How Japan Destroyed the Dutch Empire - Pacific War DOCUMENTARY

0:13 The jewel of the Dutch Colonial Empire,

0:15 once famous for the riches of the Spice Islands and now

0:18 coveted by the Japanese Empire because of its valuable natural resources,

0:22 most notably oil, rubber and tin; the Dutch East Indies would become a deadly

0:27 and particular battlefield during World War Two,

0:30 characterized by its rugged and challenging terrains and by the wide

0:34 variety of offensive operations carried out by the invaders.

0:37 From the dense rainforests of Borneo to the mountainous terrains of Sumatra,

0:41 from the smallest island in the Moluccas to the heart of Dutch rule in Java,

0:46 the Japanese would fight and win against the combined strength of the American,

0:51 British, Dutch and Australian forces that resisted them.

0:54 Like a ferocious storm,

0:56 they came with a resolute mind to break the shackles imposed

1:00 by the West and secure an important lifeline for their Empire;

1:04 to fight in a campaign that has it all: deadly amphibious assaults,

1:08 savage land battles, fierce air combat,

1:11 impressive naval engagements, and even daring airborne attacks.

1:14 Thus, join us as we cover all of this and more

1:18 in our special episode for the Dutch East Indies Campaign.

1:22 These long videos are very difficult to make,

1:31 so we hope that you will give us your comment,

1:41 like and share, and will consider joining

1:49 our patreon or youtube membership- links in the description.

2:04 The Dutch East Indies, probably the most important objective of the Japanese

2:09 because of its richness in petroleum oil, rubber, nickel,

2:13 tin, scrap iron, and other strategic resources,

2:16 covered a wide area with long distances

2:19 for the different Japanese task forces to travel.

2:22 This is why Japan didn’t plan to attack the Indies straight away,

2:27 instead, they had planned to first secure footholds on Malaya,

2:30 the Philippines, and British Borneo, so that they could then launch multiple

2:35 subsequent attacks against critical locations in the Indies,

2:39 most importantly their oilfields.

2:41 The Dutch, meanwhile, had seen their homeland invaded and occupied

2:46 by Nazi Germany back in May of 1940.

2:49 Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government had

2:51 managed to escape to London by May 13,

2:54 where they established a government-in-exile,

2:56 but despite this, they were now unable

2:59 to defend their colonial possessions in the East.

3:03 There, the Royal Netherlands East Indies

3:06 Army of Lieutenant-General Hein ter Poorten tried

3:09 to modernize as fast as possible in view of a possible Japanese invasion.

3:14 By December of 1941, the army had grown to 85000 personnel,

3:20 albeit inadequately equipped and poorly trained.

3:23 Ter Poorten also counted with a sizable air force,

3:26 although the 389 aircraft they had were

3:30 old and decisively outclassed by superior Japanese planes.

3:34 In the Kalimantan area of the Borneo,

3:37 the Dutch had two important western airfields that were unknown to the Japanese,

3:42 from which they could conduct air operations against the enemy.

3:46 They also counted with strong garrisons in all major cities of Dutch Borneo,

3:50 although they would not see fighting this week.

3:53 The ones that would see fighting would be the defenders in British Borneo.

3:58 This area was not only important for the Japanese to act

4:01 as a stepping stone for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies,

4:04 but it also had valuable oilfields in Miri and Serai,

4:08 which made them huge objectives.

4:10 Marshal Brooke-Popham had assigned the 2nd Battalion of the 15th

4:15 Punjab Regiment to defend the cities of Kuching and Miri,

4:19 while the local rulers of Sarawak organized a paramilitary force,

4:23 the Sarawak Rangers, defending the rest of the province.

4:27 These forces were then grouped into the Sarawak Force,

4:31 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lane.

4:33 The Japanese plan consisted of an initial attack against

4:37 Miri and Serai with the objective of securing their oilfields,

4:41 followed by a main amphibious assault against Kuching and the nearby airfields.

4:46 This operation would be carried out by the Kawaguchi Detachment,

4:50 mainly composed by the 35th Brigade of the 124th Infantry Regiment,

4:55 under the command of Major-General Kawaguchi Kiyotake.

4:59 They would also be escorted and supported

5:02 by a small fleet under Rear-Admiral Kurita Takeo,

5:05 consisting of three cruisers, six destroyers, and 746 SNLF marines.

5:11 On December 13, the Kawaguchi Detachment left

5:15 Cam Rahn Bay in ten transport ships, heading to the British Borneo.

5:22 On December 16, two detachments of the 56th Division completed

5:26 preparations to conduct amphibious invasions on Davao and the Sulu Islands,

5:30 intending to secure a southern airfield on the Philippines

5:33 and to prepare further attacks on Borneo from Jolo.

5:37 The detachments were under the general

5:39 command of Major-General Sakaguchi Shizuo,

5:41 and they would depart Palau en route to Davao later that day.

5:45 Meanwhile, in Borneo,

5:47 the main body of the Kawaguchi Detachment successfully landed

5:50 on Miri and Serai in the early hours of December 16.

5:55 They were met with little resistance and could

5:58 thus occupy their oilfields and airfields with ease.

6:01 SNLF marines also landed on the coast near

6:05 Lutong and managed to occupy its important oil refinery.

6:09 Immediately, the Japanese would start

6:11 working on restoring the captured oilfields,

6:13 while Kawaguchi prepared his forces for their main assault on Kuching,

6:17 which we’ll cover next week.

6:19 The following day, however,

6:21 Dutch reconnaissance from Singkawang learned about the Japanese

6:25 invasion and then launched an air attack over Miri,

6:29 although it was unsuccessful.

6:30 On December 17, the Japanese were also hit by the Chungpu earthquake,

6:35 which caused considerable damage in Taiwan.

6:38 It seems Japan was fighting even nature itself at this point.

6:43 Meanwhile, in Miri, the invaders were subjected to two

6:46 more Dutch air attacks in the last two days,

6:49 which would fail to inflict heavy damage on the Japanese,

6:52 although one of the Dutch flying boats

6:55 would successfully manage to sink the destroyer Shinonome, killing its 228 crew.

7:02 This week would also end with a terrible

7:05 outcome for the American defenders in the Philippines.

7:07 On Davao, the Sakaguchi and Miura Detachments

7:10 finally landed under the cover of night.

7:13 The city defenders, consisting of a single

7:16 regiment of the Philippine 101st Division, were completely taken by surprise,

7:21 yet they offered as much resistance as they could.

7:24 With the Miura Detachment suffering many casualties,

7:27 General Sakaguchi was forced to order forward some

7:30 of his forces reserved for the attack on the Sulu Islands.

7:34 Together, these forces would storm and take the city by midday,

7:38 and a final attack would be then carried out

7:42 against the remaining Filipino defenders behind the Davao River,

7:45 finally forcing them to retreat northwestwards.

7:48 Upon reaching Davao, the Japanese soldiers would be cheered

7:52 by the sizable Japanese population of the city,

7:55 liberating them from the warehouses in which they

7:57 had been detained at the start of the war.

8:00 While the battered Miura Detachment stayed to garrison

8:03 Davao and continued the liberation of Japanese inhabitants,

8:07 the Sakaguchi Detachment would prepare to continue on towards Jolo

8:13 on the Sulu Islands and then to Tarakan in Dutch Borneo.

8:19 The following day, General Kawaguchi and two battalions

8:22 of his detachment departed Miri en route to Kuching,

8:26 where Colonel Lane was actually preparing

8:28 to retreat southwest towards Dutch Borneo.

8:31 To cover the convoys, the Japanese also bombarded the Singkawang airfield,

8:37 forcing the Dutch to move their aircraft to Sumatra.

8:41 Despite their efforts though,

8:43 Kawaguchi’s convoy would be discovered by Dutch submarines,

8:47 who then started to prey upon their victims.

8:51 December 23 would see the Dutch attack by two submarines, the K-XIV and K-XVI,

8:56 over the Japanese convoys en route to Kuching,

8:59 which managed to sink two troop transports and one destroyer.

9:03 On Christmas Eve, Kawaguchi’s attack on Kuching began earl y in the morning,

9:08 landing at the mouth of the Santubong River.

9:11 The British defenders offered fierce resistance, but in the end,

9:15 Colonel Lane decided the following day to retreat

9:19 through the jungles towards Dutch West Borneo.

9:22 December 25 would also see the invasion of Jolo in the Sulu Islands,

9:27 with General Sakaguchi departing Davao back on December 23.

9:31 Upon arriving to his destination,

9:33 one of his battalions landed at Jolo and captured the city

9:38 and the airfield facing slight resistance from the local inhabitants.

9:42 Now, Sakaguchi had his main base

9:45 ready to conduct operations against Dutch Borneo.

9:48 On December 28, upon returning back to Miri from his attack on Kuching,

9:53 General Kawaguchi ordered the battalion-strong Watanabe

9:56 Force to advance and then capture Brunei

9:59 with the objective of acquiring small boats for an attack on North Borneo.

10:04 Three days later, the Watanabe Force carried out their orders,

10:08 but found all big ships in Brunei’s

10:11 harbor already destroyed by the British defenders.

10:14 This forced Kawaguchi to employ only small fishing boats for his next attacks.

10:19 After taking Labuan Island on January 1,

10:22 Kawaguchi decided to launch his main attack on North Borneo.

10:27 On January 8, two infantry platoons

10:29 occupied the towns of Jesselton and Beaufort,

10:32 while the Watanabe Force captured Sandakan,

10:35 the seat of government of North Borneo,

10:38 then rescuing some 600 interned Japanese citizens.

10:42 Kawaguchi’s men would then continue their advance throughout British Borneo,

10:46 with Governor Robert Smith finally surrendering on January 19.

10:50 Meanwhile, the Watanabe Force captured Tawau on January

10:54 24 and Lahad Datu on January 31,

10:59 freeing up a further 1500 interned Japanese citizens.

11:03 During the talks of the Arcadia Conference,

11:06 the Allied governments had agreed to form a joint

11:09 command and an integrated staff for the Pacific War:

11:14 the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, or ABDACOM for short.

11:17 It was to be responsible for the defense

11:20 of the vast area that ranged from Burma to northwestern Australia,

11:24 and for the maintenance of the Malay Barrier,

11:27 a line running down the Malayan Peninsula through

11:30 the southernmost islands of the Dutch East Indies.

11:33 British General Sir Archibald Wavell was the man

11:36 appointed as Supreme Commander of the ABDACOM,

11:38 with Dutch General Hein ter Poorten as commander of the land forces,

11:43 British Air Marshal Sir Richard Peirse as commander of air forces,

11:47 and American Admiral Thomas Hart as commander of naval forces.

11:51 The year of 1942 didn’t start as a normal and regular year for the Dutch.

11:57 Their homeland, ravaged by war, was under the occupation of the enemy Germans;

12:03 their government and their queen were in exile,

12:06 helping the Allies in any manner they could;

12:09 and their most important colony had become a target for Japanese expansion.

12:14 But this colony was not defenseless at all,

12:18 as Lieutenant-General Hein ter Poorten counted with around 85000 soldiers,

12:22 with most of them concentrated at the island of Java.

12:26 The Dutch also counted with a sizable naval force of 5 cruisers, 8 destroyers,

12:33 12 submarines and 56 other ships,

12:36 under the command of Lieutenant-Admiral Conrad Helfrich,

12:39 nicknamed "Ship-a-day Helfrich",

12:41 because he sank more Japanese ships in the first weeks

12:44 of the war than the entire British or American Navies together.

12:48 It’s worth mentioning that Helfrich’s small force of submarines

12:52 was a formidable opponent for the Japanese navy,

12:55 sinking several of their ships as we’ve seen in the previous weeks.

13:00 Dutch air power was an important threat as well,

13:03 having around 500 aircraft at their disposal,

13:06 from which some 300 were frontline aircraft.

13:09 These were based on several secret airfields scattered around the East Indies,

13:14 such as Samarinda II or Singkawang II,

13:17 to where the Dutch planes would be transferred in case of war,

13:21 trying to prevent their destruction by a Japanese air attack.

13:25 These airfields were, however, quickly discovered by the invaders,

13:29 then becoming vital strategic objectives and easy prey for Japanese bombers.

13:34 For the invasion of the Dutch East Indies,

13:38 the Japanese plan stipulated that they first needed

13:41 to secure footholds on Malaya and the Philippines.

13:44 After this was achieved,

13:46 the Japanese would then launch an amphibious invasion of Borneo,

13:50 making it the stepping stone from which

13:52 to launch the invasion of the East Indies.

13:55 Absolute coordination was essential for this operation,

13:58 especially since the Indies were the most important target

14:02 of the Japanese offensives due to its richness in petroleum oil,

14:06 rubber, nickel, tin, scrap iron and other strategic resources.

14:11 The 16th Army under Lieutenant-General Imamura Hitoshi was appointed

14:15 by the commander of the Southern

14:17 Expeditionary Army Group General Hisaichi Terauchi,

14:20 to carry out the invasion of the East Indies,

14:23 supported by the 3rd Air Force once their operations in Malaya had concluded.

