Battle of Borneo (1941–42)

Battle of Borneo
Part of World War II, Pacific War
A map of the ABDACOM area, with Borneo just left of centre.
Date 16 December 1941– March 1942 Location Borneo island Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Netherlands  United Kingdom  British India  Kingdom of Sarawak
Commanders and leaders
Kiyotake Kawaguchi	Robert Brooke-Popham C.M. Lane Dominicus Mars
Strength
4,500 infantry 2 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 6 destoyers 1 submarine chaser 1 seaplane tender 1 minesweeper 1 submarine 1 collier 10 transports	1,000 Sarawak Force 1,000 British Punjab Regiment 1,000 KNIL 650 police 5 fighters Unknown bomber strength 3 flying boats 2 submarines
Casualties and losses
567+ casualties 2 destroyers sunk 1 minesweeper sunk 1 collier sunk 2 transports sunk 1 transport beached 1 transport damaged	2,300 casualties 1 flying boat destroyed 1 submarine sunk

 Netherlands
 United Kingdom

The Battle of Borneo was a successful campaign by Japanese Imperial forces for control of Borneo island and concentrated mainly on the subjugation of the Kingdom of Sarawak, Brunei, North Borneo, and the western part of Kalimantan that was part of the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese main unit for this mission was the 35th Infantry Brigade led by Major-General Kiyotake Kawaguchi.

In 1941, Borneo was divided between the Dutch East Indies and British protectorates (North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei) and crown colonies (Labuan).

The so-called "White Rajahs", the Brooke family, had ruled Sarawak, on the northwest of Borneo, for almost a century, first as Rajahs under the Sultanate of Brunei (a by then tiny but once powerful state entirely enclosed within the borders of Sarawak), and from 1888 as a protectorate of the British Empire. The northeast of the island comprised North Borneo, since 1882 another British protectorate under the British North Borneo Company. Offshore lay the small British crown colony of Labuan.

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