User:Rose Palmer/Notes on Sarawak

Notes for Battle of Borneo (1941-42)

Runciman

From "The White Rajahs" by Steven Runciman, pp252-255

Within a few days it was clear that Sarawak would be engulfed. The Protecting Power, with desperate obligations all over the world, was powerless to protect. The small garrison of 2/15th Punjabis, which was all that had been afforded to guard the country, could never hope to defeat the forces that the Japanese were putting into the field; and there were neither ships nor aeroplanes to ward off the invaders. Almost immediately enemy aeroplanes appeared in the sky on reconnaissance flights. Then, after a little preliminary bombing, an invasion force of about 10,000 men arrived on Miri, on 16 December. The Oil Company officials, with the help of the tiny garrison, had time to destroy the installations before leaving in three ships for Kuching. They were attacked from the air on the voyage. On 19 December there was a heavy air-raid on Kuching. Several lives were lost; and a fire broke out in the fuel yard of the Borneo Company, which was with difficulty brought under control. Sibu and other smaller towns were bombed during the next few days. Japanese transports were now sailing down the coast. Some were sunk and others damaged by the gallantry of the Netherlands submarines and aeroplanes; but the Japanese losses were small in comparison with their strength. On 24 December the Japanese began to advance up the Srawak river. By Christmas Day Kuching was in their hands.

The suddenness of the attack, the inadequacy of the British Imperial forced and the conflicting orders from the military authorities in Singapore prevented any organised attempt at resistance. The civil authorities had no instructions from outside and little time to decide how to deal with an enemy occupation. The Rajah was in Australia; the Tuan Muda was in London, in charge of the Sarawak Office there, and his son had been recently dismissed from the Sarawak service. At this miserable crisis of her history there was no Brooke in Sarawak. Captain Le Gros Clark, as officer in charge of the Government, decided that he and the administrative officers must stay on in Kuching; the civil population could not be deserted, nor the town abandoned without some official authority. The medical and hospital staffs should remain. Everyone else should escape out of the country as best he culd. Most of the European women had been sent away at the very beginning of the emergency. The women attached to the Missions, apart from the Catholic nuns who refused to leave their convent, had been moved, as the Japanese approached, up-country to Simanggang, together with the few wives off officials that remained.

After Government files and Treasury notes had been burnt and installations destroyed, Captain Le Gros Clark and his assistants waited to receive the Japanese with dignity, and were bundled off unceremoniously into an improvised prisoners' camp. Meanwhile there was a flow of refugees along the road to Siniawan and Bau, then up the river Sadong and over the watershed into Netherlands territory. After putting up a rather disorganised resistance and after demolishing the aerodrome, the officers in charge of the Punjabi troops managed to collect them and to retreat in fair order, with no serious loss. They retired south-eastward in two columns, one making for Sambit, on the south coast of Borneo, the other for Pankalang Boen, further to the west. It was a long and terrible march. The first column found its way blocked by the Japanese and rejoined the second. But it was too late; on 8 April the whole force had to surrender to the enemy and was taken off to a prison camp. Some civilians, such as the Judicial Commissioner and the Treasurer, had been ordered to leave on Christmas Eve; others escaped on Christmas Day. They were well received in the villages through which they passed, but the villagers were anxious to move them on. Their route led them to Sanggau, where there were a number of Netherlands officials, who arranged for their transport to Pontianak.

Another Japanese force sailed up the Igan river and occupied Sibu on 27 December. The Europeans working in the lower Rejang districts had time to escape into the Second Division, travelling by rough tracks through Engkilili to Lubok Antu, close to the frontier. There refugees from Simanggang joined them; and they crossed into the upper Kapuas valley, in Netherlands territory, to samitau and thence, with the aid of the Dutch, to Pontianak. It was a hard journey but everyone survived. Europeans on the upper Rejang had a still harder time. Their only route of escape was over the high watershed. A party including several women and children left Kanowit for Kapit and Pelagus and up the rapids to Belaga. There they turned across the mountains and over the frontier, coming at last to the isolated town of Long Nawang, where there was a small Dutch settlement. No Europeans were left there when they arrived; but the native officers were friendly and efficient; and there was adequate food and housing for the party. Some of the men decided to press on, to reach Long Iram and Samarinda; but it would be a long and arduous journey, and no one knew how far the Japanese had advanced into the intervening country. Five of them set out and reached Samarinda after eighteen days in the jungle. Some of the other men decided to return to Sarawak, where they were taken into captivity. The remainder of the party remained at Long Nawang. There were eventually handed over to the Japanese, who put them all to death, men, women and children.