14:28 Originally, this army was composed

14:30 by the 2nd Division and the Sakaguchi Detachment,

14:33 which took part in the conquests of Davao and Jolo;

14:37 but Tokyo had also already planned for the 38th and 48th Divisions,

14:42 as well as the South Seas Detachment and many other units,

14:46 to be assigned to the 16th Army as the capture of Hong Kong,

14:50 the Philippines, Malaya, Guam and Rabaul progressed.

14:53 Initially supporting the invasion of the Philippines,

14:57 the 3rd Fleet of Admiral Takahashi and its 11th Air

15:01 Fleet were also appointed to support the Dutch East Indies campaign.

15:04 The plan for the 16th Army was to launch a series

15:08 of naval invasions against key points in the Dutch East Indies,

15:12 namely some of the secret airfields that we’ve discussed,

15:15 as the Japanese would need air support

15:18 from these points for their planned invasion of Java.

15:21 This plan, drafted by the leading commanders of the 3rd Fleet,

15:25 was very specific about where and when

15:28 each unit would carry out the invasion operations.

15:31 After securing Davao and Jolo,

15:33 the Sakaguchi Detachment would land on Tarakan Island around

15:37 the 33rd day after the start of the war,

15:40 then launching an invasion of Balikpapan ten days later.

15:44 Once Balikpapan was under Japanese hands,

15:47 General Sakaguchi would naval invade Banjarmasin around the 53rd

15:51 day before finally landing on Bali some 16 days later.

15:56 Meanwhile, after taking Hong Kong,

15:58 two battalions of the 38th Division would assemble in Palau

16:03 to seize Ambon and then attack Kupang in Timor Island;

16:06 while the rest of the division would be

16:09 appointed to launch the invasion of southern Sumatra.

16:12 Finally, the main force of this army would

16:15 execute the invasion of the island of Java.

16:18 The 2nd Division would be responsible for the landings in western Java,

16:22 while the 48th Division would take charge of the invasion of eastern Java.

16:27 The 3rd Fleet’s Sasebo Force of SNLF marines and Yokosuka Force

16:32 of paratroopers would also be responsible for the subsequent capture of Manado,

16:37 Kendari and Makassar in the Celebes,

16:39 while also assisting in the operations against Timor.

16:43 By January 3, with the rapid advances on the Malayan

16:48 and Philippine fronts and the successful capture of British Borneo,

16:51 the Japanese command finally felt ready to begin the Dutch East Indies campaign.

16:57 On January 6, Takahashi’s fleet arrived at Davao,

17:00 where the Sakaguchi Detachment had already concentrated.

17:04 The following day, the invasion force departed Malalag

17:07 Bay heading towards Tarakan Island in Dutch Borneo.

17:11 They were escorted by a fleet consisting of 9 destroyers and a light-cruiser,

17:16 under the command of Rear-Admiral Nishimura Shoji.

17:19 Meanwhile, the Dutch had a garrison of around 1400 men in Tarakan,

17:25 led by Lieutenant-Colonel Simon de Waal.

17:27 This force had prepared defensive positions

17:30 expecting a Japanese attack to the west, yet they were to be surprised.

17:35 On January 10, Dutch reconnaissance detected

17:38 the Japanese convoy en route to Tarakan,

17:40 so de Waal ordered the destruction of all oil installations in the island.

17:45 He also sent some bombers to disrupt the landings, but to no avail,

17:50 as by the early hours of January 11

17:53 after the official declaration of war on the Netherlands,

17:56 some SNLF marines and Sakaguchi’s main force

17:58 had already landed north of the Amal River.

18:02 They then marched south to the mouth of the river under a burning red sky,

18:07 where they stormed and outflanked some Dutch pillboxes.

18:09 That morning, a battalion of the Sakaguchi Detachment also landed

18:13 further south at Tandjoeng Batoe to capture the Lingkas oil fields.

18:18 This unit tried to advance through the jungle,

18:21 but was slowed down by the extremely dense vegetation.

18:25 Sakaguchi also lost communications with them,

18:28 so the Japanese general didn’t know of their whereabouts.

18:31 At the same time, aided by a Japanese guide who knew the area,

18:36 Sakaguchi’s main force broke through the jungle and got

18:39 to the north side of the Tarakan oil field by midday.

18:43 As the Japanese advanced north of the Tarakan Oil field the Dutch

18:47 bombarded them with artillery and mortars far from Saraber's support point.

18:52 The Dutch and Japanese made several simultaneous offensives against another,

18:56 but eventually the Japanese launched a series of night raids

19:00 and Yamamoto's troops managed to capture both lines of Dutch Barracks.

19:04 The defenders had also lost many men,

19:07 and their communications with the coastal batteries were breaking down.

19:11 This left de Waal with no choice but to capitulate on the morning of January 12.

19:17 Yet without communications, some Dutch units were still fighting on.

19:22 One of these units was the Karoengan Battery,

19:25 which came into contact with the Japanese

19:27 battalion that had lost communications around noon.

19:30 Yet despite the sustained attack, the Karoengan Battery accurately shot and sunk

19:36 two Japanese minesweepers and one landing craft.

19:39 The battery was finally captured on January 13,

19:42 subjected to the Japanese vengeance for the loss of their minesweepers,

19:47 who then executed most of its crew.

19:50 Sakaguchi had lost only 7 men in the entire battle,

19:54 while the IJN lost around 250 men, mainly in the destroyed minesweepers.

19:59 In contrast, the Dutch lost around 300 men, with the rest ending up captured.

20:05 The same day that the Sakaguchi Detachment was landing on Tarakan,

20:10 Rear-Admiral Takagi Takeo started the IJN operation in the Celebes.

20:15 An invasion fleet under Rear-Admiral Tanaka Raizo,

20:19 consisting of 3 cruisers and 11 destroyers, escorted the Sasebo Force,

20:24 consisting of 3200 SNLF marines,

20:27 while some 762 paratroopers from the Yokosuka Force

20:32 prepared to be dropped on the Langoan airfield.

20:35 The main force of Sasebo would land around Manado

20:39 to envelop the Dutch defenders and capture the town,

20:43 with another force of 1400 SNLF marines also landing

20:47 at Kema to help the paratroopers secure the airfield.

20:50 In the Celebes, Colonel Marinus Vooren had substantial forces under his command,

20:55 spread across three major areas: Manado, Kendari and Makassar.

21:00 Manado was defended by around 1500 men under Major Ben Schillmöller,

21:06 mainly from the National Reserve battalion.

21:08 In the early morning of January 11,

21:11 the Sasebo Force came ashore at Manado and Kume,

21:14 repulsing a small number of Dutch

21:16 units and heading towards the Langoan airfield.

21:19 A couple of hours later, the Yokosuka Force was dropped on Langoan,

21:24 where the paratroopers managed to completely seize the airfield.

21:27 In response to the strong Japanese attack, the defenders retreated to Tinoör,

21:32 where they were finally crushed by the SNLF marines by noon.

21:36 With the fall of Manado, Tomohon and Tondano,

21:40 Schillmöller had decided by night to retreat with most

21:43 of his forces to the west towards Amoerang,

21:46 where he would commence guerrilla warfare.

21:48 The following day, the Japanese parachuted

21:51 a company of reinforcements at Manado.

21:54 Soon, all the Japanese forces made contact at Langoan and captured the city.

21:59 With Schillmöller’s retreat,

22:01 some scattered Dutch units also started to wage guerrilla warfare,

22:05 so the Dutch formed in total five guerrilla groups operating separately.

22:10 This paratroop operation at Manado was

22:13 the first ever carried out by Japanese forces, and it was a complete success.

22:19 The Sasebo Force would finally remain in Manado

22:22 until January 16 to carry out mopping-up operations,

22:26 although most of the guerrilla groups would manage to escape them.

22:30 The successful capture of Tarakan and Manado signified

22:33 the start of the Dutch East Indies campaign,

22:36 and this was something that deeply concerned the ABDA Command.

22:42 After conducting mopping-up operations in Tarakan and Manado,

22:47 the Japanese forces prepared to launch simultaneous attacks

22:51 on Balikpapan and Kendari by the end of this week.

22:55 Reinforced by units from Jolo,

22:57 the Sakaguchi Detachment departed Tarakan on January 21,

23:01 supported by Admiral Nishimura’s fleet.

23:03 Their plan was to have a battalion-sized unit secretly ascend

23:07 the Wain River in front of the city of Balikpapan to advance

23:11 deep into the rear of the city so that it could

23:15 take control of its weak points in a swift surprise attack.

23:19 Meanwhile, the Dutch garrison in Balikpapan numbered some 1100 men,

23:23 mainly from the 6th Battalion,

23:26 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cornelis van den Hoogenband.

23:30 On January 18, alerted of an incoming Japanese attack,

23:34 the Dutch commander ordered the destruction

23:36 of all oil installations in Balikpapan,

23:38 trying to prevent their full employment by the enemy.

23:42 On January 22, the Japanese invasion fleet was sighted by an American PBY,

23:47 so the Dutch sent some Martin B-10 bombers and 12

23:51 F2A Brewster Buffaloes to escort to attack the convoy,

23:54 as well as some of their submarines.

23:57 Despite sinking the Nana Maru transport ship

24:00 and damaging others while losing a single B-10,

24:03 they could not prevent the landings of the Sakaguchi

24:06 Detachment by the early hours of January 24.

24:09 Without meeting any resistance,

24:11 the main force of the Sakaguchi Detachment quickly seized

24:15 the Dutch airfield and then continued on towards Balikpapan.

24:19 At the same time, an American task force sent

24:23 by Admiral Hart was approaching the vicinity of the Dutch city.

24:28 This task force, consisting of 4 destroyers under

24:31 the command of Rear-Admiral William Glassford and Commander Paul Talbot,

24:35 launched a strong attack over 12 Japanese transport ships,

24:40 sinking four transports and damaging many more vessels.

24:44 In return, two of the American destroyers only

24:47 suffered light damage before retreating back to the sea.

24:50 In the meantime, the surprise unit got

24:52 to the mouth of the Wain River by early morning,

24:56 beginning their ascent up the river.

24:58 On the morning of January 25, these soldiers got to the rear of the city,

25:03 while the main force of the detachment

25:06 reached the northern outskirts of Balikpapan.

25:08 The Dutch garrison had been taken completely by surprise, and by midday,

25:13 the surprise unit advanced into Batu

25:15 Ampar and defeated Hoogenband’s forces in battle.

25:18 They would then join with the rest of the detachment to enter

25:22 into the city of Balikpapan and capture the whole urban area.

25:27 Mopping-up operations began the next day, aimed against the town of Samarinda,

25:32 while a battalion-sized detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Kume Motozo

25:36 was created to seize the oilfields at Sanga Sanga.

25:40 Simultaneous to the Battle of Balikpapan,

25:43 Admiral Takagi’s forces had left Bangka on January 21,

25:47 launching their attack on Kendari three days later.

25:50 With the landings of the Sasebo Force by early morning,

25:54 the small Dutch garrison of 400 soldiers was caught off guard and had

25:59 to retreat to Mandongan after destroying as much

26:02 of the Kendari II airfield as possible.

26:05 Kendari and its airfield then fell by midday,

26:08 while the Dutch forces retreated further back to Tawanga on the Koneweha River,

26:13 from where they would start to execute guerrilla warfare.

26:16 Due to intense rain making visibility poor,

26:19 the next morning a happy accident happened for the Allies,

26:24 as the destroyer Hatsuharu collided with the cruiser Nagara.

26:28 The collision left them both with severe damage,

26:30 so they had to sail back to Davao for repairs.

26:34 Yet by January 25, with the fall of Balikpapan and Kendari,

26:39 the Japanese had achieved their next step

26:41 in their plan of invasion for the Dutch East Indies,

26:44 getting slowly but surely ever closer to the island of Java.

26:49 Since the fall of Kuching,

26:51 the remnants of the Punjabi battalion that was sent to defend

26:55 British Borneo had retreated to the airfield of Singkawang II,

26:59 joining a garrison of 750 Dutch soldiers.

27:02 There, Colonel Lane placed his battalion under

27:05 Dutch command for the defense of the airfield,

27:08 while the Japanese forces of the Kawaguchi Detachment prepared to execute

27:12 a land-based attack from the north and a coastal assault from the west.

27:18 On January 24, this attack finally came into fruition,

27:22 as five Japanese companies crossed the border

27:25 and started their advance on Singkawang.

27:27 The following day, they had reached a village northeast of the airfield,

27:31 where Colonel Lane decided to launch a swift counterattack on January 26.

27:36 Yet this attack was repulsed, and by night,

27:40 the Japanese had launched a strong assault

27:43 that had turned the flanks of the defenders.

27:45 With the battle lost,

27:47 the Allies started the evacuation of the Singkawang II airfield on January 27,

27:52 with a VCL light-tank and a Braat Overvalgen covering their retreat

27:56 at the crossroads between the towns of Ledo and Sanggau,

28:00 thus inflicting heavy casualties on the invaders.

28:02 Although the Overvalgen managed to retreat to Ledo only with pierced tyres,

28:07 the tank had to be abandoned and was later captured by Japanese soldiers.

28:11 Yet despite their valiant efforts, they could not prevent two Punjabi

28:16 platoons from getting surrounded and annihilated.

28:19 By the evening of January 27 though, most of the defenders would reach Ledo

28:25 and would establish new defensive positions there.

