The Battle of Tarakan took place in January 1942 and was the first stage in the Japanese conquest of the Netherlands East Indies. This article is about the year. ... The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands Indië) was the name of the colonies colonised by the Dutch East India Company which came under administration of the Netherlands during the ninteenth century (see Indonesia). ...

The Japanese forces landed on the east coast of Tarakan at Midnight 11 January 1942. After mounting a brief, but fierce, resistance the Dutch Garrison surrendered on the morning of 12 January 1942. All prisoners of war were executed by the Japanese in retaliation for the destruction of the oil installations; a feat that was repeated later in Balikpapan. Tarakan is an island in the Kalimantan Timur province of Indonesia. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Landscape of Balikpapan City Balikpapan is a city (population 309,234 1990) on the island of Borneo, in Indonesia. ...

Tarakan remained under Japanese Occupation until May 1945 when it was liberated by Australian troops in the Battle of Tarakan (1945). The Battle of Tarakan occured May 1945. ...

Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... Tarakan is an island in the Kalimantan Timur province of Indonesia. ... The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands Indië) was the name of the colonies colonised by the Dutch East India Company which came under administration of the Netherlands during the ninteenth century (see Indonesia). ...

Ground Forces Involved

Japanese Units

Sakaguchi Detachment

• HQ 56 Infantry Group
• Tankette Company, 56 Infantry Group
  • 146 Infantry Regiment (+)
    • I Battalion, 56 Field Artillery Regiment
    • 1 Company, 56 Engineer Regiment
    • 2 Company, 56 Transport Regiment
• Element, 2 Kure Special Naval Landing Force
• 2 Oilfield Construction Unit
• 5 Airfield Construction Unit

The Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF), (海軍陸戦隊 Tokubetsu Rikusentai) were the marine troops of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was only part of the IJN Land Forces. ...

Dutch Units

Tarakan Local Command

• Tarakan Garrison Battalion (7th KNIL Infantry Battalion)
  • Motorised detachment with 7 armored cars
• 3 Coastal Artillery Regiment(?)
  • Two mobile coastal artillery batteries (total of 3 x 75 mm guns and 2 x 70 mm guns)
  • Five fixed coastal artillery batteries (total of 2 x 120 mm guns, 10 x 75 mm guns and 3 x 37 mm guns)
  • Two AA batteries (total of 4 x 40 mm guns and 4 x 20 mm guns)
  • Four AA machine gun platoons (each with 3 x 12.7 mm HMG)
• Two engineer platoons
• Mobile Auxiliary First Aid Platoon

References

• Klemen L. The Netherlands East Indies 1941-42

• Samuel Eliot Morison (2001), The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 - April 1942. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

• Dr. Leo Niehorster [http://orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo/index.htm World War II Armed Forces

Orders of Battle and Organizations] RAdm Samuel Eliot Morison (1887-1976), USN historian Samuel Eliot Morison, RAdm, USNR (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian, notable for producing scholarly works that were both authoritative and highly readable, an ability recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes. ...