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Battle of Tarakan (1945)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Tarakan was the first stage in the Borneo campaign
of 1945. It began with an amphibious landing by Australian forces on 1 May, code-named Operation Oboe One. While the battle ended with success for the Allied
forces over the Japanese
defenders, this victory is generally regarded as having not justified its costs.
is an island off the east coast of Borneo
. The island has an area of 303 square kilometers (117 mi²), much of which was covered by swamp
s or hills covered in dense jungle
at the time of the battle. Tarakan formed part of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) and was an important oil production centre, with the island's two oilfields producing 80,000 barrels of oil per month in 1941.
. The Japanese landed on Tarakan's east coast on 11 January 1942 and defeated the small Dutch
garrison in two days of fighting
in which half the defenders were killed. While the oilfields were successfully sabotaged by the Dutch before their surrender, the Japanese were able to swiftly restore them to production and 350,000 barrels were extracted each month by early 1944.
Following the Dutch surrender, Tarakan's 5,000 inhabitants suffered under Japan's occupation policies
. The large number of Japanese troops stationed on the island caused food shortages and many Tarakanese civilians suffered from malnutrition
as a result. During the occupation, the Japanese brought about 600 labourers to Tarakan from Java. The Japanese also forced an estimated 300 Javanese women to work as "comfort women
" on Tarakan after enticing them to travel with false offers of clerical and clothes-making jobs.
Tarakan's value to the Japanese evaporated with the rapid advance of Allied forces into the area. The last Japanese oil tanker
left Tarakan in July 1944, and heavy Allied air raids later in the year destroyed the island's oil production and storage facilities. These raids may also have killed several hundred Indonesian civilians. In line with its declining importance, the Japanese garrison on Tarakan was reduced in early 1945 when one of the two infantry
battalion
s stationed on the island (the 454th Independent Infantry Battalion) was withdrawn to Balikpapan
. This battalion was destroyed by the Australian 7th Division
in July during the Battle of Balikpapan
.
so that it could be used to provide air cover for subsequent landings in Brunei
, Labuan
and Balikpapan
. The secondary objective for the operation was to secure Tarakan's oilfields and bring them into operation as a source of oil for the Allied forces in the theatre.
The 9th Division and 26th Brigade headquarters were responsible for planning the invasion of Tarakan. This work began in early March when both units had arrived at Morotai
, and the final plans were completed on 24 April. The planners' work was hampered by poor working conditions and difficulties in communicating with General MacArthur's General Headquarters at Leyte
.
The Allied plans anticipated that Tarakan would be secured quickly. It was expected that the operation would involve a short fight for the airfield followed by a 'consolidation' phase during which the island's airfield and port would be developed to support Allied operations. The planners did not foresee significant fighting in Tarakan's interior, and no plans were developed for operations in areas other than the landing beaches, Tarakan Town and airfield. The planners did, however, correctly anticipate that the Japanese would make their main stand in an area other than the invasion beach and would not be capable of mounting a large counter attack.
The Allied plans also expected that Tarakan would be transformed into a major base within days of the landing. Under the pre-invasion planning it was intended that a wing
of fighter aircraft would be based at Tarakan six days after the landing and this force would be expanded to include an attack wing nine days later and staging facilities for a further four squadrons of aircraft within 21 days of the landing. It was also expected that the 26th Brigade Group and its supporting beach group would be ready to leave Tarakan by 21 May and the RAAF units could be redeployed in mid-June after providing support for the landing at Balikpapan.
The Allied planners possessed detailed intelligence
on Tarakan and its defenders. This intelligence had been gathered from a variety of sources which included signals intelligence, photographic reconnaissance flights and Dutch colonial officials. Tarakan was the Australian Services Reconnaissance Department's
(SRD) first priority from November 1944. However, the difficulty of infiltrating operatives into such a small island meant that the organisation could only provide limited aid to the planners.
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of nearly 12,000 soldiers. The 26th Brigade had been formed in 1940 and had seen action in North Africa
and New Guinea
. The brigade's infantry component was the 2/23rd, 2/24th and 2/48th Battalions
, also with much war experience. These battalions were joined by the 2/4th Commando Squadron
and the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion
, which fought as infantry in this battle. The brigade group also included the 2/7th Field Regiment equipped with 24 25-pounder
guns, a squadron from the 2/9th Armoured Regiment
operating 18 Matilda tank
s, a company of the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion, the 53rd Composite Anti-Aircraft Regiment and two engineer field squadrons. These combat units were supported by a large number of logistics and medical units, including the 2nd Beach Group whose role was to land supplies from the invasion fleet. While the 26th Brigade Group greatly outnumbered the known strength of Tarakan's Japanese defenders, the Allies committed this large force as their previous experience indicated that it would be difficult to defeat the Japanese force if it retreated into Tarakan's rugged interior.
The 26th Brigade Group was supported by Allied air and naval units. The air units were drawn from the Australian First Tactical Air Force
(1 TAF) and United States Thirteenth Air Force
and included fighter and bomber squadrons. The naval force was drawn from the United States Seventh Fleet
and included several Royal Australian Navy
warships and transports. Since the main objective of attacking Tarakan was to use the island's airstrip, the invasion force also included a large number of Royal Australian Air Force
ground units, including No. 61 Airfield Construction Wing
comprising No. 1 and No. 8 Airfield Construction Squadrons.