28:28 Yet at the same time, Japanese forces would land at Pemangkat,

28:32 capturing several coastal towns to the south and getting close to Bengkajang,

28:37 thus threatening to surround the Allied forces at Ledo.

28:41 This forced the defenders to retreat further east to Sanggau and Sintang,

28:46 then fighting a series of rearguard actions until January 31,

28:50 when the Allied forces would finally decide

28:52 to pull back to the south coast of Borneo,

28:56 where they would start to fight guerrilla warfare.

28:58 And on the other side of the island,

29:01 the Kume Detachment had crossed the Doendang River by January 29,

29:05 getting very close to the oilfields of Sanga Sanga.

29:09 Back on January 24, some 300 Dutch soldiers under

29:13 Captain Monteiro had started the demolition of such oilfields,

29:17 leaving behind 80 men to delay the Japanese

29:20 advance while Monteiro retreated towards the town of Samarinda.

29:24 These 80 men were then engaged by the Kume Detachment,

29:28 getting completely pummeled and retreating in disarray towards Loa Djanan.

29:32 After the fall of Sanga Sanga, Monteiro decided to raze Samarinda and move

29:37 his headquarters to Loa Djanan by January 31,

29:40 where he was planning to execute a long-term delaying action

29:44 of the Japanese advance along the Mahakam

29:46 River towards the Samarinda II airfield.

29:49 But this week would also see the launch

29:52 of a very important operation within the Dutch East Indies campaign:

29:56 the invasion of Ambon.

29:58 Ambon Island had always been the political,

30:01 economical and military center of the Moluccas,

30:04 so it was natural that it held strategic importance for the Japanese.

30:08 Two battalions of the 38th Division under Major-General Ito

30:12 Takeo were appointed to carry out the Ambon Operation,

30:16 later reinforced with an additional battalion

30:18 prior to the start of the invasion.

30:21 The Eastern Detachment would be supported by an important

30:24 fleet primarily consisting of 2 cruisers and 14 destroyers,

30:28 led by Rear-Admiral Takagi Takeo.

30:30 The Japanese planned to land on the east

30:33 coast of the southern peninsula of Ambon,

30:35 where the Allied defenses were considered weak,

30:38 so that the invaders could catch and destroy the main force

30:42 of the defenders and promptly seize the strategic points of the island.

30:47 Furthermore, Takagi also planned to land a regiment

30:50 of SNLF marines to capture the Laha airfield.

30:53 Meanwhile, the Dutch counted with the Molukken

30:56 Brigade of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Kapitz,

30:59 totaling some 2600 men; and on December 17,

31:02 they had been further reinforced by the Gull Force,

31:07 consisting of around 1100 Australian

31:10 soldiers under Lieutenant-Colonel William Scott.

31:13 They had started to suffer heavy

31:15 bombardment by Japanese aircraft since January 24,

31:18 in preparation for the invasion to come.

31:20 Three days later, the Eastern Detachment departed

31:23 Davao heading towards Ambon; and on January 30,

31:27 the invasion convoy was discovered by a Brewster Buffalo fighter,

31:32 although no air attacks were conducted.

31:35 By nightfall, the convoy had entered the Hitu-lama anchorage,

31:39 and on the early morning of January 31,

31:41 the Eastern Detachment began to land on the shores of Ambon.

31:45 Following the landing, Ito ordered his men to push ahead and advance

31:49 towards the city of Ambon across the steep mountains.

31:52 Thus, a Japanese battalion quickly took the strong positions near Paso

31:57 and Batugong and then advanced towards Ambon and Halong by February 1,

32:01 while the rest of the detachment, aided by air and artillery support,

32:05 overran the Dutch forces on the coast

32:08 and advanced directly on Ambon in two columns.

32:11 With most of his defenses designed to repel attacks from the north and west,

32:17 Kapitz could do nothing to help his desperately-retreating forces.

32:22 Furthermore, at noon on January 31, the Allied communications were cut,

32:26 so Kapitz could not communicate with the 400 Australian defenders at Laha,

32:31 which were being attacked by SNLF marines.

32:34 On the early morning of February 1,

32:37 the Japanese would finally consolidate on Paso

32:40 and Ito would manage to capture Ambon at last,

32:43 forcing Kapitz and some 800 Dutch soldiers to surrender at Halong.

32:49 But the Australians kept fighting on, successfully repelling

32:52 the Japanese invaders at Laha and on the Nona plateau.

32:57 Following the events of the last couple of weeks,

33:00 General Sakaguchi and his detachment had achieved

33:03 their second milestone in the Dutch East Indies operation:

33:07 the conquest of Balikpapan.

33:09 While the Kume Detachment was mopping-up the area,

33:11 he was now preparing to launch the invasion

33:14 of Banjarmasin in conjunction with a naval strike force.

33:18 But back on January 28,

33:20 it was finally decided that he would receive no support from the IJN

33:25 and that his main forces would be appointed to support the invasion of Java.

33:30 He then formed a strong unit under Colonel Yamamoto Kyohei,

33:34 built around the main strength of the 146th Regiment.

33:38 The plan for this unit was to rapidly advance

33:42 towards the city of Banjarmasin after going ashore at Tanahgrogot,

33:45 while a small element of the unit

33:48 under Captain Okamoto Yoshibumi maneuvered along the coast

33:51 in small boats to land on the southern

33:54 area of the city and capture the Martapura airfield.

33:57 On the night of January 30,

34:00 the Okamoto Unit sailed from Balikpapan and started its advance southwards.

34:05 The following morning, the Yamamoto Unit also departed Balikpapan and reached

34:10 Adang Bay by the night of the same day.

34:13 After landing, the Yamamoto Unit quickly seized

34:16 the town of Tanahgrogot on February 1, but the 60 Dutch soldiers of the local

34:22 garrison had burnt the town before retreating.

34:25 This began the widespread native support for the invaders

34:28 and culminated with many desertions on the side of the Dutch.

34:33 By February 3, all the Japanese

34:36 forces under Yamamoto had concentrated on Tanahgrogot,

34:39 finally starting their overland trek towards Banjarmasin.

34:42 At this point, Japanese forces were also very

34:46 close to capturing the important town of Samarinda.

34:50 From Loa Djanan, Captain Monteiro had been tasked with delaying as much

34:55 as he could the Japanese advance towards the important Samarinda II airfield,

35:00 but his mission was a very difficult one,

35:02 especially since he wasn't allowed to launch any counterattack.

35:05 Furthermore, the Kume Detachment had already

35:08 captured the oilfields at Sanga Sanga,

35:11 and the Japanese were now ready to continue

35:14 their advance against the town of Samarinda;

35:17 only Monteiro’s men stood in their way.

35:20 On February 2 though, Dutch forces discovered that another Japanese

35:24 column was advancing from Balikpapan towards Mentawir,

35:28 forcing Monteiro to move again his headquarters,

35:30 this time to the town of Tenggarong.

35:33 But Colonel Kume was also hot on the heels of the Dutch defenders,

35:38 capturing Loa Djanan and Samarinda by February

35:41 3 and putting much pressure on Monteiro’s forces.

35:44 From Tenggarong, the Dutch soldiers would

35:47 continue to offer resistance until February 8,

35:50 when the Japanese forces managed to take the town.

35:54 By February 15 though, Monteiro had established new defensive positions

35:58 at the towns of Benua Baroe and Kota Bangoen,

36:01 from where he would continue to delay

36:04 the advance of the Kume Detachment until early March.

36:08 Although the Samarinda II airfield was an important objective of the Japanese,

36:12 who wanted to secure air superiority

36:14 for when they launched their invasion of Java;

36:17 time would eventually tell that it was not needed, as we’ll see in the future.

36:23 Back to Banjarmasin, Yamamoto faced an important problem:

36:26 there were no roads or bridges in the jungle-covered mountain ranges,

36:31 making their advance towards Banjarmasin very difficult.

36:35 Furthermore, as they clambered up steep mountains,

36:38 they also had to fend off against swarms of mosquitoes,

36:42 land leeches and other insects.

36:44 Yet by February 4, the Japanese had reached the town of Moeara Oeja,

36:49 successfully repulsing a small Dutch army

36:52 but failing to quickly pursue them towards Martapura.

36:56 In response, the Dutch executed a scorched earth tactic,

36:59 causing enormous destruction in the towns east of the Barito River.

37:04 By February 7, reinforced by two brigades,

37:07 the defenders also tried to make a stand at Kandangan,

37:11 but they ended up retreating to some

37:13 more solid defensive positions at Martapura.

37:15 At this point, they had destroyed most of the airfields

37:19 and oilfields in the area to prevent their employment by the enemy,

37:24 with the evacuation of Banjarmasin also well under way.

37:28 The Okamoto Unit had also captured the port of Kotabaroe

37:31 and the northern end of Laut Island on February 7,

37:35 then continuing southwards and landing on Banjarmasin the next day,

37:38 trying to cut off the defenders’ escape.

37:41 Yet by February 9, some Dutch forces had already left East Borneo in boats,

37:47 heading west towards Kotawaringin and leaving only

37:50 a small number of men at the Oelin airfield.

37:54 The following morning, an advance party of the Yamamoto Unit finally came

37:58 out of the jungles and defeated the small Dutch resistance,

38:02 capturing Martapura with the aid of the indigenous people.

38:06 That same day, the Okamoto Unit also arrived and captured the Oelin airfield,

38:11 completing the conquest of Banjarmasin.

38:14 Meanwhile in Ambon, the Eastern Detachment

38:17 continued their conquest of the island.

38:19 General Ito had successfully captured the town of Ambon by February 1,

38:24 forcing the main Dutch force under commander Kapitz to surrender and sent not

38:29 to the Australian defenders and Dutch soldiers

38:32 under Lt Colonel Scott to do the same.

38:35 This message was lost and the Australians fought on for 2 more days.

38:40 With Ambon and the northern side of the peninsula secured,

38:43 Ito then sent his main forces to defeat

38:46 the stubborn Australian defenders to the south,

38:49 but they could only establish a foothold

38:51 on the Nona plateau due to the strong Australian resistance.

38:55 On February 2, SNLF marines would launch

38:58 a strong charge against the Laha airfield,

39:01 but the attack made little progress and they suffered many casualties in return.

39:06 In the meantime, however, a small Japanese force that had gone through

39:11 the jungles into the highlands north of Laha,

39:14 defeated dozens of enemy troops and prepared

39:16 to launch a surprise attack on the airfield.

39:19 The following day, this attack was launched

39:22 into the rear of the surprised Australians,

39:24 quickly overcoming their defenses and forcing them to surrender.

39:28 That same day, the main units of the Eastern Detachment

39:32 captured an important highland in the center of the Nona plateau,

39:36 getting very close to the southern tip of the peninsula and finally

39:40 forcing the rest of the Australian soldiers and Dutch defenders to surrender.

39:44 With Ambon now firmly under Japanese hands,

39:48 Ito would command mopping-up operations for the next two days,

39:52 then starting to prepare for the invasion of the island of Timor.

39:56 Turning back to the Dutch East Indies,

39:58 the staff of the ABDACOM was very worried about

40:01 the rapid progress of the Japanese advance through the Pacific.

40:04 The main naval base of the Allied command, based at Soerabaja,

40:08 was within range of Japanese aircraft since the fall of Kendari,

40:13 sustaining a heavy pummeling on a daily basis;

40:16 and the battered naval forces of Admiral

40:19 Hart were definitely outnumbered in the Pacific.

40:21 Yet their bold raid on Balikpapan during the start

40:25 of the battle had a very promising outcome,

40:28 so Hart decided to form the ABDA Striking Force,

40:31 initially consisting of several American and Dutch warships,

40:36 led by Dutch Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman.

40:38 By February 3, the Allied forces had gathered east of Soerabaja,

40:43 then preparing to sortie the following night to head

40:46 through the Flores Sea towards the Makassar Strait,

40:49 where they had learned that the IJN was going to carry out a landing operation.

40:54 Hart’s surprise attack was actually very risky,

40:57 because the Allied fleet had to transit during daylight,

41:01 where they could be easily discovered.

41:03 Furthermore, Japanese bombers had already sighted

41:05 them during one of their daily raids,

41:08 so the element of surprise was already lost.

41:11 During the morning of February 4,

41:14 Japanese airmen from Kendari finally pinpointed the exact

41:18 location of Doorman’s forces near the Kangean Islands,

41:21 so Vice-Admiral Tsukahara Nishizo of the 11th Air Fleet

41:25 launched 36 G4M and 24 G3M bombers to get them.

41:30 From the get-go, the Japanese aviators went for the Allied cruisers,

41:34 dropping bombs over the Marblehead and the Houston.

41:37 Although the Houston skillfully evaded all bombs,

41:40 the Marblehead was hit hard on the quarterdeck, suffering heavy damage.

41:45 The final attacks were then launched against the Houston and De Ruyter,

41:49 with all of the bombs missing except for the last one;

41:53 this scored a devastating hit over the Houston,

41:56 causing severe damage on the American cruiser.

41:59 By midday, Doorman realized that his forces were in great peril,

42:03 so he started to retreat west back to Soerabaja.

42:07 The first operation of the ABDA Striking Force had ended in a fiasco,

42:12 but at least they hadn’t suffered any sunk ship.

