanese lines of advance in the Dutch East Indies, Sarawak and North Borneo (British), and Portuguese Timor
The former Dutch East Indies (dark red) within the Empire of Japan (light red) at its furthest extent in late 1942
Wama Airstrip in April 1945
General MacArthur and Vice admiral
Daniel E. Barbey leaving
USS Nashville (CL-43) at Morotai on 15 September 1944
Landing Ship, Tanks unloading at Morotai
No 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF Buldozers at Morotai
Consolidated PBY Catalina at Morotai in September 1944
Morotai landings 15 September 1944, just before base construction started
Territorial map with changes of the
Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies Expansion, peak in 1942 at loss to Japan
Modern map of the
Maluku Islands
Japanese prepare to discuss surrender terms with British-allied forces in
Java in 1945
Current map of Indonesia
See also
External links
References
^
a
b
c
"Pacific Wrecks – Borneo" . pacificwrecks.com .
^ Long, Gavin (1963).
The Final Campaigns . Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Series 1 – Army, Volume VII. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial.
OCLC
1297619 .
^
HMAS K9 ozatwar.com
^ Klemen, L (1999–2000).
"General Sir Archibald Percival Wavell" . Dutch East Indies Campaign website.
^ Roberts, Andrew (2009).
Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses Who Led the West to Victory in World War II (1 ed.). London:
Penguin Books . pp. 66–68.
ISBN
978-0-141-02926-9 – via Archive Foundation.
^ Smith, Robert Ross (1996).
The Approach to the Philippines . Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, U.S. Army.
LCCN
53060474 .
^ Operation Borneo: The last, untold story of the War in the Pacific, 1945, by Gerard Case, 28 June 2004
^
Australians in Borneo During WW II borneo.com.au
^
Sandakan Death Marches diggerhistory.info
^
"Dutch East Indies in World War II" .
^
Indonesia vce.eu
^
Brunei britishempire.co.uk
^
Morotai pacificwrecks.com
^
Wama pacificwrecks.com
^
Pitu pacificwrecks.com
^
"Pacific Wrecks – Sanga-Sanga (Sanga Sanga) Tawi-Tawi Island, ARMM, Philippines" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
"Pacific Wrecks – Sanga-Sanga Airfield (Sanga Sanga, Tawi-Tawi) Tawi-Tawi Province, Philippines" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
"Pacific Wrecks – Brunei (Sultanate of Brunei, Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace)" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
"Pacific Wrecks – Tarakan Island, North Kalimantan Province, Borneo, Indonesia" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
"Pacific Wrecks – Balikpapan, East Kalimantan Province, Borneo, Indonesia" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
Jakarta pacificwrecks.com
^
Samarinda pacificwrecks.com
^
Yogyakarta Airfield pacificwrecks.com
^
Tjilatjap pacificwrecks.com
^
Saumlaki Seaplane Base pacificwrecks.com
^
Sandakan pacificwrecks.com
^
"Pacific Wrecks Timbalai Airfield" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
"Pacific Wrecks, Australian bases" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
"Pacific Wrecks – Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor)" . pacificwrecks.com .
^
Submarine tender Zuiderkruis]dutchsubmarines.com
^
The Operations of the Navy in the Dutch East Indies
^
Battles of Java Sea and Sunda Strait 1942 US Navy
^
Soerabaja Naval Base pacificwrecks.com
^
Battle of Java Sea US Navy
^
Koepang Seaplane Base pacificwrecks.com
^
Lake Tondano Seaplane Base pacificwrecks.com
^ Watson, Graham.
"Royal Navy Organisation in World War 2, 1939–1945: EASTERN FLEET 1.1942-EAST INDIES FLEET 11.44-" . naval-history.net . Gordon Smith, 19 September 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2018 .