The force which landed on Tarakan included nearly a thousand United States and Dutch troops. The U.S. troops included the U.S. Army
engineers who manned the invasion force's landing craft and LVT
s and United States Navy
Seabee
detachments on board the Landing Ship Tanks. The Dutch forces were organised into a company of Ambonese
infantry commanded by Dutch officers and a civil affairs
unit.
and Imperial Japanese Navy
. The largest unit was the 740-man strong 455th Independent Infantry Battalion which was commanded by Major Tadai Tokoi. 150 Army support troops were also on Tarakan. The Navy's contribution to Tarakan's garrison comprised 980 seamen commanded by Commander Kaoru Kaharu. The main naval unit was the 600-strong 2nd Naval Garrison Force. This naval unit was trained to fight as infantry
and operated several coastal defence guns. The 350 Japanese civilian oil workers on Tarakan were also expected to fight in the event of an Allied attack. The Japanese force included about 50 Indonesians serving in a home guard unit. Major Tokoi directed the overall defence of Tarakan, though relations between the Army and Navy were poor.
The Japanese forces were concentrated around Lingkas, Tarakan's main port and the site of the only beaches suitable for landing troops. These defenders had spent the months before the invasion constructing defensive positions and laying mines. These fixed defences were used extensively during the battle, with Japanese tactics being focused on tenaciously defending pre-prepared positions. The Japanese did not conduct any large counter-attacks, and most offensive actions were limited to small parties of raiders which attempted to infiltrate the Australian lines.
The Japanese force on Tarakan was warned of the impending invasion in April, before the Allies began their pre-invasion bombardment of the island. The island's commander received a radio signal warning him of imminent attack, and the commander of Tarakan's oil depot was ordered to destroy the oil wells on 15 April. It is possible that this warning may have been issued as a result of a security leak from either the Chinese Republican Army's representative to Australia or MacArthur's headquarters. This did not have any effect on the subsequent battle, however, as the Japanese had been preparing defences to resist invasion for several months and the Japanese were aware of the large Allied force which was being assembled at Morotai to attack Borneo.
Prior to the arrival of the invasion force the Japanese garrison on Tarakan and Borneo was subjected to intensive air and naval attacks from 12 April to 29 April. The RAAF and USAAF also mounted air attacks against Japanese bases in China, French Indochina and the NEI to suppress Japanese air units throughout the region. These attacks destroyed all Japanese aircraft in the Tarakan area. The aerial bombing of Tarakan increased in intensity five days before the landing. These attacks were focused on the areas adjoining the planned landing beaches at Lingkas and sought to neutralise the Japanese defences in these areas. The oil storage tanks at Lingkas were a key objective as it was feared that the oil in these tanks could be ignited and used against Allied troops. These bombardments forced much of Tarakan's civilian population to flee inland.
The Tarakan attack force was assembled at Morotai during March and April 1945. The 26th Brigade Group was transported from Australia to Morotai by United States Army transports and arrived in mid-April and began to prepare their equipment for an amphibious landing. Due to a shortage of shipping all units were ordered to leave non-essential vehicles at Morotai when they began to embark onto assault transports on 20 April. The commander of the 1st Tactical Air Force attempted to resist this order, but was over-ridden by his superior officer Air Vice Marshal William Bostock
. Most units were embarked by 22 April and the assault troops practiced landing operations for several days. A small convoy of ships carrying a force ordered to capture Sadau Island off the coast of Tarakan left Morotai on 26 April and the main invasion convoy of 150 ships sailed the next day.
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Due to the need to clear both the large number of naval mine
s which had been laid around Tarakan and the extensive beach obstacles at Lingkas, the Allies did not attempt a surprise landing. A group of United States Navy minesweepers
and destroyers arrived off Tarakan on 27 April and began clearing mines, most of which had been originally laid by Allied aircraft. This operation was completed by 1 May at a cost of two small minesweepers damaged. USN PT boat
s also arrived off Tarakan on 28 April and illuminated and strafed the invasion beaches at night to prevent the Japanese from repairing their beach defences. The PT boats also attacked seven small Japanese freighters and luggers which were found anchored at Lingkas, sinking or damaging all but one of them.
On 30 April, the 2/4th Commando Squadron
and the 57th Battery of the 2/7th Field Regiment were landed on the nearby Sadau Island in order to support the engineers tasked with clearing the obstacles off the invasion beaches. This force rapidly secured the undefended Island. The landing on Sadau Island was the first time Australian soldiers had landed on non-Australian territory in the Pacific since late 1941 (Australian participation in the New Guinea Campaign
from 1942 onwards was limited to the Australian portion of New Guinea). The only Allied losses in this operation were on board USS Jenkins
, which was damaged when she struck a mine while supporting the landing.
The task of clearing the beach obstacles at Lingkas was assigned to the 2/13th Field Company. These defences comprised rows of barbed wire, wooden posts and steel rails which extended 125 yards from the beach. At 11:00 on 30 April, eight parties of engineers went forward in LVTs and landing craft to clear the obstacles. The engineers were supported by the guns on Sadau Island and Allied warships and aircraft. Operating under Japanese fire the engineers cleared all the obstacles obstructing the landing beaches. While heavy casualties had been expected, the 2/13th completed their task without loss.