42:16 Meanwhile, with the mopping-up of Ambon finally completed,

42:20 the Japanese invasion fleet commanded by Admiral

42:23 Takagi departed Kendari on February 6,

42:26 escorting the Sasebo Force of SNLF marines for the conquest of Makassar.

42:31 Due to Doorman’s failure at the Makassar Strait,

42:34 this fleet was only hindered by a US submarine,

42:37 which actually managed to sink the destroyer Natsushio.

42:40 Despite this, the landings proceeded according to plan on February 9; and soon,

42:47 the 1000 Dutch soldiers of Colonel Voorman were

42:50 overwhelmed and forced to retreat into the jungles.

42:53 The capture of Makassar marked the fall of the Celebes,

42:57 where only some small guerrilla groups continued to operate.

43:00 This also left the road to Java open at last,

43:04 but still there was one major objective that the Japanese

43:08 wanted to capture before launching their main offensive:

43:11 the key airfield of Palembang in southern Sumatra.

43:15 As we’ve covered previously,

43:17 General Imamura had appointed the 38th Division of Lieutenant-General

43:21 Sano Tadayoshi to conduct the invasion of Sumatra.

43:25 After their successful capture of Hong Kong,

43:28 the division had advanced into Cam Ranh Bay by January 24;

43:32 while the 3rd Air Force had been executing

43:35 air raids over Sumatra’s main airfields since late December.

43:39 Furthermore, Japanese forces had also occupied the Anambas Islands on January

43:44 26 to set-up air bases for conducting the Sumatra and Java operations.

43:49 This was because the invaders were planning to parachute

43:53 a regiment of paratroopers over the key Palembang airfield,

43:56 while the bulk of the 38th Division landed

43:59 at the Bangka Island and navigated up the Musi,

44:02 Saleh and Telang rivers to support the attack on Palembang.

44:06 Once Palembang was finally under Japanese hands,

44:09 the invaders then planned to swiftly seize the Martapura and Tanjungkarang

44:14 airfields as well as the oil installations around Talang Abab and Limau.

44:18 The first landings would be carried out by a two

44:22 battalion-strong advance party that departed Cam Rahn Bay on February 9,

44:25 with the rest of the division following them two days

44:29 later to ascend the Musi River and join the battlefield.

44:33 The 38th’s landings were to be supported

44:36 by a strong fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo,

44:40 mainly consisting of six cruisers and eleven destroyers

44:43 from the 2nd Fleet and the Southern Expeditionary Fleet.

44:46 On the other side, the Dutch counted

44:49 with four territorial commands on the island of Sumatra,

44:53 under the overall control of Major-General Roelof Overakker.

44:57 In south Sumatra in particular,

44:59 Lieutenant-Colonel Vogelesang had at his disposal about 2000 men at Palembang,

45:04 with a further two companies at Djambi,

45:07 some 2000 British reinforcements and the support of 15 Hurricanes,

45:11 35 Hudsons and 40 Blenheims from the RAF.

45:15 Although a parachuting operation was not expected, the Dutch,

45:20 led by Admiral Helfrich, were expecting a naval invasion,

45:24 so Admiral Doorman’s ABDA Striking Force was ordered

45:27 to Oosthaven with the objective of intercepting the invasion fleet.

45:31 On February 14, with reports of Ozawa’s convoy approaching southern Sumatra,

45:37 Helfrich ordered Doorman to depart Oosthaven and carry

45:39 out a decisive attack on the invaders.

45:42 But at the same time, the Japanese paratroopers, led by Colonel Kume Seiichi,

45:48 finally started their droppings over the Palembang airfield,

45:50 covered by elements of the 3rd Air Division.

45:53 Despite the slow speed of the Japanese Ki-56

45:57 transports and the vigilant patrols of the RAF,

46:01 the invaders achieved complete surprise in their paratrooper operation,

46:04 aided by the dense smoke of the burned oilfields of Borneo and the Celebes.

46:10 By midday, 180 men had been dropped into the airfield,

46:14 with a further 90 men coming down on the oil refineries of Pladjoe.

46:19 While strafing the Dutch anti-aircraft defenses,

46:22 Japanese planes also dropped weapons,

46:24 ammunition and other equipment for the paratroopers to employ.

46:28 Benefitting from the close air support,

46:31 Kume’s men quickly engaged and defeated waves of Dutch soldiers,

46:35 inflicting heavy casualties on them

46:38 and successfully capturing Pladjoe’s oil refineries.

46:40 Yet the fighting was bitter nonetheless,

46:43 with staunch resistance from the defenders

46:46 that tenaciously held on to the airfield.

46:49 By midnight, however,

46:50 the airfield would also fall into the hands of the invaders,

46:54 causing General Overakker to order a general retreat towards Oosthaven,

46:58 from where they would be evacuated.

47:00 At this point, the advance party of the 38th

47:04 Division had also entered into the Mentok anchorage,

47:06 with one battalion heading towards Bangka Island and the rest

47:10 of the party approaching the coast of Sumatra.

47:13 Meanwhile, in the early hours of February 15,

47:17 bad luck struck Doorman’s Striking Force,

47:19 as the Dutch destroyer Van Ghent ran aground in the Stolze

47:23 Strait and was lost due to the damage suffered.

47:26 A couple of hours later, Doorman also lost the element of surprise when they

47:30 were sighted by a Japanese floatplane from the cruiser Chōkai.

47:34 Air attacks soon followed, with Doorman recalling the outcome of the Battle

47:39 of the Makassar Strait and ordering his forces to pull back.

47:44 While they retreated,

47:45 Japanese bombers continued to drop bombs over the Allied fleet;

47:48 but at the end of the day,

47:50 only minor damage would be inflicted on the Allied vessels.

47:54 This was, however, Doorman’s second defeat

47:56 at the hands of the Japanese air power,

47:59 leaving the Japanese invasion fleet unimpeded to proceed with its plans.

48:04 In the meantime, 60 more paratroopers were

48:07 dropped over Palembang to reinforce the Japanese forces,

48:11 which were conducting mopping-up operations and were consolidating their gains;

48:15 while the advance party successfully seized Mentok and its airfield and, under

48:21 a rain of fire and bombs dropped upon them by the RAF aircraft,

48:25 then started to ascend the Musi,

48:27 Telang and Saleh rivers en route to its objectives.

48:30 Thus, the invaders rapidly got to Palembang

48:33 and successfully made contact with the paratrooper force.

48:37 At this point, Kume and his men had advanced into the city of Palembang,

48:42 and by nightfall, the 38th’s soldiers would help him secure the city.

48:46 On the next day, contact would also be

48:50 made with Pladjoe’s oil refineries and the main

48:52 strength of the 38th Division would finally

48:54 arrive at the mouth of the Musi River.

48:57 But meanwhile, General Sano ordered the Tanaka Detachment

49:01 of the advance party to advance south towards Tanjungkarang.

49:05 Departing on February 17,

49:07 the Japanese quickly seized the Talang Jimar oil field,

49:11 but their advance was bogged down by the swamp forests of the region.

49:16 By February 19, units of the Tanaka Detachment managed

49:20 to capture the Martapura airfield after a minor engagement,

49:23 then continuing their advance with haste.

49:26 That same day, the Japanese had also completed their conquest of Bangka Island,

49:31 while Sano sent the Kanki Detachment to capture Lahat and Bengkulu,

49:36 and one infantry company to advance against Jambi.

49:39 By dawn on February 20,

49:41 the Japanese had crossed the Mandah River and had gotten to Tanjungkarang.

49:47 But despite their efforts,

49:48 most of the Dutch defenders had been evacuated from Oosthaven on February 17;

49:53 the invaders could only catch with their eyes the rearguard

49:56 of the defenders as they sailed away on two gunboats.

49:59 The Tanjungkarang airfield would be captured on February 21 at long last,

50:05 then being quickly put to work for air operations against Java.

50:09 On this day, the Kanki Detachment also

50:12 departed Palembang and captured Lahat on the 22nd,

50:15 Lubuklinggau on the 23d and, after crossing a mountain range,

50:19 Bengkulu on the west coast on the 24th.

50:22 Jambi would finally fall into Japanese hands on March 4,

50:26 concluding the invasion of southern Sumatra.

50:28 The operation had been a huge success for the Japanese Empire,

50:33 capturing several airfields and oil refineries that could

50:36 further aid the war machine of the Rising Sun.

50:39 Although most of these were in a pretty bad state,

50:42 the invaders would quickly set out to repair them so

50:45 that they could put them to use for the Empire.

50:47 With the loss of Sumatra, Java was now surrounded and the decision was

50:48 made to Invasion of Bali essentially dissolve the ABDACOM,

50:48 since the island could be better defended by General ter Poorten’s command.

50:48 In the meantime, the Japanese were also

50:50 planning the invasions of Bali and Timor,

50:52 the last of Java’s dehors before the main

50:56 operation of the Dutch East Indies campaign.

51:00 The capture of Bali was assigned to the Kanemura Detachment,

51:03 consisting of a battalion of the 48th Division under Commander Kanemura Matabe.

51:08 They had traveled to Makassar by February 15,

51:12 from where they would finally depart three days later,

51:15 escorted by a support fleet consisting

51:17 of the cruiser Nagara and some seven destroyers.

51:21 Concurrently, when Admiral Helfrich discovered

51:23 that the objective of the invaders was Bali,

51:26 he quickly met with Doorman on February 18

51:29 and devised a very flawed plan for a counterattack.

51:32 Since the vessels at the disposition of the Dutch

51:35 admirals were scattered and coming from different bases,

51:38 the plan was for the attack to develop in three stages with each

51:42 group attacking separately against what they

51:44 believed was a large Japanese force.

51:47 In all fairness, instead of a counterattack, this plan looked more like a raid.

51:52 But despite their hasteness to stop the invasion,

51:55 the Japanese had already entered the Sanur anchorage by midnight,

51:59 successfully landing on Bali in the early hours of February

52:03 19 and jeopardizing the entire point of the Allied attack.

52:08 Upon landing, the Kanemura Detachment headed

52:10 westward under heavy rain and quickly

52:13 seized the Denpasar barracks and the Kuta airfield almost without resistance.

52:17 This effectively neutralized the Allied presence in Bali,

52:21 and the key town of Singaraja would finally fall a week later.

52:25 But on that day, while the main naval force stood

52:29 by for support on the sea east of Sepanjang Island,

52:32 four Japanese destroyers of the 8th Destroyer

52:35 Division and the troop transports got attacked

52:38 by a relentless aerial bombardment that hindered

52:41 their efforts and damaged one of the transports.

52:44 In fear of losing it,

52:46 the destroyers Arashio and Michishio escorted it back to Makassar,

52:50 while the destroyers Asashio and Oshio remained in the Sanur

52:54 anchorage until disembarkation was completed and finally departed after dark.

52:58 These two destroyers were about to face

53:01 the first group of the ABDA Striking Force.

53:05 Shortly before midnight,

53:06 Doorman deployed his two cruisers and four destroyers on the Badung Strait,

53:11 ordering the cruisers to engage with gunfire

53:14 and the destroyers to then attack with torpedoes.

53:17 This was a poor plan and it was also poorly

53:20 executed due to the slowness to fire of the Dutch cruisers,

53:23 with one of them not even opening fire.

53:26 In the ensuing firefight, the Asashio was hit on her searchlight,

53:30 but she also quickly scored a hit on the cruiser Java,

53:34 causing some minor damage.

53:35 This prompted the Dutch cruisers to race off to the north and break contact.

53:41 Afterwards, the Japanese were engaged by the Allied destroyers,

53:44 which caused heavy damage on the troop transport.

53:47 But the Asashio yet again saved the day, isolating the Dutch destroyer Piet Hein

53:52 with great technique and mercilessly sinking her enemy.

53:56 After the demise of the Piet Hein, the firefight continued,

54:00 but neither side hit the other again and, in the end,

54:04 the Allied destroyers escaped to the southeast.

54:07 Now it was the turn of the second group, but the Japanese were to be reinforced

54:11 by the Arashio and Michishio returning from Makassar.

54:14 Four destroyers and one cruiser entered the Badung

54:17 Strait and started to fire torpedoes against the anchorage,

54:21 where they believed the enemy would be.

54:23 At this point, the main Japanese naval force had also

54:27 been alerted and the Nagara was steaming to the area.

54:30 But meanwhile, the Asashio and Oshio

54:33 spotted the American destroyers and quickly engaged

54:36 them in an intense firefight which saw

54:39 the Stewart getting severely hit and damaged.

54:42 The result was pandemonium.

54:44 Parrott nearly plowed into Stewart which

54:47 was leading the destroyers, while John D.

54:50 Edwards avoided Parrot only by making a hard turn to Starboard.

54:55 The Japanese destroyers then shifted the attention to the cruiser Tromp,

55:00 pounding the Dutch vessel and causing extensive fires.

55:04 In return, Tromp scored a hit on the bridge

55:06 of the Oshio and also inflicted heavy damage on her.

55:09 The Asashio took a single hit forward

55:12 on her bridge that killed seven of her crew.

55:15 As a result all three ships then broke contact.

55:19 And to the north, the Arashio and Michishio

55:22 were caught by surprise by the American destroyers,

55:25 suffering a deadly crossfire that caused huge damage on the Michishio.

