Battle of Tarakan (1942)
The Battle of Tarakan took place on 11–12 January 1942, a day after the Empire of Japan declared war on the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Although Tarakan was only a small marshy island off northeastern Borneo (now divided between Indonesia's Kalimantan and Malaysia's East Malaysia) in the Netherlands East Indies (today's Indonesia), its 700 oil wells, refineries, and airfield made it a crucial objective for Japan in the Pacific War.
| Battle of Tarakan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II, Pacific War, Dutch East Indies campaign | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Netherlands | Japan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Simon de Waal Anthonie van Versendaal † |
Shizuo Sakaguchi Shoji Nishimura | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1,365 | 6,600 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
300 killed 40 wounded 871 captured (of which 215 executed) 1 minelayer sunk |
255 killed 38 wounded 2 minesweepers sunk | ||||||
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