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The main invasion force arrived by sea off Tarakan in the early hours of 1 May. Supported by a heavy air and naval bombardment, the 2/23rd Battalion and the 2/48th Battalion made an amphibious landing at about 08:00. No opposition was encountered on the beach, and the two battalions suffered only light casualties clearing the remaining coastal defences. By nightfall the Australian beachhead
extended for 2,800 yards along the shore and up to 2,000 yards inland. Most of the 26th Brigade Group's remaining combat units, including the squadron of Matilda II tanks, were landed later on 1 May. Allied casualties were lighter than expected, with 11 men killed and 35 wounded. The light Japanese resistance was due to the heavy pre-landing bombardment forcing Tarakan's defenders to abandon the formidable defences at Lingkas.
While the infantry were successful in securing a beachhead, the landing was hampered by the poor beach conditions. Many Australian vehicles became bogged in Lingkas Beach's soft mud, and seven LSTs were stranded after their commanders misjudged the ships' beachings. The small amount of solid ground within the beachhead resulted in severe congestion and resulted in none of 2/7th Field Regiment's guns being brought into action until the afternoon of the landing. The congestion was made worse by much of the RAAF ground force being landed on 1 May with large numbers of vehicles. The seven LSTs were not refloated until 13 May.
After securing the beachhead, the 26th Brigade Group advanced east into Tarakan Town
and north towards the airstrip. The Australians encountered increasingly determined Japanese resistance as they moved inland. The task of capturing Tarakan's airstrip was assigned to the 2/24th Battalion. The Battalion's initial attack on the airstrip on the night of 2 May was delayed when the Japanese set off large explosive charges, and the airstrip was not secured until 5 May. While the capture of the airfield achieved the 26th Brigade Group's main task, the Japanese still held Tarakan's rugged interior.
During the first week of the invasion, 7,000 Indonesian refugees passed into the advancing Australian lines. This was a larger number than had been expected, and the refugees, many of whom were in poor health, overwhelmed the Dutch civil affairs unit. Despite the devastation caused by the Allied bombardment and invasion, most of the civilians welcomed the Australians as liberators. Hundreds of Indonesian civilians later worked as labourers and porters
for the Allied force.
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In order to secure the island and protect the airstrip from attack, the 26th Brigade Group was forced to clear the Japanese from Tarakan's heavily forested hills. Approximately 1,700 Japanese troops were dug into positions in the north and centre of the island. These positions were protected by booby trap
s and mines. While attacking these positions necessarily entailed costly infantry fighting, the Australian troops made heavy use of their available artillery
and air support
to minimise casualties. This was in line with General Thomas Blamey's
order for the 26th Brigade Group to advance cautiously after the airfield was secured. The Australian tanks could only provide limited support to the infantry as Tarakan's heavy jungle, swamps and steep hills often confined their movement to tracks and roads. As a result, tanks generally could not be used to spearhead attacks, and their role was limited to providing supporting fire for infantry assaults, with artillery being the preferred source of direct support.
The 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion and the NEI company were assigned responsibility for securing the south-eastern portion of Tarakan. The Pioneers began advancing east of Tarakan Town on 7 May but encountered unexpectedly strong Japanese resistance. From 10 May, the battalion was halted at the 'Helen' feature, which was defended by 200 Japanese troops. On 12 May Corporal John Mackey
was killed after single-handedly capturing three Japanese machine gun posts. Mackey was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
for this act of heroism. During the fighting at Helen B-24 Liberator
heavy bombers were used for close air support
for the first time, with P-38 Lightning
fighters dropping napalm
immediately after the bombing. This combination proved particularly effective and became the standard form of air support requested by the Australians. The Japanese force withdrew from Helen on 14 May after suffering 100 casualties, and the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion reached Tarakan's eastern shore on 16 May. The Battalion suffered 20 killed and 46 wounded in this advance. During this period the NEI company secured the remainder of southern Tarakan, and encountered little resistance during its advance.
The United States and Australian navies continued to support the invasion once the landing was complete. USN PT boats sank at least a dozen small craft off Tarakan and in rivers on the coast of Borneo between 1 and 10 May. The PT boats carried NICA interpreters on most patrols who interrogated natives to gather information on Japanese movements. The Japanese battery at Cape Djoeata on Tarakan's north coast was also knocked out by USS Douglas A. Munro on 23 May.
The Japanese garrison was gradually destroyed, with the survivors abandoning their remaining positions in the hills and withdrawing to the north of the island on 14 June. On this day 112 Chinese and Indonesian labourers left the Japanese-held area with a note from a senior Japanese officer asking that they be well treated. While Radio Tokyo announced that Tarakan had fallen on 15 June the last organised Japanese resistance was encountered on 19 June and Whitehead did not declare the island secure until 21 June.
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While the infantry of the 26th Brigade Group fought the Japanese in the hills, the RAAF engineers of No. 61 Airfield Construction Wing were engaged in a desperate effort to bring Tarakan's airstrip into operation. As the airstrip had been heavily damaged by pre-invasion bombing and lay in marshy terrain it proved much more difficult to repair than had been expected, and it took eight weeks and not the expected single week to restore the strip to a usable state. Extensive use was made of interlocking steel plates laid down like matting. Remnants of the plates still exist in the car park at Tarakan airport.
While the airstrip was finally opened on 28 June, this was too late for it to play any role in supporting the landings in Brunei
or Labuan
(10 June), or the landings at Balikpapan
. However No. 78 Wing RAAF
was based on Tarakan from 28 June and flew in support of the Balikpapan operation until the end of the war.
Efforts to re-start production at Tarakan's oilfields were delayed by serious damage to the facilities and Japanese holdouts, and they did not become operational until after the war.