55:29 The Tromp also turned to her and scored a tremendous hit on her engine room,

55:35 which caused her to stop.

55:37 But before finishing the Michishio off,

55:39 the Allied promptly disengaged and escaped to the northeast.

55:43 Eight torpedo boats of the third group then entered the scene,

55:47 but they could never get into attack position

55:49 and would have to return to Soerabaja without achieving anything.

55:53 All in all, the small Japanese destroyer division had fended off

55:57 Doorman’s attack admirably and had even

56:00 inflicted more casualties than the attackers,

56:02 sinking one destroyer and severely damaging the Tromp and the Stewart,

56:06 which would later have to be scuttled after an accident in a repairing dock.

56:11 Yet again, Doorman had failed to score a local victory

56:15 against the IJN due to his poor planning and ineffectiveness.

56:19 The unit appointed to execute the Timor

56:22 operation was the Eastern Detachment of General Ito,

56:24 which had last taken part in the invasion of Ambon.

56:27 The invasion of Timor, however, had one major diplomatic problem:

56:32 the rule of the island was divided

56:35 between the Dutch and Portuguese colonial governments.

56:38 Now, in 1941, the Japanese had decided to respect

56:42 the neutrality of Portugal both in Macau and East Timor,

56:46 even though time would later show them

56:48 aggressively exerting their influence on both colonies.

56:51 But back on December 17,

56:53 after Portugal’s refusal to collaborate with the Allies,

56:57 400 Allied soldiers had swiftly occupied East Timor

57:00 to cover the severely exposed flank of Dutch Timor.

57:04 This forced the Japanese to invade, and plans were quickly drawn out to include

57:09 the Portuguese colony for the Timor operation.

57:12 But with the passing of time,

57:14 British and Portuguese authorities would eventually reach

57:17 an agreement for the Allies to abandon the occupation

57:20 of East Timor in exchange for the establishment

57:23 of a strong Portuguese military force in the colony.

57:27 On January 28, this 800-men force began its long journey from Mozambique.

57:32 They would, however, arrive too late to stop the invasion.

57:36 The Japanese plan for the Timor operation was simple:

57:40 one battalion of the Eastern Detachment, led by Colonel Doi Sadashichi,

57:44 would land at Dili, while the rest

57:46 of the detachment under Ito himself landed at Kupang.

57:50 They would be joined by SNLF marines of the Sasebo Force landing at Kupang

57:55 and by paratroopers of the Yokosuka Force

57:58 also conducting a parachuting operation in the area.

58:02 Finally, the invasion convoy would be escorted by a strong fleet,

58:06 mainly consisting of three cruisers and eleven destroyers;

58:09 and their efforts would further be supported by an attack on Darwin’s harbour,

58:14 which was to be carried out on February 19

58:17 by almost 250 Japanese planes from four aircraft carriers.

58:22 The ensuing Bombing of Darwin was intense and savage,

58:26 leaving 30 Allied aircraft destroyed, 11 vessels sunk and 28 ships damaged,

58:31 including most of the cargo shipping available to support

58:35 efforts in the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines.

58:38 Meanwhile in Timor, the local garrison of Colonel Nico van

58:42 Straten only had around 500 Dutch soldiers at his disposal;

58:45 but immediately after the outbreak of the war,

58:49 the Australians had formed the Sparrow Force to reinforce them.

58:53 Lieutenant-Colonel William Legatt led this force of almost 1400 men,

58:58 including a company of commandos.

59:00 All of the Allied forces were located around Kupang,

59:04 but after the occupation of East Timor,

59:06 most of the Dutch soldiers and Australian commandos were transferred to Dili.

59:11 The main invasion force of General Ito departed Ambon on February 17,

59:16 with the Doi Battalion departing the following day.

59:19 On the night of February 19,

59:22 both forces reached their objectives and thus commenced the invasion of Timor.

59:27 The Japanese initially landed around Cape Mali on the coast south of Kupang,

59:31 where the Allied defenses were considered weak,

59:34 and on the coast west of Dili, where they took the defenders by surprise.

59:40 By midday, 308 paratroopers of the Yokosuka had also been parachuted at Babau,

59:44 where they rapidly captured the town before heading to the Penfui airfield.

59:49 Then, the landings proceeded as planned,

59:51 as the coast was practically undefended,

59:54 so the invaders hastily advanced on Kupang and Dili by the end of the day.

59:59 On Dili, covered by their naval forces,

1:00:02 the Japanese headed eastwards and directly attacked the Allied positions.

1:00:06 Despite fierce Australian resistance,

1:00:08 the Allied forces soon began an orderly withdrawal by February 21,

1:00:13 leaving the city and the airfield of Dili to the Japanese.

1:00:17 While Van Straten and his Dutch forces

1:00:20 headed southwest towards the border with Dutch Timor,

1:00:23 the surviving Australian commandos would escape to the south and to the east,

1:00:27 where they would begin guerrilla warfare from the mountainous interiors.

1:00:31 Back on Kupang, the Eastern Detachment divided itself in three columns,

1:00:36 with the left column advancing directly on Kupang,

1:00:39 the center column assaulting Australian positions at Penfui and the right

1:00:44 column thrusting northeast to Oesau to cut off the Allied retreat.

1:00:48 Despite their brave and ferocious resistance,

1:00:50 the Australians decided to withdraw east when they learnt

1:00:54 that the invaders were racing to cut them off.

1:00:57 The next day, as Ito’s main force entered

1:00:59 Kupang and captured the city and the Penfui airfield,

1:01:03 Legatt launched a sustained and devastating assault on the Japanese

1:01:07 positions at Oesau culminating with a bayonet charge,

1:01:10 where the Japanese had successfully managed to cut their retreat.

1:01:14 Suffering dozens of losses,

1:01:16 the invaders resisted until the night of February 22,

1:01:19 when Ito’s main forces finally arrived to save them.

1:01:23 Even though they were surrounded,

1:01:25 the Australians tenaciously continued to assault

1:01:27 the decimated Japanese positions at Oesau,

1:01:30 eventually breaking through and escaping eastwards.

1:01:33 But Ito’s forces quickly pursued and caught them in the area

1:01:37 east of Naibonak by the morning of February 23.

1:01:40 With his forces low on ammunition,

1:01:43 exhausted, carrying wounded men and surrounded,

1:01:46 Legatt finally decided to surrender with around 1000 of his men.

1:01:51 Only about 290 Australian and Dutch troops would manage

1:01:55 to escape eastwards towards the border with East Timor.

1:01:58 While the Japanese conducted mopping-up operations around Dili and Kupang,

1:02:02 they would later join with Van Straten’s forces at the border,

1:02:07 from where they would continue to execute guerrilla warfare.

1:02:10 The Australian commandos under Major Alexander Spence would also

1:02:13 continue to resist in East Timor for around a year,

1:02:17 getting supplied by air and successfully

1:02:20 executing ambushes on isolated Japanese groups.

1:02:23 Thus came the end of the last of Java’s dehors before the main invasion.

1:02:28 Now, the stage was set for the fall of the last link in the Malay Barrier.

1:02:33 As we have already discussed a few weeks ago,

1:02:36 the Japanese had planned to launch a two-pronged naval invasion of Java,

1:02:40 to be carried out by the main strength of the 2nd and 48th Divisions.

1:02:45 But above this was an incredibly

1:02:47 overwhelming superiority in aerial and naval strength,

1:02:50 with more than 600 aircraft allotted

1:02:53 for the Java operation and with around four battleships,

1:02:57 thirteen heavy cruisers and dozens of light

1:03:00 cruisers and destroyers approaching the Java Sea,

1:03:02 under the overall command of Admiral Takahashi.

1:03:05 Since February 3, the Japanese had launched Operation Z,

1:03:10 a full-scale air campaign over eastern Java that resulted in severe damage

1:03:15 inflicted on the Allied navy and on the island’s infrastructure and defenses.

1:03:20 On February 18, the Western Force,

1:03:22 consisting of the 2nd Division and the Shoji Detachment,

1:03:27 departed Cam Ranh Bay with an invasion fleet of 56 transports,

1:03:31 a large escort force of three cruisers and 13 destroyers and a strong

1:03:36 covering force that consisted of five heavy cruisers and several destroyers,

1:03:40 led by Admiral Ozawa.

1:03:42 Meanwhile, the 48th Division departed Jolo on February

1:03:46 19 with an invasion fleet of 41 transports,

1:03:49 an escort built around Admiral Takagi’s two heavy cruisers and eight

1:03:53 destroyers and a covering force of six destroyers and a light cruiser.

1:03:57 While heading towards eastern Java,

1:03:59 the Eastern Force would be joined by the bulk

1:04:02 of the Sakaguchi Detachment just off Pamanukan.

1:04:05 Takahashi also held a reserve of two

1:04:08 heavy cruisers and two destroyers north of Java,

1:04:11 while Admiral Kondo’s support force and the Kido

1:04:14 Butai stood by to the south of Java.

1:04:17 The Allies knew of the massing of the invasion convoys,

1:04:21 so Admiral Helfrich quickly reacted by forming two strike forces:

1:04:25 the Western Striking Force of Commodore John Collins,

1:04:28 consisting of five cruisers and six destroyers,

1:04:31 and the Eastern Striking Force of Admiral Doorman,

1:04:34 which had three cruisers and seven destroyers.

1:04:37 With the Japanese Eastern Force being closer to the Allied fleet,

1:04:41 Helfrich detached two cruisers and three destroyers

1:04:44 of Collins’ force to Doorman’s on February 25,

1:04:47 being determined to stop the Japanese invasion before it could even begin.

1:04:53 Thus, Helfrich’s plan was for Doorman to defeat the Japanese Eastern Force

1:04:57 and then to head to the west to also defeat the Western Force.

1:05:01 Yet the Allies didn’t even know the exact location of the Japanese fleet,

1:05:05 so on the night of February 25, Doorman took his force out to make a sweep

1:05:11 around Madoera Island before returning unsuccessfully to Soerabaja.

1:05:14 The next day, the location of the invaders was discovered

1:05:19 and Doorman departed by afternoon with six destroyers as his vanguard.

1:05:24 His unimaginative plan was to attack

1:05:26 with this vanguard while the cruisers engaged

1:05:29 targets from a distance and the remaining

1:05:32 destroyers executed a torpedo attack afterwards.

1:05:34 In the early hours of February 27,

1:05:37 the Allied force reached the Sapoedi Strait but found no trace of the invaders.

1:05:43 By midday, just when he was about to turn back,

1:05:47 the Allies reported that the Japanese invasion

1:05:49 force was just 80km north of Soerabaja.

1:05:52 Doorman then rushed back to port,

1:05:55 while Takagi headed to Kragan to land the Sakaguchi Detachment.

1:05:59 At this point, the Japanese already knew that the Allied fleet was coming,

1:06:04 so Takagi was concentrating his forces while heading westwards.

1:06:08 During the afternoon, while the landings proceeded according to plan,

1:06:12 Doorman’s fleet arrived in three columns and quickly

1:06:15 spotted the westernmost Japanese group around 16:00.

1:06:18 At the same time, the Japanese spotted them and the cruiser

1:06:23 Jintsu began the battle by firing at the destroyer Electra 16km away.

1:06:28 Takagi’s two heavy cruisers also started

1:06:31 to fire and Doorman’s cruisers promptly responded,

1:06:35 but the exchange was very ineffective.

1:06:37 For the next 30 minutes, the two forces continued westwards on parallel courses,

1:06:42 something that was to the advantage of the Japanese,

1:06:46 who held a secret weapon in reserve: the long-range Type 93 torpedo.

1:06:51 The range from which the Japanese destroyers were going

1:06:54 to fire was something that the Allies definitely didn’t expect.

1:06:58 At a distance of almost 14km,

1:07:01 the 4th Squadron of Rear-Admiral Nishimura Shoji was

1:07:04 the first to launch its deadly torpedoes at Doorman’s fleet.

1:07:09 Starting around 16:35 and lasting for 40 minutes,

1:07:13 the Japanese fired a total of 39 torpedoes,

1:07:17 disappointingly only hitting the destroyer Kortenaer at 17:13,

1:07:22 which broke in two and quickly sank as a result.

1:07:25 As the firefight started,

1:07:27 Doorman knew that he needed to close the distance between the two forces

1:07:31 so that he could bring into play the 6-inches guns aboard his cruisers.

1:07:35 Eventually, Japanese effectiveness also began to increase,

1:07:39 with a shell hitting Houston at 17:06.

1:07:42 Although the invaders could only hit the destroyer Kortenaer,

1:07:44 which broke in two and quickly sank as a result,

1:07:46 the Allied force was thrown into chaos.

1:07:48 The Exeter was then hit by gunfire,

1:07:50 causing extensive damage and forcing the cruiser to turn to port to avoid

1:07:56 a collision with the cruisers behind

1:07:58 it.Mistaking Exeter’s retreat as a general retreat,

1:08:01 the Allied cruisers promptly disengaged and started to turn back,

1:08:05 causing disarray on the Allied force.

1:08:08 Around 17:30, Doorman finally re-established control over

1:08:12 the Allied cruisers and turned back to the northeast.

1:08:15 But he only found Takagi waiting to launch another massive torpedo attack,

1:08:20 since the Japanese had reconnaissance planes flying

1:08:23 over to gather intel on Doorman’s state.

