Battle of Ambon
The Battle of Ambon (30 January – 3 February 1942) occurred on Ambon Island in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), as part of the Japanese offensive on the Dutch colony during World War II. In the face of a combined defense by Dutch and Australian troops, Japanese forces conquered the island and its strategic airfield in several days. In the aftermath of the fighting, a major massacre of many Dutch and Australian prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) followed. Following the war, many of the IJA personnel were tried for war crimes.
| Battle of Ambon | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II, Pacific War, Dutch East Indies campaign | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Netherlands Australia United States (retreated on 15 January) | Japan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Joseph Kapitz William Scott Frank D. Wagner |
Takeo Takagi Takeo Itō | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
2,600 1,100 | 5,300 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
340 killed 2,182 captured 309 executed |
95 killed 185 wounded 1 minesweeper sunk 2 minesweepers damaged | ||||||
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.