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Following the end of organised resistance the surviving Japanese on Tarakan split into small parties which headed to the north and east of the island. The 26th Brigade Group's main combat units were allocated sections of Tarakan which they swept for Japanese. Many Japanese attempted to cross the strait separating Tarakan from the mainland but were intercepted by Allied naval patrols. Allied troops also searched for Japanese on Boenjoe Island, fifteen miles north-east of Tarakan.
From the first week of July the surviving Japanese became short of food and attempted to return to their old positions in the centre of the island and raid Australian positions in search of food. As their hunger increased more Japanese surrendered. The Australian units continued patrols in search of Japanese until the end of the war
, with several Japanese being killed or surrendering each day. These patrols cost the 26th Brigade Group a further 36 casualties between June 21 and August 15. 300 Japanese evaded capture and surrendered after the end of the war.
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The 26th Brigade Group remained on Tarakan as an occupation force until 27 December 1945, though most of its units were disbanded in October. The Brigade's headquarters returned to Australia in early 1946 and was formally disbanded at Brisbane
in January 1946.
Tarakan's oilfields were swiftly repaired and brought back into production. Engineers and technicians arrived shortly after the Allied landing and the first oil pump was restored on 27 June. By October the Island's oilfields were producing 8,000 barrels per day and providing employment for many Tarakanese civilians.
The Allied units committed to the battle carried out their tasks with "skill and professionalism". In summing up the operation Samuel Eliot Morison
wrote that "altogether this was a very well conducted amphibious operation which attained its objectives with minimum loss". The Battle of Tarakan emphasised the importance of combined arms
warfare, and especially the need for infantry to cooperate with and be supported by tanks, artillery and engineers during jungle warfare
.
Despite Morison's judgement, the 26th Brigade Group's casualties were high in comparison to the other landings in the Borneo campaign. The Brigade suffered more than twice the casualties the 9th Division's other two Brigades suffered during their operations in North Borneo and 23 more fatalities than the 7th Division incurred at Balikpapan. The 26th Brigade Group's higher losses may be attributable to Tarakan's garrison not being able to withdraw as the garrisons in North Borneo and Balikpapan did.
The landing force's achievements were nullified by the fact that the island's airfield could not be brought into action. The faulty intelligence assessment which led the RAAF planners to believe that the airfield could be repaired represented a major failing. Moreover, the RAAF's performance at Tarakan was often poor. This performance may have resulted from the low morale prevalent in many units and the 'Morotai Mutiny'
disrupting 1 TAF's leadership.
As with the rest of the Borneo campaign, the Australian operations on Tarakan remain controversial. Debate continues over whether the campaign was a meaningless "sideshow", or whether it was justified in the context of the planned operations to both invade Japan
and liberate the rest of the Netherlands East Indies, which were both scheduled to begin in 1946. The Australian official historian Gavin Long's
judgement that "the results achieved did not justify the cost of the Tarakan operation" is in accordance with the generally held view on the battle.
Borneo campaign (1945)
The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area, during World War II. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and...
of 1945. It began with an amphibious landing by Australian forces on 1 May, code-named Operation Oboe One. While the battle ended with success for the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
forces over the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
defenders, this victory is generally regarded as having not justified its costs.
Background
TarakanTarakan Island
Tarakan is an island off the coast of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a marshy island situated in the eastern Celebes Sea, off the northeastern coast of Borneo. The island occupies an area of .-Petroleum:...
is an island off the east coast of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. The island has an area of 303 square kilometers (117 mi²), much of which was covered by swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s or hills covered in dense jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
at the time of the battle. Tarakan formed part of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) and was an important oil production centre, with the island's two oilfields producing 80,000 barrels of oil per month in 1941.
Japanese occupation
Securing Tarakan's oilfields formed one of Japan's early objectives during the Pacific WarPacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
. The Japanese landed on Tarakan's east coast on 11 January 1942 and defeated the small Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
garrison in two days of fighting
Battle of Tarakan (1942)
The Battle of Tarakan took place on January 11–12, 1942. Even though Tarakan was only a small marshy island at northeastern Borneo in the Netherlands East Indies, but the 700 oil wells, oil refinery and airfield on it, was one of the main objectives for the Empire of Japan in the Pacific War...
in which half the defenders were killed. While the oilfields were successfully sabotaged by the Dutch before their surrender, the Japanese were able to swiftly restore them to production and 350,000 barrels were extracted each month by early 1944.
Following the Dutch surrender, Tarakan's 5,000 inhabitants suffered under Japan's occupation policies
Japanese Occupation of Indonesia
The Japanese Empire occupied Indonesia, known then as the Dutch East Indies, during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of War in 1945...
. The large number of Japanese troops stationed on the island caused food shortages and many Tarakanese civilians suffered from malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
as a result. During the occupation, the Japanese brought about 600 labourers to Tarakan from Java. The Japanese also forced an estimated 300 Javanese women to work as "comfort women
Comfort women
The term "comfort women" was a euphemism used to describe women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 from some Japanese scholars to as high as 410,000 from some Chinese...
" on Tarakan after enticing them to travel with false offers of clerical and clothes-making jobs.