1:08:26 The barrage totalled an amazing 98 torpedoes,

1:08:29 yet none of them incredibly hit their target.

1:08:33 Around 18:00, the British destroyers then

1:08:35 counterattacked against Rear-Admiral Tanaka Razio’s 2nd Squadron,

1:08:38 causing light damage to the Jintsu and to the destroyer Asagumo.

1:08:43 But the Japanese quickly returned fire and achieved a great hit on the Electra,

1:08:49 rapidly sinking the destroyer around 18:15.

1:08:53 Yet despite his losses and his unfavorable situation,

1:08:57 Doorman continued to press the attack,

1:09:00 leading his cruisers eastwards to cover Exeter’s retreat,

1:09:04 which would later safely arrive at Soerabaja.

1:09:08 With darkness approaching, Doorman then ordered the American destroyers to lay

1:09:12 smokescreens so that they could break contact.

1:09:15 In their confusion, the destroyers launched a torpedo attack instead.

1:09:20 Luckily, Takagi cautiously decided to turn back

1:09:23 north to avoid the attack and to regroup.

1:09:26 With Doorman retreating eastwards, the battle appeared over for Takagi,

1:09:30 but the Dutch admiral was going to turn

1:09:32 back to the northeast with his remaining forces,

1:09:35 determined to eliminate the invasion convoy and save Java.

1:09:40 As we’ve previously discussed,

1:09:42 the Japanese had planned to execute two main amphibious assaults:

1:09:46 one in Western Java, to be carried out by the 2nd Division of Lieutenant-General

1:09:51 Maruyama Masao and by the Shoji Detachment of Colonel Shoji Toshinari;

1:09:55 and one in Eastern Java,

1:09:57 by the main strength of Lieutenant-General Tsuchihashi Yuitsu’s 48th Division,

1:10:01 accompanied by the bulk of the Sakaguchi Detachment.

1:10:05 Two strong fleets escorted the Japanese convoys,

1:10:08 which had departed their assembly points by February

1:10:12 19 and were near their objectives by February 27.

1:10:16 Meanwhile, the Dutch defended their main

1:10:19 island with three fully-equipped albeit poorly-trained divisions,

1:10:22 under the command of General Hein ter Poorten,

1:10:26 totalling some 25000 soldiers, mostly Indonesian.

1:10:29 He divided his forces into three areas,

1:10:31 with the 1st Division in Batavia and Western Java,

1:10:35 the 2nd Division in Central Java and the 3rd Division in Eastern Java.

1:10:39 His plan was to hold on as long as possible to the three main bases at Bandung,

1:10:46 Tjilatjap and Soerabaja.

1:10:48 General Wavell had also reinforced the Dutch

1:10:50 troops with around 6000 British and American soldiers,

1:10:54 while the Australians had sent the brigade-strong

1:10:57 Blackforce of Brigadier Arthur Blackburn by February 16.

1:11:01 Additionally, naval forces at Java were under the command of Admiral Helfrich,

1:11:06 who had formed two strike forces to intercept and destroy

1:11:09 the invasion fleets before they could land on the shores of Java.

1:11:13 At the Java Sea, we left Admiral Doorman’s Eastern Striking Force

1:11:18 retreating eastwards while Admiral Takagi regrouped his forces to the north.

1:11:23 The battle seemed over, but with night falling,

1:11:26 Doorman decided to press his attack,

1:11:28 rapidly turning to the northeast with his remaining

1:11:31 forces in a last attempt to save eastern Java.

1:11:35 Yet again, Japanese floatplanes flying over the Allied fleet

1:11:39 immediately reported to Takagi that Doorman was moving back north,

1:11:43 which caught the Japanese admiral off guard.

1:11:46 He quickly tried to reassemble his dispersed forces,

1:11:49 while two damaged destroyers of Admiral Nishimura’s

1:11:52 4th Squadron retreated to protect the convoy.

1:11:55 Around 19:30, after spotting the Allied formation to the southeast,

1:12:00 Admiral Tanaka’s 2nd Squadron positioned itself in front of Takagi’s

1:12:04 cruisers to cover them from the incoming enemy fire.

1:12:07 The small fire exchange was inconsequential,

1:12:10 and thus Doorman changed course to the east,

1:12:14 determined to get through to the transports.

1:12:16 His intention was to get around the Japanese

1:12:19 formation by heading towards the southern coast of Java.

1:12:22 At 21:00, he turned back to the west

1:12:25 with his four cruisers and the destroyer Jupiter,

1:12:28 while the American destroyers under Commander Thomas Binford headed

1:12:32 back to Soerabaja to refuel and load more torpedoes.

1:12:37 Around 21:30, bad luck struck Doorman once more when

1:12:41 the Jupiter hit a Dutch mine and foundered hours later,

1:12:45 leaving the Dutch admiral with just his four cruisers while he

1:12:49 continued to the north in his search of the Japanese convoy.

1:12:52 Around 22:00, Takagi also suffered some bad luck,

1:12:56 as he lost radio contact with his floatplanes,

1:12:59 leaving him blind for the first time in the battle.

1:13:03 Desperately, he turned south, finally spotting the Allied column around 23:00.

1:13:07 While Takagi’s cruisers turned north on a parallel course to Doorman’s cruisers,

1:13:13 Tanaka’s squadron prepared to make a deadly torpedo attack.

1:13:17 Ten minutes later, the Allied cruisers spotted

1:13:20 their enemy and began the fire exchange.

1:13:23 Around 23:20, the Japanese cruisers finally launched

1:13:26 some 12 torpedoes against the Allied formation.

1:13:30 Despite Doorman’s effort to evade the torpedo attack,

1:13:33 his determination and his previous failures had

1:13:36 brought him at last to his final doom.

1:13:39 At 23:36, the Java was hit, causing the aft magazine to explode.

1:13:44 Within 15 minutes, the cruiser had sunk with the loss of 509 sailors.

1:13:49 Four minutes later, the De Ruyter was also hit on her aft,

1:13:53 suffering a large fire that engulfed the entire stern position of the ship.

1:13:59 Powerless, the cruiser sank hours later,

1:14:01 suffering 344 losses, among them the Dutch admiral.

1:14:05 Taking advantage of the smoke and confusion,

1:14:08 the Houston and Perth then changed course and escaped to the southeast,

1:14:13 successfully arriving at Tanjong Priok the following day.

1:14:16 This concluded the First Battle of the Java Sea,

1:14:20 leaving the ABDACOM with the loss of two cruisers,

1:14:23 three destroyers and one of its leading commanders.

1:14:26 The Japanese Eastern Force was now free to continue their landings unmolested.

1:14:31 Meanwhile, the Western Striking Force had also

1:14:34 failed to intercept the Japanese invasion fleet,

1:14:37 with the invaders’ landings also proceeding as expected.

1:14:40 To avoid any more losses, Helfrich was then persuaded to order a withdrawal,

1:14:46 with most of the western force escaping through

1:14:49 the Sunda Strait before the arrival of the Japanese.

1:14:52 Yet by February 28, eight destroyers and three

1:14:55 cruisers remained trapped on Java’s northern shore.

1:14:58 At dusk, the cruisers Houston and Perth,

1:15:02 and then HNLMS Evertsen departed Tanjong Priok heading

1:15:06 towards the Sunda Strait to escape to safety.

1:15:09 Despite the poor Japanese initial deployment,

1:15:11 leaving the convoys in a vulnerable position,

1:15:15 the 5th Squadron of Rear-Admiral Hara Kenzaburo managed to intercept

1:15:19 the Allied cruisers and cover the transports with a smokescreen.

1:15:23 Hara then attacked in a chaotic way,

1:15:26 performing really poorly and only causing light damage on the enemy.

1:15:30 What is worse, the Japanese torpedo attack missed the Allied cruisers

1:15:35 and hit four Japanese transports and a minelayer at Bantam Bay,

1:15:39 sinking the five vessels, including the one that carried General Imamura,

1:15:43 although he managed to survive this experience.

1:15:46 In the early hours of March 1,

1:15:49 the Allied cruisers were surrounded and finally hit by torpedoes,

1:15:53 then sinking into their final resting place.

1:15:56 The destroyer Eversten had caught up to the two cruisers and watched

1:16:00 the battle from a distance and attempted to escape along the coast of Sumatra,

1:16:05 but ended up spotted by Japanese destroyers

1:16:07 Murakumo and Shirakumo and had to run aground.

1:16:11 At the same time, Binford’s four American destroyers,

1:16:14 which had decided to escape through the narrow Bali Strait,

1:16:17 were detected and came under fire by patrolling Japanese destroyers.

1:16:22 The fire exchange was inconclusive though,

1:16:25 and the destroyers successfully managed to quickly

1:16:27 escape under the cover of smokescreens.

1:16:30 The last of the Allied vessels were the damaged

1:16:33 cruiser Exeter and the destroyers Pope and Encounter,

1:16:36 arriving at the Sunda Strait in the late morning.

1:16:39 Their desperate escape was doomed from the start,

1:16:42 being rapidly spotted by Japanese aircraft,

1:16:44 and so Admiral Takahashi had laid a trap for them.

1:16:49 Four Japanese heavy cruisers and two destroyers

1:16:51 began to hunt down the Allied force, with the Pope and Encounter laying a smoke

1:16:56 screen to protect Exeter from the incoming fire.

1:16:59 For the first hour, the invaders failed to score any hits,

1:17:03 yet they were continuing to close in on the Allied vessels.

1:17:08 Despite their brave resistance,

1:17:09 the Japanese cruisers finally scored a crippling blow on the Exeter,

1:17:14 causing her to lose power and then sink.

1:17:17 The Allied destroyers would also be hunted down in the next hours,

1:17:21 with Encounter getting scuttled due to the strong Japanese fire

1:17:25 and with Pope also getting scuttled after an intense aerial bombardment.

1:17:29 In the remainder of the day, four more Allied destroyers would get destroyed

1:17:34 by Japanese aerial and naval attacks to the south,

1:17:38 ending the second battle of Java sea

1:17:40 and naval campaign in the Dutch East Indies.

1:17:44 In land, however, the Battle of Java was merely starting.

1:17:48 By 04:00 on March 1, and despite the friendly fire,

1:17:52 the bulk of the 2nd Division had successfully landed around Bantam

1:17:56 Bay with the intention of advancing on Batavia and then Bandung,

1:18:00 while the Shoji Detachment also landed at the Patrol

1:18:03 area to capture the valuable Kalidjati airfield.

1:18:06 On the other side, the Eastern Force suffered some aerial bombardment,

1:18:10 although this couldn’t prevent the 48th Division

1:18:13 and the Sakaguchi Detachment from landing at Kragan,

1:18:16 with the objective of taking Rembang

1:18:19 and the Cepu oilfield before attacking Soerabaja and Tjilatjap.

1:18:23 On Bantam Bay, the 2nd Division divided itself into three detachments,

1:18:28 with the Nasu Detachment advancing on Rangkasbitung towards

1:18:32 the key Buitenzorg [dutch] town between Batavia and Bandung;

1:18:36 the Fukushima Detachment immediately capturing Mount Merak

1:18:39 and Merak Island before advancing on Pamarayan towards Batavia;

1:18:43 and the Sato Detachment pushing along the coastal

1:18:46 road through Bantam and Tangerang towards Batavia.

1:18:49 Quick and decisively,

1:18:50 the Nasu Detachment managed to overcome Dutch resistance at Merak,

1:18:55 Cilegon and Serang before getting to Rangkasbitung by dusk.

1:18:59 Meanwhile, from Eretan, the Shoji Detachment immediately divided in two,

1:19:03 with one battalion charging against the Kalidjati airfield and with the other

1:19:08 heading towards the Krawang bridge over the Citarum River.

1:19:12 Rushing towards the airfield,

1:19:13 the Wakamatsu Unit rapidly engaged the Dutch defenders,

1:19:16 driving them off four times and getting to Kalidjati by midday.

1:19:21 There, the Japanese seized the airfield after overrunning

1:19:24 the defenders and immediately started to refit it for use.

1:19:29 Yet despite this initial success,

1:19:31 the detachment was attacked at Eretan by 500 Dutch units in armored vehicles,

1:19:36 which could only be repelled after a hard-fought struggle.

1:19:40 The loss of Kalidjati was huge, however,

1:19:42 and ter Poorten immediately ordered counterattacks to retake it.

1:19:46 And from Kragan, the Eastern Force rapidly set up to execute its operations.

1:19:51 The Sakaguchi Detachment only got to seize Blora by nightfall,

1:19:55 but the 48th Division had one element capture Rembang while

1:19:59 the rest of the division headed towards Cepu and Bojonegoro.

1:20:03 On March 2, the vanguard of the Nasu

1:20:06 Detachment encountered Australian gunners at Cipeteng,

1:20:09 which obstructed the road to Leuwiliang.

1:20:12 An intense fight ensued,

1:20:14 but the invaders got the upper hand in the end and advanced up to Lawangtaji.

1:20:19 Meanwhile, the Fukushima Detachment reached the Pamarayan bridge by midnight

1:20:23 and the Sato Detachment got to the bridge of Kragilan,

1:20:27 successfully establishing a foothold over the Ciujung River.

1:20:31 But in Subang, the situation was desperate for the isolated Shoji Detachment.

