Qualla: Battle of Tarakan (1942) https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942 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/e/e/battle-of-tarakan-1942-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Tarakan (1942) https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942 Battle of Tarakan (1942): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942/ Photo credit Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH), Public domain. By 10 p.m. on January 10, 1942, a hundred thousand tons of oil were burning. Lieutenant Colonel Simon de Waal had given the order hours earlier, after a Dutch Dornier Do 24 flying boat spotted the Japanese invasion fleet bearing down on Tarakan. Engineer platoons dynamited the drilling pipes, triggering underground explosions that sealed the wells. The refineries went next. A column of fire rose from the tiny island off northeastern Borneo, visible for miles across the Makassar Strait. The Japanese were coming for Tarakan's oil. De Waal intended to make sure they found nothing but ash.

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Image: Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH) | Public domain

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/e/e/battle-of-tarakan-1942-wp/w8ee-battle-of-tarakan-1942-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Tarakan (1942): Seven Hundred Wells on a Swamp https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942/ Photo credit Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH), Public domain. Tarakan was an improbable prize. Only 25 square miles in area, the island was mostly hills and coastal swamp, three degrees north of the equator, lashed by tropical heat and humidity. But oil had been discovered at unusually shallow depths, 50 to 300 meters below the surface, and...

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Image: Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH) | Public domain

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/e/e/battle-of-tarakan-1942-wp/w8ee-battle-of-tarakan-1942-seven-hundred-wells-on-a-swamp.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Tarakan (1942): Pillboxes and Minefields https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942/ Photo credit Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH), Public domain. The Dutch knew Tarakan could not hold indefinitely. Their plans called for defending the oil fields as long as possible, then destroying what they could not keep and withdrawing to mainland Borneo. The garrison arranged its defenses around the port complex at Lingkas, with severa...

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Image: Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH) | Public domain

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/e/e/battle-of-tarakan-1942-wp/w8ee-battle-of-tarakan-1942-pillboxes-and-minefields.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Tarakan (1942): Landing by Firelight https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942/ Photo credit Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH), Public domain. The Japanese planned a two-pronged assault from Tarakan's eastern shore. Colonel Yamamoto's Right Wing Unit would land near the Amal River and drive west to seize the Pamoesian oilfields, while Major Kanauji's Left Wing Unit would come ashore further south at Tanjung Batu to capt...

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Image: Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH) | Public domain

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/e/e/battle-of-tarakan-1942-wp/w8ee-battle-of-tarakan-1942-landing-by-firelight.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Tarakan (1942): The Minesweepers That Never Returned https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942/ Photo credit Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH), Public domain. While the infantry fought in the jungle, the most dramatic action unfolded at sea. On January 12, six Japanese minesweepers entered the Mengacu Channel to clear the port approaches, ignoring General Sakaguchi's warning. Dutch coastal batteries at Karoengan opened fire with devast...

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Image: Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH) | Public domain

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/e/e/battle-of-tarakan-1942-wp/w8ee-battle-of-tarakan-1942-the-minesweepers-that-never-returned.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Tarakan (1942): Surrender and Its Aftermath https://qualla.com/battle-of-tarakan-1942/ Photo credit Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH), Public domain. Lieutenant Colonel de Waal surrendered on January 12. Kanauji's Left Wing Unit, lost in dense jungle where it had managed only 100 meters per hour, did not even seize its objective, the Karoengan battery, until January 13, a day after the fighting ended. That night, the Prins van...

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Image: Dutch Navy Personel (NIMH) | Public domain

]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/e/e/battle-of-tarakan-1942-wp/w8ee-battle-of-tarakan-1942-surrender-and-its-aftermath.mp3 0:06 6 full