Pacific

1945: The Borneo campaign

May – August 1945 · 1 battle

In the last months of the Pacific war General Morshead’s Australian I Corps, supported by American naval and air forces, carried out a series of landings on Borneo – on the island of Tarakan, in Brunei Bay and at Balikpapan. The aim was to recover oilfields, airfields and bases for further operations, and to cut off the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies. The fighting continued until Japan’s surrender; its strategic purpose is still questioned today. At the same time, in the interior of the island, the Sandakan death marches were drawing to an end; of several thousand Allied prisoners only a handful survived.

1 May – 15 August 1945The Borneo campaign1 May – 15 August 1945: Australians landed on Tarakan, in Brunei Bay and at Balikpapan. They retook the Borneo coast, but the campaign's purpose is disputed.