Battle of Balikpapan (1945)

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For other uses of this term, see Battle of Balikpapan.

Borneo campaign (1945)
Tarakan – Brunei – Labuan – North Borneo – Balikpapan

The Battle of Balikpapan was the concluding stage of the Borneo campaign (1945). It occurred on July 7, 1945. The Australian 7th Division, comprised of the 18th, 21st and 25th Infantry Brigades, with support troops, made an amphibious landing a few miles north of Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo. The landing had been preceded by heavy bombing & shelling by Australian and US air and naval forces. The Japanese were totally outnumbered and outgunned, but like the other battles of the Pacific War, many of them fought to the death.

Major operations had ceased by July 21. The 7th Division's casualties were significantly lighter than they had suffered in previous campaigns. The battle was one of the last to occur in World War II, beginning a few weeks before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki effectively ended the war. Japan surrendered while the Australians were combing the jungle for stragglers.

Following the surrender the three Brigades were committed to occupation duties until around February 1946. The 21st Brigade was detached to Makassar in the Celebes Islands to accept surrender of the Japanese forces, release POWs and maintain civil order.

Contents

1 Forces involved

1.1 Allied Units ('Oboe Two Force')

1.1.1 Land Forces
1.1.2 Air Units
1.1.3 Naval Forces

1.2 Japanese Units

2 See also
3 References

Forces involved

Allied Units ('Oboe Two Force')

Land Forces

7th Australian Division
* Divisional Units
** 2/7 Cavalry (Commando) Regiment
** 2/1 Pioneer Battalion
** 2/1 Machine Gun Battalion
** B Company 2/1 Guard Regiment (4 platoons)
* Divisional Artillery
** 2/4 Field Regiment (25 pounder guns)
** 2/5 Field Regiment (25 pounder guns)
** 2/6 Field Regiment (25 pounder guns)
** 2/2 Tank Attack Regiment
* Divisional Engineers
** 2/4 Field Company
** 2/5 Field Company
** 2/6 Field Company
** 2/9 Field Company
** 2/25 Field Park Company
* 18 Infantry Brigade
** 2/9 Battalion
** 2/10 Battalion
** 2/12 Battalion
* 21 Infantry Brigade
** 2/14 Battalion
** 2/16 Battalion
** 2/27 Battalion
* 25 Infantry Brigade
** 2/25 Battalion
** 2/31 Battalion
** 2/33 Battalion

I Australian Corps units
*(Attached to the 7th Division for operational purposes.)
** 1st Armoured Regiment (Matilda II tanks)
** Armoured Squadron (Special Equipment)(-)
** 2/1 Composite Anti-Aircraft Regiment
** 2 Beach Group
*** 2/2 Pioneer Battalion
**** 2/11 Field Company
***** 12 Aust. Light Wireless Section

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
**** 1 Company, 1 NEI Battalion

United States Army
** 727 Amphibious Tractor Battalion (less one company)
**** One company, 672 Amphibious Tractor Battalion
**** One boat company, Boat Battalion, 593 Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment

Air Units

Royal Australian Air Force

79 (General Reconnaissance - Bomber) Wing Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
* No. 2 Squadron (B-25)
* No. 18 (NEIAF, Australian-Dutch) Squadron (B-25)
78 (Fighter) Wing RAAF (from June 30th)
* No. 75 Squadron (Kittyhawk)
* No. 78 Squadron (Kittyhawk)
* No. 80 Squadron (Kittyhawk)
* No. 452 Squadron (Spitfire)
82 (Bomber) Wing RAAF
* No. 21 Squadron (B-24)
* No. 23 Squadron (B-24)
* No. 24 Squadron (B-24)
Detachment, 83 (Army Co-Operation) Wing
* Detachment, No. 4 Squadron (CAC Boomerang)
* Detachment, No. 16 Air Observation Post Flight
Det, 9 Local Air Supply Unit
No. 54 Squadron RAF (Spitfire)

United States Army Air Forces

13th Air Force
* 42 (Medium) Bombardment Group (B-25)
** 69, 70, 75, 100, 390 Bombardment Squadrons (Palawan Island)
* 5 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
** 23, 31, 72, 394 Bombardment Squadrons (Samar Island)
* 307 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
** 370, 371, 372, 424 Bombardment Squadrons (Morotai Island)
* 868 Bombardment Squadron (SB-24, LAB: Low Altitude radar Bomb.) flew maritime surveillance patrols
* 18 Fighter Group (P-38)
** 12, 44, 70 Fighter Squadrons (Zamboanga)
* 347 Fighter Group (P-38)
** 67, 68, 339 Fighter Squadrons (Palawan Island)
* 419 Night Fighter Squadron (P-61) (Zamboanga and Palawan)
* 4 Reconnaissance Group (F-5 and B-25)
** 17 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron Det. (Palawan Island)
5th Air Force
* 22 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
* 38 (Medium) Bombardment Group (B-25)
* 90 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)
* 380 (Heavy) Bombardment Group (B-24)