Tarakan's value to the Japanese evaporated with the rapid advance of Allied forces into the area. The last Japanese oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
left Tarakan in July 1944, and heavy Allied air raids later in the year destroyed the island's oil production and storage facilities. These raids may also have killed several hundred Indonesian civilians. In line with its declining importance, the Japanese garrison on Tarakan was reduced in early 1945 when one of the two infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s stationed on the island (the 454th Independent Infantry Battalion) was withdrawn to Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
. This battalion was destroyed by the Australian 7th Division
Australian 7th Division
The 7th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was formed in February 1940 to serve in World War II, as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force...
in July during the Battle of Balikpapan
Battle of Balikpapan (1945)
The Battle of Balikpapan was the concluding stage of the Borneo campaign . The landings took place on 1 July 1945. The Australian 7th Division, composed of the 18th, 21st and 25th Infantry Brigades, with support troops, made an amphibious landing, codenamed Operation Oboe Two a few miles north of...
.
Allied plans
The primary objective for the Allied attack on Tarakan (code-named "Oboe One") was to secure and develop the island's airstripJuwata Airport
Juwata Airport is an airport in Tarakan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Tarakan which is off the coast of Borneo. The airport was the main Allied objective during the Battle of Tarakan ....
so that it could be used to provide air cover for subsequent landings in Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, Labuan
Labuan
Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support...
and Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
. The secondary objective for the operation was to secure Tarakan's oilfields and bring them into operation as a source of oil for the Allied forces in the theatre.
Morotai
Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. The population was 54,876 in 2007.-History:...
, and the final plans were completed on 24 April. The planners' work was hampered by poor working conditions and difficulties in communicating with General MacArthur's General Headquarters at Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
.
The Allied plans also expected that Tarakan would be transformed into a major base within days of the landing. Under the pre-invasion planning it was intended that a wing
Wing (air force unit)
Wing is a term used by different military aviation forces for a unit of command. The terms wing, group or Staffel are used for different-sized units from one country or service to another....
of fighter aircraft would be based at Tarakan six days after the landing and this force would be expanded to include an attack wing nine days later and staging facilities for a further four squadrons of aircraft within 21 days of the landing. It was also expected that the 26th Brigade Group and its supporting beach group would be ready to leave Tarakan by 21 May and the RAAF units could be redeployed in mid-June after providing support for the landing at Balikpapan.
The Allied planners possessed detailed intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
on Tarakan and its defenders. This intelligence had been gathered from a variety of sources which included signals intelligence, photographic reconnaissance flights and Dutch colonial officials. Tarakan was the Australian Services Reconnaissance Department's
Services Reconnaissance Department
The Services Reconnaissance Department , also known as Inter-Allied Services Department , Special Operations Australia and Section A, Allied Intelligence Bureau was an Australian military intelligence and special reconnaissance unit, during World War II.Authorised by General Thomas Blamey in March...
(SRD) first priority from November 1944. However, the difficulty of infiltrating operatives into such a small island meant that the organisation could only provide limited aid to the planners.
Opposing forces
Allies
The Allied force responsible for capturing Tarakan was centred around the very experienced Australian 26th Brigade Group26th Brigade (Australia)
The Australian 26th Brigade was an Australian Army infantry brigade of World War II. The 26th Brigade was raised in 1940 and formed part of the 9th Division throughout the war. The 26th Brigade saw action in North Africa, New Guinea and Tarakan Island...
of nearly 12,000 soldiers. The 26th Brigade had been formed in 1940 and had seen action in North Africa
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
and New Guinea
New Guinea campaign
The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...
. The brigade's infantry component was the 2/23rd, 2/24th and 2/48th Battalions
2/48th Battalion (Australia)
The 2/48th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army which served during the Second World War. Raised in Adelaide in South Australia in August 1940, the battalion formed part of the 26th Brigade and was initially assigned to the 7th Division, although it was later transferred to...
, also with much war experience. These battalions were joined by the 2/4th Commando Squadron
2/4th Cavalry Commando Squadron (Australia)
The 2/4th Commando Squadron was one of 12 independent companies and commando squadrons raised by the Australian Army during the Second World War. Raised in August 1941 it was disbanded not long after due to conceptual problems, however, it was quickly reformed following the entry of Japan into the...
and the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion
2/3rd Pioneer Battalion (Australia)
The 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion was an assault pioneer battalion of the Australian Army, which served during World War II. Formed in 1940, the battalion served in the Middle East before where it served in Syria and Palestine before taking part in the fighting around El Alamein...
, which fought as infantry in this battle. The brigade group also included the 2/7th Field Regiment equipped with 24 25-pounder
Ordnance QF 25 pounder
The Ordnance QF 25 pounder, or more simply, 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was introduced into service just before World War II, during which it served as the major British field gun/howitzer. It was considered by many to be the best field artillery piece of the war, combining high rates of fire with a...
guns, a squadron from the 2/9th Armoured Regiment
2/9th Armoured Regiment (Australia)
The 2/9th Armoured Regiment was an armoured regiment of the Australian Army. Raised for service during World War II, the regiment was formed in August 1941 and spent most of the war in Australia...
operating 18 Matilda tank
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
s, a company of the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion, the 53rd Composite Anti-Aircraft Regiment and two engineer field squadrons. These combat units were supported by a large number of logistics and medical units, including the 2nd Beach Group whose role was to land supplies from the invasion fleet. While the 26th Brigade Group greatly outnumbered the known strength of Tarakan's Japanese defenders, the Allies committed this large force as their previous experience indicated that it would be difficult to defeat the Japanese force if it retreated into Tarakan's rugged interior.