^
Stephen Roskill , War at Sea,
Vol. II , p.22
^
Mizuma 2013 , pp. 49–68
^
Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1998 , pp. 157–158) quoted in
Vickers (2013 , p. 85)
^ Marcel Junod, International Red Cross
^
Researching Japanese War Crimes January 28, 2015, National Archives
^
An account of the Japanese occupation of Banjumas cornell.edu
^
Japanese Occupation of the Dutch East Indies and the Colijn Sisters 7/6/2017 by Mei Mei Chun-Moy
^
Tanker Augustina massacre cnooks.nl
Sources
Mizuma, Masanori (2013). ひと目でわかる「アジア解放」時代の日本精神 [Japanese spirit in the "Liberation of Asia" era that can be seen at a glance ] (in Japanese). PHP Institute.
ISBN
978-4-569-81389-9 .
Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1998). The Mute's Soliloquy . Translated by Willem Samuels. Penguin.
ISBN
0-14-028904-6 .
Vickers, Adrian (2013). A History Modern of Indonesia (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-1-107-62445-0 .
political divisions eco-regions environment deforestation conservation
history ethnic groups languages
Australian special operations of the Second World War
Timor, Sundas and Java
Operation Mackerel (1942)
Operation Tiger (Java) (1942)
Operation Lion (1942)
Operation Flounder (1942)
Operation Ambon (1942, abandoned)
Operation Walnut (1942-43)
Operation Lancer (1942)
Operation Lizard (1942–43)
Operation Lagarto (1943)
Operation Cobra (1943)
Operation Adder (1944)
Operation Mugger (1944, incomplete)
Operation Hornet (1944)
Operation Bat & Apache (1944)
Operation Wasp (1944)
Operation Gnat (1944)
Operation Flea (1944, abandoned)
Operation Louse (1944, abandoned)
Operation Sounder (1944, abandoned)
Operation Sunfish (1945)
Operation Sunable (1945)
Operation Sunbaker (1945)
Operation Suncharlie (April 1945)
Operation Sundog (1945)
Operation Blackfish (1945, abandoned)
Operation Blackbird (1945, abandoned)
Operation Sunlag (1945)
Operation Lagartout (1945)
Operation Brim (1945)
Operation Pigeon (1945, abandoned)
Operation Suncob (1945)
Operation Salmon (1945)
Operation Carp (1945, abandoned)
Operation Cod (1945, abandoned)
Operation Starfish (1945)
Operation Binatang (1945)
Operation Anchovy (1945, abandoned)
Operation Groper (1945)
Operation Demo (1945)
New Guinea
Salamaua Raid (1942)
Heath's Farm Raid (1942)
Mubo Raid (1942)
Operation Cockroach (1942, abandoned)
Operation Beetle (1942)
Operation Ladybird (1942)
Operation Spider (1942, abandoned)
Operation Wasp (1942, abandoned)
Operation Tick (1942)
Operation Bug (1942)
Operation Locust (1943)
Operation Oaktree (1942–44)
Operation Whiting (1943)
Operation Scorpion (1943)
Operation Mosstroops (1943)
Operation Menzies (1944)
Operation Perch (1944)
Operation Reaper (1944)
Operation Silver (1944)
Operation Gold (1944)
Operation Copper (1944)
Operation Vokeo (1944)
Operation Crayfish (1944)
Operation Falcon (1944)
Operation Phoenix (1944)
Operation Rose
Operation Dodo
Operation Moa
Operation Lennon
Operation Socrates
Operation Flathead
Borneo Celebes and Moluccas
Operation Giraffe
Operation Crane
Operation Shril
Operation Magpie
Operation Raven
Operation Garnish
Operation Opossum (1945)
Operation Swallow
Operation Swift
Operation Finch (1945)
Malaya and China Seas
Operation Jaywick (1943)
Operation Rimau (1944–45)
Operation Politician-Optican
Operation Gunard
Operation Crocodile
Operation Carpenter
Operation Period
Operation Oblivion
other
Operation Sabre (1945)
Operation Apple (1945)
Operation Turnip
Operation Potato
Operation Goldfish
Operation Pine Needle
Operation Trout
Operation Shark
Operation Carrot
Operation Radish
Operation Asparagus
Operation Bream
Operation Robin
Operation Stallion
Mission 204 (or 'Tulip Force') (1942–43)
Operation Source (1943)
Operation Guidance (1944)
proposed other Netherlands East Indies