Qualla: The Battle of Labuan https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/c/y/battle-of-labuan-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: The Battle of Labuan https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan The Battle of Labuan: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan/ Photo credit Not identified in the book., Public domain. Two Victoria Cross recipients lie buried on Labuan, a 35-square-mile island most people could not find on a map. Jack Mackey and Tom Derrick both died here in June 1945, fighting in one of the last contested landings of the Pacific War. Their graves are among 3,922 headstones in the Labuan War Cemetery, more than half of them marking soldiers who were never identified. The battle that brought the Australians to this island was, in strategic terms, almost unnecessary. The British Chiefs of Staff opposed it. The base it was meant to secure was never fully built. But for the soldiers of the 24th Brigade and the 550 Japanese defenders dug into the island's jungle ridges, the fighting was as real and lethal as anything the war produced.

Read more: The Battle of Labuan on Qualla

Image: Not identified in the book. | Public domain

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/c/y/battle-of-labuan-wp/w8cy-the-battle-of-labuan-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Battle of Labuan: A Small Island in the Mouth of a Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. Before the war, Labuan belonged to the British-administered Straits Settlements. Its capital, Victoria, sat on the south coast facing a harbour of the same name, home to 8,500 people and limited port facilities. Coral reefs ringed most of the coastline, leaving only a 1,500-yard ...

Read more: The Battle of Labuan on Qualla

Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/c/y/battle-of-labuan-wp/w8cy-the-battle-of-labuan-a-small-island-in-the-mouth-of-a-bay.mp3 0:06 2 full The Battle of Labuan: Operation Oboe Six https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. The plan to take Labuan changed shape repeatedly during April 1945. Initially, it was not even part of the Borneo campaign. Only after a proposed invasion of Java was cancelled did General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters add Brunei Bay to the target list. The 9th Division drew t...

Read more: The Battle of Labuan on Qualla

Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/c/y/battle-of-labuan-wp/w8cy-the-battle-of-labuan-operation-oboe-six.mp3 0:06 3 full The Battle of Labuan: Brown Beach https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. At 8:15 on the morning of 10 June, Allied warships opened fire on the landing area. Seven Australian B-24 Liberators dropped anti-personnel bombs behind the beach. Then the assault waves came ashore in amphibious tractors, the coral reefs making conventional landing craft impossi...

Read more: The Battle of Labuan on Qualla

Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/c/y/battle-of-labuan-wp/w8cy-the-battle-of-labuan-brown-beach.mp3 0:06 4 full The Battle of Labuan: The Pocket https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. Within days, the Australians identified the core of the Japanese defense: a fortified position roughly 1,200 yards long and 600 yards wide, threaded through jungle-covered ridges bordered by swamps. They called it 'the Pocket.' Around 250 Japanese soldiers held three areas of hig...

Read more: The Battle of Labuan on Qualla

Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/c/y/battle-of-labuan-wp/w8cy-the-battle-of-labuan-the-pocket.mp3 0:06 5 full The Battle of Labuan: What Remains https://qualla.com/battle-of-labuan/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. After the battle, the Allies repaired the airfield and developed Labuan into the base they had planned. But the humanitarian cost was immediate. Allied bombing had destroyed almost every building on the island, and within days of the invasion, some 3,000 homeless civilians crowde...

Read more: The Battle of Labuan on Qualla

Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/c/y/battle-of-labuan-wp/w8cy-the-battle-of-labuan-what-remains.mp3 0:06 6 full