United States Marine Corps

VMB-611 (PBJ) flying from Zamboanga
Marine Air Group 2 (flying from the USN escort carriers)
* Marine Escort Carrier Group 1 (MCVEG-1) on carrier Block Island
** VMF-511 (FG-1D)
** VMTB-233 (TBM-3)
* Marine Escort Carrier Group 2 (MCVEG-2) on carrier Gilbert Islands
** VMF-512 (FG-1D)
** VMTB-143 (TBM-3)

United States Navy

Fleet Air Wing 17 (Palawan Island)
* Patrol Bombing Squadron 128 (VPB-128) (PV-1)
* Patrol Bombing Squadron 106 (VPB-106) (PB4Y-2)
* Patrol Bombing Squadron 111 (VPB-111) (PB4Y-2)
Navy Escort Carrier Group 40 (CVEG-40) on carrier Suwannee
* Fighting Squadron 40 (VF-40) (F6F-5)
* Torpedo Squadron 40 (VT-40) (TBM-3)

Naval Forces

Attack Group 78.2
* Transports: 1 AGC USS Wasatch, 1 CGC, 3 LSI (HMAS Manoora, HMAS Westralia, HMAS Kanimbla), 1 AKA (USS Titania), 1 LSD (USS Carter Hall), 5 APD, 1 LCF(F), 22 LSM, 35 LST, 16 LCI(L), 2 PC, 3 SC
* Close Support: 10 LCS(L), 8 LCI(R), 6 LCI(R), 3 LCI(M)
* Screen: 10 Destroyers (USS Robinson, Saufley, Waller, Philip, Bailey, Frazier, Flusser, Drayton, Conyngham, Smith), 5 Destroyer Escorts (USS Chaffee, L.E. Thomas, E.A.Howard, J. Rutheford, Key), 1 Frigate (HMAS Gascoyne)
* Minesweeping Group: 1 APD, 5 AM, 12 YMS, 1 LSM
* Service, Salvage and miscellaneous units

Covering Group 74.2
* Heavy Cruiser: HMAS Shropshire (from 27 June)
* Light Cruisers: US Ships Montpelier (from 15th June), Denver (from 15th June), Columbia (from 23rd June), Cleveland (30th june - 1st? july), Phoenix (4th-6th July), Nashville (4th-6th July), HMAS Hobart (from 27 June), HMNLS Tromp (From 19th June)
* Destroyers: 4 from 15th June, 7 from 27th June.
* High Speed transport: USS Schmidt (from 23rd June)

United States Navy Escort Carrier Group 78.4: (from 1-3 July)
* Escort Carriers: US Ships Suwannee, Block Island, Gilbert Islands
* Destroyers: USS Helm
* Destroyer escorts: USS Mitchell, Donaldson, Cloues, Lamons and Kyne

8 USN PT boats arrived with the tender USS Mobjack on 27 June, and this force was expanded to two PT boat squadrons (10 and 27) on 6 July.

Japanese Units

22 Base Force
455 Independent Infantry Battalion

References

[Australian Official Histories of World War II]
* Gavin Long (1963), The Final Campaigns. Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
* G. Hermon Gill (1968), Royal Australian Navy 1942-45. Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
* George Odgers (1968), Air War Against Japan, 1943-45. Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

‘Japanese Monograph Number 26: Borneo Operations. 1941-1945’ in War in Asia and the Pacific. Volume 6. The Southern Area (Part I).

Wesley Craven and James Cate (1953), The Army Air Forces in World War Two. Volume V: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.

Major General R.N. Hopkins (Retired). Australian Armour. A History of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps 1927-1972. Australian Government Publishing Service. 1978.

Samuel Eliot Morison (1989), The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas 1944-1945. Little, Brown and Company, Boston.

Gordon L. Rottman, US Marine Corps Order of Battle. Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945. Greenwood Press. Westport. 2002.

Royal Navy (1959), Naval Staff History Second World War: War with Japan, Volume VI; The Advance to Japan. British Admiralty, London.

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