Apart from the group at Samarinda, who managed to secure air passages to Java, the refugees from Sarawak waited for some days at Pontianak. The Rajah, who had been in Australia when war began, made an attempt to return to Sarawak; but by the time he reached Batavia, it was too late. On his return to Australia he sent one of this officials who chanced to be there, Mr Pitt-Hardacre, to Batavia to arrange for the transport of the refugees from Borneo. Aeroplanes were sent to Pontianak to bring them to Batavia. Some went thence to Britain; most joined the Rajah at Sydney. His Private Secretary also flew to Batavia with a vague scheme for returning to Sarawak to stir up unrest there; but this was held to be impracticable and unwise.

Percival

From "The War in Malaya" by Lieut-General A. E. Percival. (1949) pp60-63.

Let us now turn out attention for a short time to Borneo, that huge island, partly British and partly Dutch, of great strategical importance flanking, as it does, the sea routes from Japan to Malaya and Sumatra on the one side and to Java and the southern area on the other. The British portion, which lies along the northern seaboard, consisted of four territories, i.e. British North Borneo, controlled by the British North Borneo Company with headquarters in London, the island of Labuan, a British colony administered by a Resident, Brunei, a British Protected State with its own Sultan, and Sarawak, a Malay state which had, for many years, been governed by members of the Brooke family. Borneo is in reality part of the outer defences of of Malaya because it possesses some fine natural harbours and the western part of it was, even in those days, within wasy striking distance of Malaya for bomber aircraft. It would have greatly strengthened the structure of defence in the Far East if it could have been strongly held, but neither the Dutch nor ourselves had the necessary resources. As a base for our aircraft British Borneo would have been of the greatest possible value, especially so long as Indo-China remained in the hands of our French allies, provided two conditions existed, i.e., that we had aircraft to operate from it and that we could protect the aerodromes with sea or land forces. Plans for the construction of aerodromes and development of air facilities were well advanced but when, towards the end of 1940, it became clear that neither of the above two conditions could be fulfilled the had to be cancelled except as regards the landing-ground near Kuching, in Sarawak. The Commander-in-Chief informed the Governor of North Borneo that his territory could not be defended and that the volunteers and police at his disposal should be utilized for purposes of internal security. No attempt was made to defend Labuan. The State of Brunei was of some importance as in it lay the large Seria oil-field which, with that at Miri, in Sarawak, supplied the refinery at Lutong. In peace-time much of the oil from these fields went to Japan. It was at first intended to attempt to defend them and a 6-inch battery was mounted, but later this was found to be impracticable and a policy of denial was decided upon. In consequence, a partial denial was carried out before hostilities opened, and only a sufficient garrison was left there with the necessary technicians to complete the work.

It was decided to hold Kuching, which lies at the extreme western end of Sarawak, a State over 450 miles long with few communications, partly because was already a landing-ground there and partly because its occupation by the enemy would bring them within close striking distance of the Dutch aerodromes in North-West Borneo. One Indian battalian (less one company to Miri) and some administrative detachments were therefore sent there and steps were taken to develop local forces, i.e. volunteers and a body of native troops known as Sarawak Rangers. The O.C. Troops Sarawak and Brunei was told that his primary object was to secure the landing ground at Kuching for the use of our own air force and to deny it to the enemy but that if, owing to overwhelming force, this object could no longer be attained, then he should act in the best interests of West Borneo as a whole, his line of withdrawal being by the bush track into Dutch West Borneo.

