From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses of this term, see Battle of Balikpapan.
The Battle of Balikpapan was the concluding stage of the Borneo campaign (1945). The landings took place on July 1, 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 Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo. The landing had been preceded by heavy bombing and shelling by Australian and US air and naval forces. The Japanese were totally outnumbered and out gunned, but like the other battles of the Pacific War, many of them fought to the death.
Major operations had ceased by July 21. The 7th Division's casualties were significantly lighter than they had suffered in previous campaigns. The battle was one of the last to occur in World War II, beginning a few weeks before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki effectively ended the war. Japan surrendered while the Australians were combing the jungle for stragglers.
Following the surrender the three Brigades were committed to occupation duties until around February 1946. The 21st Brigade was detached to Makassar in the Celebes Islands to accept surrender of the Japanese forces, release POWs and maintain civil order.
[edit] Forces involved
.jpg/180px-Infantry_Balikpapan_(AWM_110383).jpg)
Members of the 7th Division at Balikpapan
[edit] Allied Units ("Oboe Two Force")
[edit] Land Forces
- 7th Australian Division
- Divisional Units
- 2/7 Cavalry (Commando) Regiment
- 2/1 Pioneer Battalion
- 2/1 Machine Gun Battalion
- B Company 2/1 Guard Regiment (4 platoons)
- Divisional Artillery
- Divisional Engineers
- 2/4 Field Company
- 2/5 Field Company
- 2/6 Field Company
- 2/9 Field Company
- 2/25 Field Park Company
- 18 Infantry Brigade
- 2/9 Battalion
- 2/10 Battalion
- 2/12 Battalion
- 21 Infantry Brigade
- 2/14 Battalion
- 2/16 Battalion
- 2/27 Battalion
- 25 Infantry Brigade
- United States Army
-
- 727 Amphibious Tractor Battalion (less one company)
-
- One company, 672 Amphibious Tractor Battalion
- One boat company, Boat Battalion, 593 Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment
[edit] Air Units
Royal Australian Air Force
- 79 (General Reconnaissance - Bomber) Wing Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
- 78 (Fighter) Wing RAAF (from June 30th)
- 82 (Bomber) Wing RAAF
- Detachment, 83 (Army Co-Operation) Wing
- Det, 9 Local Air Supply Unit
- No. 54 Squadron RAF (Spitfire)
United States Army Air Forces
- 13th Air Force
- 42 (Medium) Bombardment Group (B-25)
- 69, 70, 75, 100, 390 Bombardment Squadrons (Palawan Island)
- 5 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
- 307 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
- 370, 371, 372, 424 Bombardment Squadrons (Morotai Island)
- 868 Bombardment Squadron (SB-24, LAB: Low Altitude radar Bomb.) flew maritime surveillance patrols
- 18 Fighter Group (P-38)
- 347 Fighter Group (P-38)
- 67, 68, 339 Fighter Squadrons (Palawan Island)
- 419 Night Fighter Squadron (P-61) (Zamboanga and Palawan)
- 4 Reconnaissance Group (F-5 and B-25)
- 17 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron Det. (Palawan Island)
- 5th Air Force
- 22 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
- 38 (Medium) Bombardment Group (B-25)
- 90 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
- 380 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
United States Marine Corps
- VMB-611 (PBJ) flying from Zamboanga
- Marine Air Group 2 (flying from the USN escort carriers)
- Marine Escort Carrier Group 1 (MCVEG-1) on USS Block Island (CVE-106)
- Marine Escort Carrier Group 2 (MCVEG-2) on carrier USS Gilbert Islands (CVE-107
- VMF-512 (FG-1D)
- VMTB-143 (TBM-3)
United States Navy
- Fleet Air Wing 17 (Palawan Island)
- Patrol Bombing Squadron 128 (VPB-128) (PV-1)
- Patrol Bombing Squadron 106 (VPB-106) (PB4Y-2)
- Patrol Bombing Squadron 111 (VPB-111) (PB4Y-2)
- Navy Escort Carrier Group 40 (CVEG-40) on carrier Suwannee
- Fighting Squadron 40 (VF-40) (F6F-5)
- Torpedo Squadron 40 (VT-40) (TBM-3)
[edit] Naval Forces
- Attack Group 78.2
- Transports: 1 AGC USS Wasatch, 1 CGC, 3 LSI (HMAS Manoora, HMAS Westralia, HMAS Kanimbla), 1 AKA (USS Titania), 1 LSD (USS Carter Hall), 5 APD, 1 LCF(F), 22 LSM, 35 LST, 16 LCI(L), 2 PC, 3 SC
- Close Support: 10 LCS(L), 8 LCI(R), 6 LCI(R), 3 LCI(M)
- Screen: 10 Destroyers (USS Robinson, Saufley, Waller, Philip, Bailey, Frazier, Flusser, Drayton, Conyngham, Smith), 5 Destroyer Escorts (USS Chaffee, L.E. Thomas, E.A.Howard, J. Rutheford, Key), 1 Frigate (HMAS Gascoyne)
- Minesweeping Group: 1 APD, 5 AM, 12 YMS, 1 LSM
- Service, Salvage and miscellaneous units
- United States Navy Escort Carrier Group 78.4: (from 1-3 July)
- 8 USN PT boats arrived with the tender USS Mobjack on 27 June, and this force was expanded to two PT boat squadrons (10 and 27) on 6 July.
[edit] Japanese Units
- 22 Base Force
- 454 Independent Infantry Battalion
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ‘Japanese Monograph Number 26: Borneo Operations. 1941-1945’ in War in Asia and the Pacific. Volume 6. The Southern Area (Part I).
- Wesley Craven and James Cate (1953), The Army Air Forces in World War Two. Volume V: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
- Major General R.N. Hopkins (Retired). Australian Armour. A History of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps 1927-1972. Australian Government Publishing Service. 1978.
- Samuel Eliot Morison (1989), The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas 1944-1945. Little, Brown and Company, Boston.
- Gordon L. Rottman, US Marine Corps Order of Battle. Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945. Greenwood Press. Westport. 2002.
- Royal Navy (1959), Naval Staff History Second World War: War with Japan, Volume VI; The Advance to Japan. British Admiralty, London.
- Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor by James J. Fahey (1992) Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0-395-64022-9 (gives a shipboard view of the naval operations around the island, in particular the terrible beating the minesweepers took in clearing the harbor)
.jpg/300px-Balikpapan_landing_(AWM_018812).jpg)
Australia
United States
Empire of Japan