1:20:37 250 soldiers and 25 light-tanks attacked Shoji’s

1:20:40 headquarters there and overran the Japanese positions.

1:20:43 Yet the invaders held their ground and, after destroying 20 enemy vehicles,

1:20:49 the Dutch attack was repelled at last.

1:20:52 At the same time, Sakaguchi captured the towns of Purwodadi and Ngawen,

1:20:56 while the 48th Division easily defeated a Dutch

1:20:59 unit and occupied Cepu and its already-destroyed oilfield.

1:21:03 The Japanese got to the Bojonegoro bridge as well,

1:21:06 but found it destroyed due to delaying actions on behalf of the Allies.

1:21:10 The following day, however, the invaders had crossed the Solo River and started

1:21:15 to engage some defenders on the other side,

1:21:18 while the Sakaguchi Detachment also seized Bugel

1:21:21 and prepared for an attack against Surakarta.

1:21:24 In the meantime, Shoji and the Wakamatsu Unit prepared

1:21:27 to brace for another Dutch counterattack with armored vehicles.

1:21:31 The Japanese put up a good fight,

1:21:34 but the difference was made by the aircraft flying from the Kalidjati airfield,

1:21:38 which managed to destroy over 150 Dutch

1:21:41 vehicles and cause over 100 Dutch casualties.

1:21:44 At this point, fearing encirclement,

1:21:46 Shoji decided to prepare for an attack on Bandung and to call back

1:21:51 the units advancing towards Krawang to instead

1:21:54 traverse through better roads from Kalidjati.

1:21:57 Moreover, upon reaching Leuwiliang, the vanguard of the Nasu Detachment went

1:22:01 into battle with the main strength of Blackforce,

1:22:04 which managed to hold the invaders’ advance from their entrenched pillboxes,

1:22:09 while both the Fukushima and Sato Detachment arrived to the Cidurian River,

1:22:13 capturing the bridges at Maja and Parigi.

1:22:16 Seeing no roads from Maja,

1:22:18 Fukushima would then be ordered to support Nasu’s rear while Sato’s vanguard

1:22:22 also advanced and captured the town of Balaraja on the next day,

1:22:27 getting ever closer to Batavia.

1:22:28 In the early hours of March 4,

1:22:31 knowing that they had to break through Leuwiliang to save Shoji,

1:22:34 the main strength of the Nasu Detachment joined the fight against Blackforce.

1:22:39 Thus, the 16th Regiment was ordered to execute a flanking maneuver

1:22:43 to the south while the rest

1:22:45 of the detachment contained the Australians with fire.

1:22:48 Under the cover of darkness, the 16th crossed the Cianten River and charged

1:22:53 against the positions of an Australian company.

1:22:56 Blackforce gave a tenacious resistance,

1:22:58 inflicting many casualties on the invaders;

1:23:00 but in the end, the Australians would

1:23:03 get surrounded and Blackburn would order a withdrawal.

1:23:07 While they retreated during the night,

1:23:09 the same would be done by the Dutch holding on in Batavia.

1:23:13 And in Kalidjati, the success of the Japanese

1:23:16 resistance had allowed the Wakamatsu Unit to capture Purwakarta.

1:23:19 The Egashira Unit had also managed to turn around,

1:23:22 getting to Cikampek with haste and arriving

1:23:25 at Krawang after defeating several Dutch units.

1:23:28 They then pursued the retreating Dutch soldiers to Kedunggede,

1:23:32 where the Egashira Unit stopped its advance.

1:23:35 Having achieved all his initial objectives and recognizing

1:23:38 that the enemy was concentrating his forces,

1:23:41 Shoji then decided to fully commit to an attack

1:23:44 against Bandung instead of waiting to suffer another massive counterattack,

1:23:48 enjoying the support of the mighty 3rd Air Division.

1:23:51 Turning back to the east, we find that Sakaguchi finally concentrated

1:23:56 his three battalions on Purwodadi by afternoon,

1:23:59 and then launched his attack on Surakarta.

1:24:02 They would arrive at the town by early morning on March 5,

1:24:06 charging against the meager Dutch defenders and capturing the town by midday.

1:24:11 Meanwhile, Sakaguchi’s vanguard would also capture Boyolali

1:24:14 and, sensing the weakness in the Dutch defenses,

1:24:18 continued towards Yogyakarta, seizing the town by dusk.

1:24:21 Seeing the enemy retreat without restraint,

1:24:24 Sakaguchi then decided to closely pursue

1:24:27 them until reaching their main objective: Tjilatjap.

1:24:30 Another battalion, however, turned to Magelang,

1:24:33 where it forced the garrison to surrender.

1:24:36 But the garrison commander thought that this was the main Japanese force

1:24:39 and so ordered the towns of Semarang and Ambarawa to also surrender.

1:24:44 After occupying these towns, the battalion would then continue westwards,

1:24:49 reaching Purbalingga by March 8.

1:24:51 In the meantime, the 48th Division had finally crossed the Solo River,

1:24:56 continuing its advance towards the Brantas River on March 5.

1:25:00 The vanguard of the 48th,

1:25:02 mainly consisting of the 47th Regiment and the 4th Tank Regiment,

1:25:06 then advanced to Caruban,

1:25:07 where they defeated a Dutch unit and pursued them with haste to Kertosono.

1:25:11 There, they engaged almost 1000 enemy troops

1:25:14 and managed to capture the town by midday,

1:25:18 with another element capturing Kediri later that day.

1:25:21 Meanwhile, important events were happening in the west.

1:25:25 Departing Balaraja in the morning,

1:25:27 the Sato Detachment discovered that the Dutch forces were retreating,

1:25:31 and thus, advanced with haste through Tangerang

1:25:33 and finally arrived at Batavia by dusk.

1:25:36 During the night, the Japanese triumphantly

1:25:39 entered the colonial capital without opposition,

1:25:42 allowing the rest of the division to focus on Bandung.

1:25:45 But unbeknownst to the 2nd Division,

1:25:48 Shoji had already sent the Wakamatsu Unit southwards to Ciater,

1:25:52 where it arrived by afternoon.

1:25:54 There, however, the invaders were engaged

1:25:57 by tenacious defenders in pillboxes across two lines.

1:26:00 At the end of the day, the pillbox positions had been successfully taken

1:26:05 with the help of the 3rd Air Division; but on the following day,

1:26:09 the Wakamatsu Unit directly attacked the enemy main position at Tjiater Pass.

1:26:14 There, Major-General Jacob Pesman had around 9000 men covered

1:26:18 with jungle in strong pillboxes and barbed wire entanglements,

1:26:22 with the mission of holding off the invaders.

1:26:25 But taking advantage of a thick fog,

1:26:27 the Japanese charged all at once and took the defenders by surprise,

1:26:32 quickly routing them.

1:26:33 At this point, if Wakamatsu decided to pursue them,

1:26:37 he could have entered Bandung unopposed,

1:26:39 but instead decided to wait for the Egashira

1:26:42 Unit out of sheer friendship to the battalion commander,

1:26:45 not wanting to steal the glory he deserved as well.

1:26:48 Back with the 2nd Division,

1:26:50 when they received news of Shoji’s attack on March 6,

1:26:54 the Sato Detachment was immediately sent to reinforce them at Kalidjati.

1:26:58 At the same time, however, the Nasu and Fukushima Detachments

1:27:02 were encroaching on Buitenzorg through Dramaga,

1:27:04 yet they found the Australians there retreating.

1:27:07 The Japanese then charged into the town and successfully seized Buitenzorg.

1:27:11 And to the east, the 48th Division continued its advance,

1:27:16 getting to Mojokerto and sending its vanguard to charge against

1:27:20 Porong while the rest of the division continued towards Soerabaja.

1:27:23 The invaders quickly broke through the Dutch defenses and, by afternoon,

1:27:28 they had captured Porong.

1:27:30 On March 7, preparations continued

1:27:32 for the attacks against Soerabaja and Tjilatjap,

1:27:36 but the Shoji Detachment would bring about the rapid conclusion of the campaign.

1:27:41 While the Wakamatsu Unit consolidated on the ridgeline

1:27:44 and mopped up the remaining enemy units,

1:27:47 General Pesman found his position untenable and decided to surrender.

1:27:52 At Isola Hotel, General Imamura then demanded

1:27:55 the total capitulation of the Dutch East Indies,

1:27:58 something General ter Poorten and the governor initially refused,

1:28:01 claiming they didn’t have that authority.

1:28:03 But in the morning of March 8, the Dutch commander conceded defeat at last

1:28:09 and agreed to the capitulation of all his troops,

1:28:12 something that was broadcasted later on during the night.

1:28:16 Elsewhere, the 48th Division entered Soerabaja meeting no

1:28:20 resistance and Sakaguchi began his assault on Tjilatjap,

1:28:23 getting to Purwokerto before receiving the Dutch surrender.

1:28:27 Across Java and the Dutch East Indies,

1:28:30 many Allied units that still resisted would also

1:28:33 decide to surrender in the next few days,

1:28:35 while others continued to execute guerrilla warfare.

1:28:38 Only the Allied units at Northern Sumatra continued to resist; yet on this day,

1:28:44 the Empire of the Rising Sun had achieved

1:28:46 one of its main objectives of the Pacific War:

1:28:50 securing a constant flow of resources for its war machine.

1:28:54 This also marked the end of the ABDA defense

1:28:57 in the Dutch East Indies and the collapse of the "Malay Barrier",

1:29:01 the Indian Ocean and approach to Australia was now open to the IJN.

1:29:08 To the west, another operation was planned

1:29:10 to mop up the remaining Allied presence in Sumatra.

1:29:13 General Yamashita had planned to send his Imperial

1:29:16 Guards Division to occupy central and northern Sumatra,

1:29:19 where the Dutch were still holding after the 38th

1:29:22 Division was finally contained at Moearatabo by March 2.

1:29:25 Heavy fighting ensued the following days,

1:29:27 but with the surrender of Java on March 8, General Overakker decided to retreat

1:29:33 with his remaining 9000 soldiers to concentrate

1:29:35 on the north of the island and thus start an evacuation.

1:29:40 Yamashita’s plan was to land one

1:29:42 strong detachment at Sabang Island and Koetaradja,

1:29:44 one small detachment at Idi to secure the Langsa and Pangkalanbrandan oilfields,

1:29:49 and the main force of the division at Laboehanroekoe to rapidly occupy Medan.

1:29:55 By March 10, the invasion force, escorted by a large fleet under Admiral Ozawa,

1:30:01 had departed Singapore en route to its objectives.

1:30:04 On March 12, one battalion of the Kobayashi Detachment

1:30:07 landed on Sabang unopposed and rapidly seized the island,

1:30:11 while the remaining two battalions landed at Cape

1:30:14 Pedro and quickly captured the Kotaradja airfield.

1:30:17 Further to the south, the Yoshida Detachment landed south of Idi

1:30:22 and captured its objectives facing no resistance; and at Tandjoengtiram,

1:30:26 General Nishimura sent two battalions south

1:30:28 to cut off the withdrawal of the Dutch defenders while the rest of his division

1:30:33 drove north to seize Medan and its airfield.

1:30:35 At this point, the Dutch were already retreating

1:30:38 to their designated positions south of the Alice Valley,

1:30:41 so they would only execute delaying actions to gain as much time

1:30:45 as possible alongside destroying their airfields

1:30:47 and harbour facilities along the way..

1:30:50 On the night of March 13,

1:30:52 three Dutch companies at Simpang Raja were assaulted by Japanese soldiers.

1:30:57 The defenders held until dawn but in the end

1:31:00 had to retreat in disorder towards Tiga Roenggoe.

1:31:03 Unfortunately, they found the Japanese already there

1:31:06 and were eventually routed by the superior Japanese firepower.

1:31:10 The invaders would then overrun the Dutch

1:31:13 defenders at Prapat, Porsea and Balige, hastily pursuing the survivors to Koeta

1:31:18 Boeloebenteng and successfully occupying Siborongborong.

1:31:20 Thus, the Dutch soldiers that were retreating from Moearatebo were

1:31:24 effectively cut off and had to surrender on March 15.

1:31:28 In the meantime, Nishimura’s main force swiftly

1:31:31 seized Medan without opposition and then started

1:31:34 to raid the Dutch positions at Tiga Binanga for the next couple of days.

1:31:39 By March 23, Koeta Boeloebenteng was under heavy

1:31:42 attack and in grave danger of being overrun,

1:31:45 so Overakker ordered a general evacuation

1:31:47 towards Liang before this position was captured.

1:31:50 As night fell, the Japanese attacked Koeta Boeloebenteng,

1:31:53 but the fierce Dutch defenders managed to hold them off.

1:31:57 Yet despite their bravery,

1:31:58 many natives in the Dutch army were beginning to desert

1:32:02 and the state of Aceh began to rebel against Dutch rule,

1:32:06 so Overakker quickly ordered them to start

1:32:08 their withdrawal on the night of March

1:32:10 24 while the rest of his forces fell further back towards the Alice Valley.

1:32:15 Nishimura followed suit in hot pursuit and captured Kotatjane on March 25,

1:32:20 but the Dutch were receiving more damage by the amount of desertions.