In September 1941 centenary celebrations, marking a hundred years of Brooke rule, were held at Kuching. There was much rejoicing. The celebrations were made the occasion of another historic ceremony, i.e. the handign over by the Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, of much of his responsibility to a Council. In October the Rajah left the state for a holiday in Australia.

Percival pp64-65

Shortly after taking over command I was instructed to review the army strength required for the defence of Malaya. Before doing so I decided to make myself completely au fait with the problem as it presented itself at that time--a problem which was so very different to what it had been when I had left Malaya three-and-a-half years earlier. And so I toured all parts of Malaya to visit the various formations and study the problems on the spot...

...And so I asked for and was given an estimate of what damage it was thought the air force would do, and it was on this that I based my estimate of the land forces required. There is no need to go into details of my estimate here. The main differences in it compared to those which had been submitted previously were that it made provision for a 3rd Corps reserve in North Malaya of one complete division and certain Corps troops units, for a complete division instead of only two brigades i the Kelantan-Trengganu-Pahang area, for two regular infantry battalions in Penang and for a brigade group instead of only one battalion in Borneo...This estimate received the general approval of the Commander-in-Chief and was accepted by the Chiefs of Staff, but it was recognised that the target could not in the existing circumstances be fulfilled in the foreseeable future.

Percival p98-101 (on disposition of forces in the field):

Let us now review the strength of the forces at our disposal and the organisation for defence as it existed immediately prior to the outbreak of war.

Taking the army first, we had the equivalent of about 3-1/2 divisions with, in addition, the anti-aircraft defences and the fixed defences of Singapore fortress, but we had no tanks. In all there was probably a ration strength of rather over 80,000 which included a large number of based and other administrative personnel. This force was disposed as follows:

(a) Lt.-Gen Sir Lewis Heath, the Commander of the 3rd Indian Corps, was responsible under myself for everything north of Johore and Malacca including the implementation of MATADOR if that was ordered. His headquarters were at Kuala Lumpur and he had under him:

(i) The 11th Indian Division of two brigade groups in Kedah and Perlis and with one additional battalion at Kroh in north Perak watching the Patani road. Another battalion accommodatd in Penang was earmarked to join the Kroh Force if war broke out.

(ii) The Penang garrison consisting of one volunteer infantry battalion, two 6-inch coast defence batteries with search-lights, one field company and some administrative units.

(iii) The 9th Indian Division of two brigade groups only, of which one strong group with some additional aerodrome defence troops was in the Kelantan area and the other, a weak group, was in the Kuantan area.

(iv) The Lines of Communication Area on the weat coas in which was the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force, less one battalion on the Kelantan lines of communication.

(v) One Infantry Brigade in reserve in the Ipoh area but ready to join the 11th Indian Division should fighting develop on that front.

(b) Maj.-Gen. Gordon Bennett with the A.I.F. of one division less one brigade group and with the Johore military forces under his command was responsible for everything in Johore and Malacca except elements of the Singapore anti-aircraft defences located in Johore and the Pengerang defences in the south-eastern corner of Johore.

(c) Maj.-Gen. F. Keith Simmons, the Commander of the Singapore fortress, was responsible for the defence of Singapore and adjoining islands and of the Pengerang area in South-East Johore. He had under him:

(i) The Fixed Defences which were divided into two fire commands, i.e. the Changi fire command which covered the approaches to the Naval Base and the Faber fire command which covered the approaches to Keppel Harbour and to the western channel of the Johore Straits. In each fire command was one 15-inch and one 9.2-inch battery and a number of 6-inch batteries, also searchlights and smaller equipments.

(ii) Field Troops of two infantry brigades, etc., to man the beach defences. Included in these was the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force less the Penang and Province Wellesley battalion which, for operational purposes, was under the Commander of the 3rd Indian Corps.

(iii) Fortress Units which included field companies, Royal Engineers, etc.