The 26th Brigade Group was supported by Allied air and naval units. The air units were drawn from the Australian First Tactical Air Force
Australian First Tactical Air Force
The Australian First Tactical Air Force was formed on 25 October 1944 by the Royal Australian Air Force . Its purpose was to provide a mobile force of fighter and ground attack aircraft that could support Allied army and naval units fighting the Empire of Japan in the South West Pacific Area...
(1 TAF) and United States Thirteenth Air Force
Thirteenth Air Force
The Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...
and included fighter and bomber squadrons. The naval force was drawn from the United States Seventh Fleet
United States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...
and included several Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
warships and transports. Since the main objective of attacking Tarakan was to use the island's airstrip, the invasion force also included a large number of Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
ground units, including No. 61 Airfield Construction Wing
No. 61 Wing RAAF
No. 61 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force airfield construction wing of World War II. The wing was formed in January 1943 and was disbanded in November 1945. During the war No...
comprising No. 1 and No. 8 Airfield Construction Squadrons.
The force which landed on Tarakan included nearly a thousand United States and Dutch troops. The U.S. troops included the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
engineers who manned the invasion force's landing craft and LVT
LVT
LVT can refer to:* Land value tax* LVT, American indie rock band based out of Baltimore, MD* Landing Vehicle Tracked, an amphibious military vehicle.* Leasehold valuation tribunal, a form of legal hearing in England and Wales....
s and United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Seabee
Seabee
Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...
detachments on board the Landing Ship Tanks. The Dutch forces were organised into a company of Ambonese
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
infantry commanded by Dutch officers and a civil affairs
Civil Affairs
Civil Affairs is a term used by both the United Nations and by military institutions , but for different purposes in each case.-United Nations Civil Affairs:...
unit.
Japan
At the time of the Allied landing, the Japanese force on Tarakan numbered 2,200 men drawn from the Imperial Japanese ArmyImperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
and Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
. The largest unit was the 740-man strong 455th Independent Infantry Battalion which was commanded by Major Tadai Tokoi. 150 Army support troops were also on Tarakan. The Navy's contribution to Tarakan's garrison comprised 980 seamen commanded by Commander Kaoru Kaharu. The main naval unit was the 600-strong 2nd Naval Garrison Force. This naval unit was trained to fight as infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
and operated several coastal defence guns. The 350 Japanese civilian oil workers on Tarakan were also expected to fight in the event of an Allied attack. The Japanese force included about 50 Indonesians serving in a home guard unit. Major Tokoi directed the overall defence of Tarakan, though relations between the Army and Navy were poor.
The Japanese forces were concentrated around Lingkas, Tarakan's main port and the site of the only beaches suitable for landing troops. These defenders had spent the months before the invasion constructing defensive positions and laying mines. These fixed defences were used extensively during the battle, with Japanese tactics being focused on tenaciously defending pre-prepared positions. The Japanese did not conduct any large counter-attacks, and most offensive actions were limited to small parties of raiders which attempted to infiltrate the Australian lines.
Preparatory operations
Prior to the arrival of the invasion force the Japanese garrison on Tarakan and Borneo was subjected to intensive air and naval attacks from 12 April to 29 April. The RAAF and USAAF also mounted air attacks against Japanese bases in China, French Indochina and the NEI to suppress Japanese air units throughout the region. These attacks destroyed all Japanese aircraft in the Tarakan area. The aerial bombing of Tarakan increased in intensity five days before the landing. These attacks were focused on the areas adjoining the planned landing beaches at Lingkas and sought to neutralise the Japanese defences in these areas. The oil storage tanks at Lingkas were a key objective as it was feared that the oil in these tanks could be ignited and used against Allied troops. These bombardments forced much of Tarakan's civilian population to flee inland.
The Tarakan attack force was assembled at Morotai during March and April 1945. The 26th Brigade Group was transported from Australia to Morotai by United States Army transports and arrived in mid-April and began to prepare their equipment for an amphibious landing. Due to a shortage of shipping all units were ordered to leave non-essential vehicles at Morotai when they began to embark onto assault transports on 20 April. The commander of the 1st Tactical Air Force attempted to resist this order, but was over-ridden by his superior officer Air Vice Marshal William Bostock
William Bostock
Air Vice Marshal William Dowling Bostock CB, DSO, OBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. During World War II he led RAAF Command, the Air Force's main operational formation, with responsibility for the defence of Australia and air offensives against Japanese targets in the...
. Most units were embarked by 22 April and the assault troops practiced landing operations for several days. A small convoy of ships carrying a force ordered to capture Sadau Island off the coast of Tarakan left Morotai on 26 April and the main invasion convoy of 150 ships sailed the next day.
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s which had been laid around Tarakan and the extensive beach obstacles at Lingkas, the Allies did not attempt a surprise landing. A group of United States Navy minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
and destroyers arrived off Tarakan on 27 April and began clearing mines, most of which had been originally laid by Allied aircraft. This operation was completed by 1 May at a cost of two small minesweepers damaged. USN PT boat
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
s also arrived off Tarakan on 28 April and illuminated and strafed the invasion beaches at night to prevent the Japanese from repairing their beach defences. The PT boats also attacked seven small Japanese freighters and luggers which were found anchored at Lingkas, sinking or damaging all but one of them.