1:32:25 By March 27, the Kobayashi Detachment

1:32:27 had reached the Dutch headquarters at Blangkedjeren,

1:32:31 which was virtually undefended,

1:32:32 so Overakker had no other choice but to surrender

1:32:36 with his remaining 2000 soldiers the following day.

1:32:40 The Fall of Java back in early March

1:32:43 signified the end of organized resistance in the indies,

1:32:46 but there were still small garrisons or guerrilla

1:32:49 groups operating on some of the islands.

1:32:51 One of these places was Dutch New Guinea,

1:32:54 which up until now hadn’t been attacked by the invaders.

1:32:58 A small navy unit of up to 1500 men was formed on March 15

1:33:03 to annihilate Dutch resistance in New Guinea

1:33:05 and occupy the strategic points of that island.

1:33:09 On March 29, this unit departed Ambon towards Ceram

1:33:13 Island escorted by a small fleet under Rear-Admiral Fujita Ruitaro.

1:33:17 Two days later, it first landed on Boela without opposition,

1:33:22 finding the oilfield there completely destroyed.

1:33:25 From there, the invaders moved to Fakfak,

1:33:28 Babo and Sorong, again finding very little resistance.

1:33:31 They then headed north,

1:33:33 diverting to occupy Ternate and Djailolo on April 7 before continuing eastwards.

1:33:38 On April 12, the Japanese finally got to Manokwari,

1:33:42 where they forced the 150 defenders to retreat into the mountains.

1:33:46 A small garrison was left on Manokwari while

1:33:49 the bulk of the invasion force continued eastwards.

1:33:52 By April 20, the Japanese had gotten to Yapen Island and Hollandia,

1:33:57 encountering almost no opposition on any of the ports that they moved through.

1:34:02 Thinking that the Dutch had an insignificant strength on the island,

1:34:06 Fujita then decided to return to Ambon with his force,

1:34:09 leaving only the small garrisons already established on Dutch New Guinea.

1:34:14 After the nominal capture of Dutch New Guinea,

1:34:17 final mop-up operations called for the invasion

1:34:19 of the Lesser Sunda Islands in May.

1:34:21 On May 8, from Soerabaja, Admiral Hara led a task force to cover the movement

1:34:26 of the 1st Yokosuka SNLF and of the 3rd Battalion, 47th Regiment.

1:34:31 They successfully landed the following day on the Lombok

1:34:35 and Sumbawa Islands without encountering enemy resistance.

1:34:37 Then, the Flores Islands were occupied

1:34:39 in quick succession over the following days, all without opposition.

1:34:43 By May 25, the Japanese considered Operation S a success,

1:34:47 with the 1st Yokosuka SNLF broken up

1:34:50 into several groups to assume the occupation of Bali,

1:34:54 Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, and Flores.

1:34:56 In late July, as General Terauchi wanted

1:34:59 to expand the perimeter towards the Arafura Sea,

1:35:02 the 24th Special Base Force of Rear-Admiral Hatakeyama

1:35:05 Koichiro was prepared to invade the Tanimbar islands group.

1:35:09 Departing Ambon on July 28 under the cover of a combined task force,

1:35:14 the Japanese naval forces would be able to successfully occupy the Aru,

1:35:18 Babar and Tanimbar Islands, facing little opposition by the end of the month;

1:35:22 yet on the Kai Islands,

1:35:24 the invaders would be repelled by the small Dutch garrison.

1:35:27 Despite an unsuccessful Australian attempt to reinforce these islands,

1:35:31 the Japanese would then launch a second attack against Kai on July 30,

1:35:35 this time successfully driving the Dutch defenders into the jungle,

1:35:38 where they continued to fight for another few days until some

1:35:42 of the survivors managed to escape by a sailing boat to Australia.

1:35:46 With the capture of these islands,

1:35:47 the whole Dutch East Indies was left under the control of the Japanese Empire,

1:35:51 except for the town of Merauke in the far south of New Guinea,

1:35:55 which remained under Dutch hands and would later be reinforced

1:35:58 by the Australian Merauke Force by the end of the year.

1:36:02 After the construction of an airfield there,

1:36:04 the town became so important that the Allies would reinforce Merauke

1:36:07 with the whole 11th Australian Brigade during the first half of 1943,

1:36:11 thus seeing the garrison expand to around 4200 personnel, including 3500 troops.

1:36:17 With the conquest of the Indies,

1:36:20 Japan had seized coveted petroleum production and refining capacity,

1:36:24 as well as other strategic raw materials,

1:36:27 although these facilities were largely destroyed.

1:36:30 Nonetheless, the Japanese managed to restart

1:36:33 extraction and refining relatively quickly,

1:36:35 with Palembang alone accounting for 78% of Japan’s

1:36:38 aviation fuel consumption and 22% of crude oil.

1:36:42 The transport of extracted and refined petroleum

1:36:45 to Japan turned out to be a bottleneck,

1:36:48 however, as Japan lacked a tanker fleet with sufficient capacity.

1:36:52 Furthermore, the US submarine offensive and aircraft

1:36:55 attacks played havoc among the Japanese tanker fleet,

1:36:58 so the Empire ended up continuing the war,

1:37:01 suffering from an extreme shortage of fuel.

1:37:04 During this campaign, the Japanese recorded 671 soldiers killed,

1:37:08 while the Allies suffered a combined 2384 killed and over 40,000 captured,

1:37:15 mostly Dutch personnel.

1:37:16 On the naval side, the Allies lost 29 ships in total,

1:37:21 suffering between 5000 and 10000 navy personnel dead.

1:37:24 The Americans lost the heavy cruiser Houston;

1:37:27 the destroyers Edsall, Stewart, Pope,

1:37:29 Peary and Pillsbury; the gunboat Asheville;

1:37:32 the old carrier Langley; and the oiler Pecos.

1:37:35 Meanwhile, the Dutch lost the cruisers Java and De Ruyter;

1:37:39 the destroyers Evertsen, Kortenaer, Piet Hein, Van Ghent,

1:37:42 Van Nes and Witte de With; the submarines O-16, O-20, K-XIII,

1:37:47 K-VI and K-VII; and the coastal defense ship De Zeven Provincien.

1:37:51 And finally, the British lost the heavy

1:37:54 cruiser Exeter and the destroyers Electra, Encounter, Jupiter and Stronghold;

1:37:59 and the Australians lost the light cruiser Perth.

1:38:01 On the other hand, the Japanese lost only the destroyers Natsushio and Sagiri,

1:38:06 two minesweepers, one minelayer, and several troop transports.

1:38:10 Following the fall of Java,

1:38:12 the Japanese began their occupation of the Dutch East Indies.

1:38:15 As a result, European influence in the Indies was almost completely nullified,

1:38:19 which also served to fuel the Indonesian independence movement.

1:38:23 As such, Dutch administrators,

1:38:25 who expected to be kept in place to run the colony,

1:38:28 were in turn sent to detention camps.

1:38:30 With the collaboration of the Indonesian ruling class,

1:38:33 Japanese or Indonesian replacements were instead

1:38:36 installed in senior and technical positions.

1:38:39 This cooperation would allow the Japanese military

1:38:42 government to focus on securing the large

1:38:44 archipelago's waterways and skies and using its

1:38:47 islands as defense posts against any Allied attacks; but on the other hand,

1:38:51 the Japanese would be reluctant to grant independence

1:38:54 to Indonesia or to allow the natives to participate politically,

1:38:58 as they saw this region and its natural

1:39:00 resources as vital to the survival of their Empire.

1:39:03 To administer this important region,

1:39:05 the Japanese consequently divided the Indies into three regions:

1:39:09 Sumatra under the 25th Army, Java and Madura under the 16th Army,

1:39:13 and Dutch Borneo and eastern Indonesia under

1:39:16 the 2nd Southern Expeditionary Fleet, based at Makassar.

1:39:20 The prisoners of war, which included around 40,000 troops and 100,000 civilians,

1:39:25 were partly employed outside Java on many projects,

1:39:28 including the construction of airfields on the island of Flores;

1:39:32 the construction of railway lines in Burma–Siam or on Sumatra;

1:39:36 and work in mines in Japan.

1:39:38 Due to bad conditions and Japanese brutality,

1:39:42 around 25,000 prisoners would die during this period.

1:39:46 The Japanese, greeted as liberators,

1:39:48 also inflicted a heavy toll on Indonesia’s population.

1:39:52 Tens of thousands of Indonesians were to starve,

1:39:55 work as slave laborers, or be forced from their homes.

1:39:58 Hunger is said to have killed 2.5 million Indonesians;

1:40:01 and Japan also employed a large number of Javanese as forced laborers.

1:40:06 Some of these romusha were employed on a temporary basis,

1:40:10 but it is estimated that between 160,000 and 200,000 were deployed outside Java,

1:40:17 many of whom died in the process.

1:40:19 Javanese and European girls were also recruited as comfort women,

1:40:23 subjected to mistreatment, prostitution and rape in the military brothels.

1:40:28 In particular, the Japanese brought Javanese girls

1:40:30 to British Borneo as comfort women to be raped by Japanese officers at the Ridge

1:40:35 road school and the Basel Mission Church,

1:40:37 as well as in stations in Kota Kinabalu, Balikpapan and Beaufort.

1:40:41 This sparked resistance in the Indies,

1:40:43 such as Sutan Sjahrir’s student underground

1:40:46 organization and Amir Sjarifuddin’s left-wing underground groups.

1:40:50 Both Sutan and Amir would later become

1:40:53 the first two Prime Ministers of an independent Indonesia.

1:40:56 Additionally, the Acehnese Ulama who had

1:40:58 revolted against the Dutch during the Japanese

1:41:00 invasion of Sumatra also revolted against the invaders in November of 1942.

1:41:05 The revolt was led by the All-Aceh Religious Scholars' Association,

1:41:09 and was centered around the Tjot Plieng village religious school.

1:41:13 During this conflict,

1:41:14 Japanese troops armed with mortars and machine guns were attacked

1:41:18 by sword-wielding Acehnese students under the leadership of Tengku Abdul Djalil.

1:41:23 The Japanese suffered 18 dead in the uprising,

1:41:26 while over a hundred Acehnese were killed,

1:41:28 with the school and village mosque being burnt to the ground.

1:41:32 Another important incident occurred between September 1943 and early 1944,

1:41:38 when the infamous Kempeitai police orchestrated a mass arrest of Chinese,

1:41:42 Malay elites, Javanese, Menadonese, Dayaks,

1:41:44 Bugis, Bataks, and Minangkabau in Kalimantan,

1:41:47 including all of the Malay Sultans,

1:41:50 accusing them of plotting to overthrow Japanese

1:41:52 rule and then massacring all of them.

1:41:55 The Japanese falsely claimed that all

1:41:57 of those ethnic groups were involved in a plot

1:41:59 to overthrow the Japanese and create a "People's

1:42:02 Republic of West Borneo" under the Sultan of Pontianak,

1:42:05 Syarif Muhammad Alkadrie.

1:42:07 As such, the Sultans of Pontianak, Sambas, Ketapang,

1:42:11 Soekadana, Simpang, Koeboe, Ngabang, Sanggau, Sekadau, Tajan, Sintang,

1:42:15 and Mempawa were all executed by the Japanese,

1:42:19 as well as up to 25 relatives of Alkadrie.

1:42:22 The only male relative of Alkadrie not to be

1:42:25 beheaded by the Japanese was also imprisoned in Java,

1:42:28 and would live to become the heir to the Pontianak Sultanate,

1:42:31 under the name of Syarif Hamid II.

1:42:34 The Japanese extermination of the Malay elite of Pontianak paved

1:42:37 the way for a new Dayak elite to arise in its place,

1:42:41 which would later revolt against the Japanese in 1945.

1:42:44 Meanwhile, as the war progressed and Japan began to suffer defeats,

1:42:49 the 16th Army in Java became more favorable

1:42:51 to the idea of Indonesian involvement in the governance of Java.

1:42:55 A Central Advisory Board was therefore established,

1:42:58 headed by pre-war independence figure Sukarno,

1:43:01 with Indonesians appointed as advisors.

1:43:04 In October of 1943, the Japanese also established a volunteer force,

1:43:08 called the Defenders of the Homeland,

1:43:10 to defend against a future Allied invasion.

1:43:14 In September of 1944, Japan finally declared that it would

1:43:18 grant Indonesia independence in the near future.

1:43:21 Consequently, Sukarno and fellow independence activist Mohammad

1:43:24 Hatta were granted funds to tour the archipelago,

1:43:27 and a Free Indonesia Dormitory was established

1:43:29 to prepare youth leaders for an independent Indonesia.

1:43:33 In August of 1945, Japan went a step further and promised independence,

1:43:37 with members of the older political generation, such as Sukarno and Hatta,

1:43:42 joining a committee to prepare for independence and draft a constitution.

1:43:46 And yet, the war would end before they were given the chance,

1:43:50 so Sukarno would have to declare Indonesian

1:43:52 Independence two days after the Japanese surrender.

1:43:55 Indonesian forces would then spend the next

1:43:57 four years fighting the Dutch for independence,

1:44:00 marking the twilight of the Dutch Colonial Empire.

1:44:02 But this is the end for now.

1:44:04 We shall speak more about the war in Southeast Asia in the future,

1:44:07 but we hope that you’ve enjoyed this long

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