(d) Brigadier A. W. G. Wildey, the Commander of the anti-aircraft defences, was responsible in co-operation with other arms for the defence of selected targets in the Singapore area against hostile air attack. He had under his command four heavy anti-aircraft regiments, one light anti-aircraft regiment less one battery which was under 3rd Indian Corps, and one searchlight regiment. During an attack, Group Captain Rice, the co-ordinator of the air defence of the Singapore area, was authorized to issue orders to him direct. Most of the guns were of the static type and the range of the 3.7's was very limited by modern standards. A few mobile guns were placed under the Commander 3rd Indian Corps for work in the forward areas and a senior officer was allotted to his headquarters as anti-aircraft adviser.

(e) The Command Reserve of the 12th Indian Infantry Brigade Group under Brigadier A. C. Paris. This brigade group was to be prepared to operate anywhere in Malaya, and the commander 3rd Indian Corps had been informed that, in the event of an advance into Thailand, it would immediately be moved north and placed under his orders. Both the Commanders of the 3rd Indian Corps and of the A.I.F. were instructed that, in the event of this brigade group being committed to operations, they must be prepared to replacy it with another infantry brigade group if called upon to do so.

This brigade had been carrying out formation training in the Port Dickson area during November and some of the units were still in that area/ The brigade headquarters and the other units had returned to Singapore.

(f) In Borneo, Lt.-Col C. M. Lane with one Indian infantry battalion, less one company, and some local units was responsible for the defence of the Kuching air landing-ground. In the MIri area of east Sarawak there was a detachment of one 6-inch battery, one infantry company, and a demolition squad. It had been decided that it was useless to attempt to defend the refinery or either of the oil-fields. In consequence, a partial denial scheme, whereby the oil output was reduced by some seventy per cent, was carried out before the outbreak of war. The orders to this detachment were to complete the denial scheme as soon as war broke out and withdraw to rejoin their units. No regular military forces were maintained in Labuan or in British North Borneo, though there was a small volunteer force in the latter territory. The senior civil officials were responsible for internal security.

(g) In Christmas Island there was a coast defence attachment with two 6-inch guns. It was responsible for the protection of the phosphate deposits.

(h) In the Singapore area and elsewhere in Malaya, there were a number of command troops and of base and other administrative units for the maintenance of all troops in Malaya.

Percival pp165-166. Chapter XII: Operations in Borneo

Although during the years which preceded the war it had gradually been assumed that the General Officer Commanding Malaya was responsible also for the military defence of British Borneo it had, as has been shown, never been possible through lack of resources to station more than token forces there. It was never in fact considered that these forces would be able to do much more than give time for the all-important oil-fields in East Sarawak and Brunei to be demolished and to force the enemy to deploy a larger force than they otherwise need have done to capture the air-landing ground at Kuching, thereby depriving them at least temporarily of the use of this force for operations elsewhere. In war, the General Office Commanding Malaya, with no transport aircraft at his disposal, could obviously exercise little control over the operations in British Borneo, and equally the O.C. Troops Sarawak and Brunei would himself have little control over the Miri portion of his force. Kuching and MIri area, as the crow flies, some 400 miles of virgin jungle apart, and the only communication between them was by coastal steamer one a week, the journey in each direction taking thirty-six hours. There were no railways in Sarawak and no roads except in the immediate neighbourhood of the few small towns.

