The was the concluding stage of the Borneo Campaign (1945) . It occurred on July 7 , 1945. The Australian 7th Division , comprised of the 18th, 21st and 25th Infantry Brigades , with support troops, made an Amphibious Landing a few miles north of Balikpapan , on the island of Borneo . The landing had been preceded by heavy Bombing & shelling by Australian and US air and naval forces. The Japanese were totally outnumbered and outgunned, 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.
- 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
-- 2/4 Field Regiment ( 25 Pounder guns)
-- 2/5 Field Regiment ( 25 Pounder guns)
-- 2/6 Field Regiment ( 25 Pounder guns)
-- 2/2 Tank Attack Regiment
- --- 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
-- 2/25 Battalion
-- 2/31 Battalion
-- 2/33 Battalion
- 2 Beach Group
- --- 2/2 Pioneer Battalion
- --- 2/11 Field Company
Dea
- Attached United States Army units
- --- 727 Amphibious Tractor Battalion (less one company)
- --- One company, 672 Amphibious Tractor Battalion
- --- One boat company, Boat Battalion, 593 Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment
Royal Australian Air Force
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)
-- 23, 31, 72, 394 Bombardment Squadrons ( Samar Island )
- --- 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 )
-- 12, 44, 70 Fighter Squadrons ( Zamboanga )
- --- 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
- Marine Bombing squadron 611 (VMB-611) ( PBJ ) flying from Zamboanga
- Marine Air Group 2 (flying from the USN escort carriers)
- --- Marine Escort Carrier Group 1 (MCVEG-1) on carrier Block Island
-- Marine Fighting Squadron (CVS) 511 (VMF-511) ( FG-1D )
-- Marine Torpedo-Bombing Squadron (CVS) 233 (VMTB-233) ( TBM-3 )
- --- Marine Escort Carrier Group 2 (MCVEG-2) on carrier Gilbert Islands
-- Marine Fighting Squadron (CVS) 512 (VMF-512) (FG-1D)
-- Marine Torpedo-Bombing Squadron (CVS) 143 (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)
- 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
- 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.
- 22 Base Force
- 455 Independent Infantry Battalion
- ‘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.
|
