The Battle of Borneo was the successful campaign by the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

for control of

British Borneo British Borneo comprised the four northern parts of the island of Borneo, which are now the country of Brunei, two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan. During the British colonial rule before Wor ...

and Dutch Borneo.

Background

Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated 20 ...

in Dutch Borneo, was a key Japanese target since oil from

Samarinda Samarinda is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The city lies on the banks of the Mahakam River with a land area of . Samarinda was one of Indonesia's top ten City qu ...

and Sanga Sanga was refined, stored, and shipped there, besides having an airfield from which attacks could be launched against Java. British Borneo was important since it contained the

Miri Miri () is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of , located northeast of Kuching and southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest ...

and

Seria Seria or officially known as Seria Town (), is a town in Belait District, Brunei. It is located about west from the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The total population was 3,625 in 2016. It was where oil was first struck in Brunei i ...

oil fields, the Lutong refinery, and the Ledo airfield outside Kuching. According to Percival, only token British forces were stationed in British Borneo, due to the lack of railways and roads, with transportation limited to coastal steamers. The objective of these forces was to destroy the oil fields and delay capture of the Kuching airfield. The plans were drawn up in August 1941, so that surplus equipment was shipped out, the Miri field closed down, the wells at Seria cemented in, and one of the Lutong refineries shut down. On 8 December, final demolition commenced, and Miri troops were evacuated to Kuching on 13 Dec.

Invasion

On 13 December, the Kiyotake Kawaguchi's Kawaguchi Detachment left

Cam Ranh Bay Cam Ranh Bay () is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in Khánh Hòa Province. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers (180 miles) nor ...

for Borneo with the objective of capturing Miri and then Kuching. Included in this detachment was an oil drilling group of about 150 oil engineers for the restoration of the Miri and Seria oil fields. On 16 December, they landed near Miri. On 25 December, the Kuching airfield was captured, after British troops under Lane retreated into Dutch West Borneo. On 7 January, the 2/15

Punjab Regiment Punjab Regiment may refer to the following existing units: *Punjab Regiment (India) *Punjab Regiment (Pakistan) From 1922 to 1947, the British Indian Army included 6 numbered Punjab Regiments: *1st Punjab Regiment * 2nd Punjab Regiment *8th Punj ...

defended the approach to Sanggau airfield, before being forced to retreat. Then on 28 January, Ledo airfield was captured, when the Kuching airfield was determined to be unusable for their navy land-based planes. Dutch Martin B-10 bombers attacked Japanese shipping from their base, 'Singkawang II' at Miri, on 17 December, but their attempt failed. The three Dornier Do 24Ks followed up with their own attack, but one was shot down, possibly by a floatplane from ''Kamikawa Maru''. The remaining two, benefiting from cloud cover, were never seen by the Japanese. One flying boat scored two 200 kg bomb hits on , causing a massive explosion, while a near miss ruptured its hull plating. The destroyer's stern broke off and the ship sank within minutes. On 22 December, a Japanese convoy left Miri for

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

, but was spotted by the Dutch flying boat ''X-35'', which radioed a warning to the Dutch submarine , under the command of Lieutenant Commander Carel A. J. van Groeneveld. At 20:40 on 23 December, ''K XIV'' infiltrated the convoy and began its attack. The army transports ''Hiyoshi Maru'' and ''Katori Maru'' were sunk with the loss of hundreds of troops. was beached to prevent her from sinking, and another transport was less seriously damaged. On the night of 23–24 December, HNLMS ''K XVI'' torpedoed the Japanese destroyer ''Sagiri'' north of Kuching, becoming the first Allied submarine in the Pacific to sink a warship. ''K XVI'' was lost with all hands during the day by a torpedo from Japanese submarine ''I66''. On 24 and 28 December, B-10 bombers from a different unit flew missions against Kuching from Singapore, Sembawang. On 26 December, B-10s operating out of

sank a Japanese minesweeper and a collier. By 1 February, all of British Borneo was under Japanese control. ABDACOM-Area

References

* Runciman, S., ''The White Rajahs: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946'', particularly 252–5.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1960. * Percival, Arthur Ernest ''The War in Malaya'', (especially Chapter XII: Operations in Borneo.) London,

Eyre & Spottiswoode Eyre & Spottiswoode was the London-based printing firm established in 1739 that was the King's Printer, and subsequently, a publisher prior to being incorporated; it once went by the name of Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & co. ltd. In April 1929, it ...

, 1949. * L., Klemen, 1999–2000, ''The Netherlands East Indies 1941–42'',
The Invasion of British Borneo in 1942
. * L., Klemen, 1999–2000, ''The Netherlands East Indies 1941–42'',

.
World Statesmen

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borneo (1941-42)

Battle of Borneo (1941-42) Battle of Borneo may refer to two battles or campaigns of World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, A ...

Military history of the Dutch East Indies during World War II

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies South West Pacific theatre of World War II Borneo (1941-42) Borneo (1941-42) Land battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom Military history of Malaya during World War II

1941 in British Malaya 1942 in British Malaya 1941 in the Dutch East Indies 1942 in the Dutch East Indies 1941 in the Japanese colonial empire 1942 in the Japanese colonial empire Conflicts in 1941 Conflicts in 1942

World War II operations and battles of the Pacific theatre December 1941 in Asia January 1942 in Asia February 1942 in Asia March 1942 in Asia