Numfor (also Numfoor, Noemfoor, Noemfoer) is one of the Schouten Islands (also known as the Biak Islands) in

Papua province Papua is a province of Indonesia, comprising the northern coast of Western New Guinea together with island groups in Cenderawasih Bay to the west. It roughly follows the borders of Papuan customary region of Tabi Saireri. It is bordered by the ...

, northeastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It was the site of conflict between Japanese and the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was major

airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

for both sides.

Geography

The island is located on the northern side of large Cenderawasih Bay (formerly Geelvink Bay) of New Guinea island. Approximately oval shaped, it has an area of . It is mostly surrounded by

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s, with the exception of some points on the southeastern coast. Also found on the southeastern coast are low, steep cliffs. Most of the interior is composed of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. The island is jurisdictionally within the Biak Numfor Regency of Papua province. It has a population of 9,336 people in 2010 census covering 5 districts.

History

The first sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra on 24 June 1528 when he was trying to return from Tidore to

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

. Another sighting was later reported in 1545 by Spanish navigator Íñigo Ortiz de Retes on board of

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...

''San Juan'' when also attempting the return to

The

Tidore Sultanate The Sultanate of Tidore (Indonesian: كسلطانن تيدوري, ''Kesultanan Tidore'', sometimes ''Kerajaan Tidore'') was a sultanate in Southeast Asia, centered on Tidore in the Maluku Islands (presently in North Maluku Province). It was also kn ...

had tributary ties with the island. Seafarers from the region used to regularly pay homage to the sultan.

World War II

During

, Numfor was occupied by Japanese military forces in December 1943. The indigenous population at the time numbered about 5,000 people, most of whom lived a subsistence lifestyle in coastal villages. The island was also hosting about 1,100 laborers taken to Numfor by the Japanese: 600 members of a Formosan (Taiwanese) auxiliary labor unit and 500

n civilian forced laborers. These were the survivors of more than 4,000 laborers taken to Numfor by the Japanese. The Japanese built three airfields on the island, turning it into a significant air base. * Kornasoren Airfield/Yebrurro Airfield, located toward the northern end of the island * Kameri Airfield, on the northwestern edge of the island * Namber Airfield, on the west coast of the island. Bombing of the island by

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n aircraft began as early as April 1944. Allied units landed on the island, from July 2, 1944. Although the island is surrounded by "an almost solid ring" of coral, newspapers reported "almost no loss" of troops in reaching the shore. Troops initially landed around Kamiri Airfield on the northwest edge of the island. Although there were extensive Japanese defensive preparations in the Kamiri area, there was little resistance at Kamiri Airfield. In the words of the US Navy official history: "Japanese encountered around the airfield were so stunned from the effects of the bombardment that all the fight was taken out of them." The following day, as a precaution against Japanese resistance elsewhere, 2,000 US paratroopers from the 503 Parachute Infantry Regiment were dropped onto the island. The second base captured by US forces, Yebrurro Airfield, was secured by 4 July 1944. On July 5, there was an unsuccessful Japanese counter-attack. That same day, a detachment of US forces from Numfor also secured the smaller neighboring island of Manim. Namber Airfield came under Allied control, without resistance, on July 6. The island was officially declared secure on July 7. However, individual Japanese soldiers continued guerrilla activities, and it was August 31 before all fighting had ceased. By August 31, the Allies had lost 66 killed or missing and 343 wounded. It had killed approximately 1,714 Japanese and taken 186 prisoners. According to the US Army official history, only 403 of the original 3,000 Javanese civilian laborers were alive by August 31. About 10-15 were reported to have been killed accidentally by Allied forces. The rest had died from maltreatment before the invasion. About 300 Formosan labor troops had died before the invasion. Others fought the Allies, allegedly as a result of Japanese coercion. Over 550 surrendered; more than half of these were suffering from starvation and tropical diseases. Less than 20 were reported killed by Allied action. According to the US Army historian, Allied personnel found evidence that human bodies, of Japanese, Formosan and Allied personnel, had been partly eaten by starving Japanese and Formosans. The air base was used in a series of five air raids on the oil refineries of Japanese occupied Balikpapan which were supplying up to 35% of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's refined

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

products. Balikpapan only came within extreme range of the

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bombers of the

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

and 5th US Air Forces. The first air raid on September 30, 1944 was led by Colonel

Thomas Cebern Musgrave Jr. Thomas Cebern Musgrave Jr. (July 5, 1913 – November 14, 2005) was a major general in the United States Air Force. Biography Musgrave was born in Washington, D.C., in 1913. He was the son of Col Thomas Cebern Musgrave Sr (Feb 27 1880 – Mar ...

A second raid occurred three days later. Without fighter cover, the first two raids suffered severe losses. Three more raids in October were escorted by

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

and

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

fighters flying from new bases at

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

and Sansapor.

References

{{authority control Schouten Islands Islands of Western New Guinea Landforms of Papua (province) Biak–Numfoor rain forests