On 30 April, the 2/4th Commando Squadron
2/4th Cavalry Commando Squadron (Australia)
The 2/4th Commando Squadron was one of 12 independent companies and commando squadrons raised by the Australian Army during the Second World War. Raised in August 1941 it was disbanded not long after due to conceptual problems, however, it was quickly reformed following the entry of Japan into the...
and the 57th Battery of the 2/7th Field Regiment were landed on the nearby Sadau Island in order to support the engineers tasked with clearing the obstacles off the invasion beaches. This force rapidly secured the undefended Island. The landing on Sadau Island was the first time Australian soldiers had landed on non-Australian territory in the Pacific since late 1941 (Australian participation in the New Guinea Campaign
New Guinea campaign
The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...
from 1942 onwards was limited to the Australian portion of New Guinea). The only Allied losses in this operation were on board USS Jenkins
USS Jenkins (DD-447)
USS Jenkins was a World War II-era in the service of the United States Navy, the second ship named after Rear Admiral Thornton A. Jenkins....
, which was damaged when she struck a mine while supporting the landing.
The task of clearing the beach obstacles at Lingkas was assigned to the 2/13th Field Company. These defences comprised rows of barbed wire, wooden posts and steel rails which extended 125 yards from the beach. At 11:00 on 30 April, eight parties of engineers went forward in LVTs and landing craft to clear the obstacles. The engineers were supported by the guns on Sadau Island and Allied warships and aircraft. Operating under Japanese fire the engineers cleared all the obstacles obstructing the landing beaches. While heavy casualties had been expected, the 2/13th completed their task without loss.
Landing
Beachhead
Beachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. It is sometimes used interchangeably with Bridgehead and Lodgement...
extended for 2,800 yards along the shore and up to 2,000 yards inland. Most of the 26th Brigade Group's remaining combat units, including the squadron of Matilda II tanks, were landed later on 1 May. Allied casualties were lighter than expected, with 11 men killed and 35 wounded. The light Japanese resistance was due to the heavy pre-landing bombardment forcing Tarakan's defenders to abandon the formidable defences at Lingkas.
While the infantry were successful in securing a beachhead, the landing was hampered by the poor beach conditions. Many Australian vehicles became bogged in Lingkas Beach's soft mud, and seven LSTs were stranded after their commanders misjudged the ships' beachings. The small amount of solid ground within the beachhead resulted in severe congestion and resulted in none of 2/7th Field Regiment's guns being brought into action until the afternoon of the landing. The congestion was made worse by much of the RAAF ground force being landed on 1 May with large numbers of vehicles. The seven LSTs were not refloated until 13 May.
After securing the beachhead, the 26th Brigade Group advanced east into Tarakan Town
Tarakan, East Kalimantan
Tarakan, located on Tarakan Island is one of the major cities in eastern Borneo, just across the border from Sabah, Malaysia. Once a major oil producing region during colonial period, Tarakan had great strategic importance during the Pacific War and was among the first Japanese targets early in the...
and north towards the airstrip. The Australians encountered increasingly determined Japanese resistance as they moved inland. The task of capturing Tarakan's airstrip was assigned to the 2/24th Battalion. The Battalion's initial attack on the airstrip on the night of 2 May was delayed when the Japanese set off large explosive charges, and the airstrip was not secured until 5 May. While the capture of the airfield achieved the 26th Brigade Group's main task, the Japanese still held Tarakan's rugged interior.
During the first week of the invasion, 7,000 Indonesian refugees passed into the advancing Australian lines. This was a larger number than had been expected, and the refugees, many of whom were in poor health, overwhelmed the Dutch civil affairs unit. Despite the devastation caused by the Allied bombardment and invasion, most of the civilians welcomed the Australians as liberators. Hundreds of Indonesian civilians later worked as labourers and porters
Porter (carrier)
A porter, also called a bearer, is a person who shifts objects for others.-Historical meaning:Human adaptability and flexibility early led to the use of humans for shifting gear...
for the Allied force.
Securing the interior
Booby trap
A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is...
s and mines. While attacking these positions necessarily entailed costly infantry fighting, the Australian troops made heavy use of their available artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and air support
Air Support
Air Support is a 1992 computer game for the Amiga and Atari ST. It is a top-down strategy game, with a first-person mode available for special missions. The game takes place during a retrofuturistic 21st century where all wars are fought in virtual reality. The game was given mostly positive...
to minimise casualties. This was in line with General Thomas Blamey's
Thomas Blamey
Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
order for the 26th Brigade Group to advance cautiously after the airfield was secured. The Australian tanks could only provide limited support to the infantry as Tarakan's heavy jungle, swamps and steep hills often confined their movement to tracks and roads. As a result, tanks generally could not be used to spearhead attacks, and their role was limited to providing supporting fire for infantry assaults, with artillery being the preferred source of direct support.
The 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion and the NEI company were assigned responsibility for securing the south-eastern portion of Tarakan. The Pioneers began advancing east of Tarakan Town on 7 May but encountered unexpectedly strong Japanese resistance. From 10 May, the battalion was halted at the 'Helen' feature, which was defended by 200 Japanese troops. On 12 May Corporal John Mackey
John Bernard MacKey
John Bernard "Jack" Mackey VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British Commonwealth soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.Born in Leichhardt, New South Wales, Mackey was the only...
was killed after single-handedly capturing three Japanese machine gun posts. Mackey was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for this act of heroism. During the fighting at Helen B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
heavy bombers were used for close air support
Close air support
In military tactics, close air support is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are close to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces.The determining factor for CAS is...
for the first time, with P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
fighters dropping napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
immediately after the bombing. This combination proved particularly effective and became the standard form of air support requested by the Australians. The Japanese force withdrew from Helen on 14 May after suffering 100 casualties, and the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion reached Tarakan's eastern shore on 16 May. The Battalion suffered 20 killed and 46 wounded in this advance. During this period the NEI company secured the remainder of southern Tarakan, and encountered little resistance during its advance.
The United States and Australian navies continued to support the invasion once the landing was complete. USN PT boats sank at least a dozen small craft off Tarakan and in rivers on the coast of Borneo between 1 and 10 May. The PT boats carried NICA interpreters on most patrols who interrogated natives to gather information on Japanese movements. The Japanese battery at Cape Djoeata on Tarakan's north coast was also knocked out by USS Douglas A. Munro on 23 May.
The Japanese garrison was gradually destroyed, with the survivors abandoning their remaining positions in the hills and withdrawing to the north of the island on 14 June. On this day 112 Chinese and Indonesian labourers left the Japanese-held area with a note from a senior Japanese officer asking that they be well treated. While Radio Tokyo announced that Tarakan had fallen on 15 June the last organised Japanese resistance was encountered on 19 June and Whitehead did not declare the island secure until 21 June.
Construction problems
While the airstrip was finally opened on 28 June, this was too late for it to play any role in supporting the landings in Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
or Labuan
Labuan
Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support...
(10 June), or the landings at Balikpapan
Battle of Balikpapan (1945)
The Battle of Balikpapan was the concluding stage of the Borneo campaign . The landings took place on 1 July 1945. The Australian 7th Division, composed of the 18th, 21st and 25th Infantry Brigades, with support troops, made an amphibious landing, codenamed Operation Oboe Two a few miles north of...
. However No. 78 Wing RAAF
No. 78 Wing RAAF
No. 78 Wing is the Royal Australian Air Force's operational training wing. It is headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, and operates the BAE Hawk 127 lead-in fighter. The wing was formed in 1943 and operated P-40 Kittyhawk fighters in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II...
was based on Tarakan from 28 June and flew in support of the Balikpapan operation until the end of the war.
Efforts to re-start production at Tarakan's oilfields were delayed by serious damage to the facilities and Japanese holdouts, and they did not become operational until after the war.
Mopping up
From the first week of July the surviving Japanese became short of food and attempted to return to their old positions in the centre of the island and raid Australian positions in search of food. As their hunger increased more Japanese surrendered. The Australian units continued patrols in search of Japanese until the end of the war
Victory over Japan Day
Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event...
, with several Japanese being killed or surrendering each day. These patrols cost the 26th Brigade Group a further 36 casualties between June 21 and August 15. 300 Japanese evaded capture and surrendered after the end of the war.
Aftermath
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
in January 1946.
Tarakan's oilfields were swiftly repaired and brought back into production. Engineers and technicians arrived shortly after the Allied landing and the first oil pump was restored on 27 June. By October the Island's oilfields were producing 8,000 barrels per day and providing employment for many Tarakanese civilians.
The Allied units committed to the battle carried out their tasks with "skill and professionalism". In summing up the operation Samuel Eliot Morison
Samuel Eliot Morison
Samuel Eliot Morison, Rear Admiral, United States Naval Reserve was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history that were both authoritative and highly readable. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and taught history at the university for 40 years...
wrote that "altogether this was a very well conducted amphibious operation which attained its objectives with minimum loss". The Battle of Tarakan emphasised the importance of combined arms
Combined arms
Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different branches of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects...
warfare, and especially the need for infantry to cooperate with and be supported by tanks, artillery and engineers during jungle warfare
Jungle warfare
Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain.It has been the topic of extensive study by military strategists, and was an important part of the planning for both sides in many conflicts, including World War II and the...
.
Despite Morison's judgement, the 26th Brigade Group's casualties were high in comparison to the other landings in the Borneo campaign. The Brigade suffered more than twice the casualties the 9th Division's other two Brigades suffered during their operations in North Borneo and 23 more fatalities than the 7th Division incurred at Balikpapan. The 26th Brigade Group's higher losses may be attributable to Tarakan's garrison not being able to withdraw as the garrisons in North Borneo and Balikpapan did.
The landing force's achievements were nullified by the fact that the island's airfield could not be brought into action. The faulty intelligence assessment which led the RAAF planners to believe that the airfield could be repaired represented a major failing. Moreover, the RAAF's performance at Tarakan was often poor. This performance may have resulted from the low morale prevalent in many units and the 'Morotai Mutiny'
Morotai Mutiny
The "Morotai Mutiny" was an incident in April 1945 involving members of the Australian First Tactical Air Force based on the island of Morotai, in the Dutch East Indies...
disrupting 1 TAF's leadership.
As with the rest of the Borneo campaign, the Australian operations on Tarakan remain controversial. Debate continues over whether the campaign was a meaningless "sideshow", or whether it was justified in the context of the planned operations to both invade Japan
Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall was the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan. The operation had two parts: Operation...
and liberate the rest of the Netherlands East Indies, which were both scheduled to begin in 1946. The Australian official historian Gavin Long's
Gavin Long
Gavin Merrick Long OBE was an Australian journalist and military historian. He was the general editor of the Australia in the War of 1939–1945 and the author of three of the 22 volumes in the series....
judgement that "the results achieved did not justify the cost of the Tarakan operation" is in accordance with the generally held view on the battle.