The oil-fields, which were worked by the Sarawak Oil-fields Ltd., were in two groups--the one at Miri in Sarawak, a short distance from the coast up the Miri River, and the other at Seria in Brunei, close to the sea-shore. These groups were thirty-two miles apart. The field at Miri was the older one of the two. From it the oil was pumped to the refinery at Lutong on the coast, from which loading-lines ran out to sea as there were no deep-water wharves at Lutong and no ocean-going vessels could come alongside. The Seria fields were comparatively new and still in the process of development. From it the oil was pumped through pipe-lines to the Lutong refinery. Seria, Miri and Lutong were connected by a road which, for most of its length, ran either along or close to the beach, but a through journey for M.T. was not possible owing to river obstacles. The beach itself is practivally straight and suitable for the landing of troops. The oil-fields were, therefore, for practical purposes, impossible to defend against a determined attack with the resources at our disposal. All that could be done was to ensure that they would be of little use to the Japanese if they captured them and, in accordance with instructions received from the Home Government in August 1941, a scheme of complete destruction had been drawn up with the object of making it impossible for the enemy to obtain oil from the fields at least for an extended period. The scheme was not to be influenced by any considerations of the eventual recovery of the fields for our own use. A party of civilian experts was flown out from Europe to advise on this scheme. The responsibility for carrying it out devolved upon the Army--no small responsibility in view of the exposed situation of the oil-fields and the great value of their contents to the Japanese if they could capture them intact.

As had already been noted, in order to reduce the amount of work which would have to be done if and when the time came, steps were taken late in 1941 to cut down the production of the fields and to ship away the machinery thus rendered surplus. The Miri portion of the fields was closed down completely. At Luton one of the two refining plants was closed down. At Seria all the flowing wells were closed and cemented up. All surplus machinery was then shipped away. Orders for the final demolition of the oil-fields reached the O.C. Troops Miri and Seria (Major Slatter of the 2/15th Punjab Regiment) on the morning of 8 December. The first step was the wrecking of engines, pumping machinery, and furnaces. The next was the denial of the gas-lift wells at Seria. Then the sea-loading lines were blown up and the various subsidiary plants, laboratories, etc., were laid waste. The programme went to time without a serious hitch and in a manner reflecting greatest credit on all concerned, and particularly on Major David of 2/15 Punjab Regiment and the young R.E. Officer, Lt. Hancock. uipon whom the responsibility for most of the detailed arrangements had devolved. Although the Japanese claimed to be obtaining oil from the fields within a few weeks of occupying them, it could only have been in very small quantities. A long period must have elapsed before the production and export of oil from Miri or Seria reached any figure worth considering. The damage done to the Sarawak oil-fields was certainly among the most successful of those organised under the scorched earth policy.

Other brief notes from this chapter:

During the twenty-third, reconnaissance aircraft from SIngapore sighted a force of nine Japanese warships and transports at sea, evidently heading for Kuching. Although the first sighting was made during the morning it was not until 8.30 pm, owing to communication difficulties, that the information was received in Kuching. By that time O.P.s north and north-west of Kuching had already reported searchlights to seaward. Before arrival, however, the convoy had been attacked by sibmarines of the Royal Dutch Navy, who reported having sunk or disabled three transports and one tanker. There is no evidence to show whether this was before or after the sighting by our reconnaissance aircraft referred to above.

Ten minutes later, i.e. at 8.40 pm, an order from Air Headquarters Far East for the demolition of the landing-ground was received in Kuching. There is no doubt that this came as a great shock to the defenders who had been encouraged by the confident belief that the landing-ground was of strategical importance and who, not unnaturally, believed that our aircraft would be operating from it as soon as Kuching was threatened. The fact, of course, was that there were no aircraft to send there. This unexpected development also had the effect of putting O.C. Troops (Lt.-Col. Lane) in the same quandary as that in which many other subordinate commanders found themselves during the course of the Malayan campaign. He had been told that his primary object was to secure the air landing-ground for the use of our air force and to deny it to the enemy, but it was now quite clear to him that our air force was no longer in a position to use it and, once it had been demolished, there seemed no point in denying it any longer to the enemy. At that time we in Singapore were only just beginning to realise that it was not possible to deny the use of an aerodrome to the enemy by demolitions for more than a few days and Lane no doubt thought, as we had done, that the Kuching landing-ground, once demoloshed, would be useless for a very considerable time. In the instructions issued to him Lane had further been told that, if, owing to the enemy's strength his primary object could no longer be attained, then he should act in the interests of the defence of West Borneo as a whole, his line of withdrawal being by bush track into Dutch West Borneo. It is necessary here to explain what was in my mind when these instructions were issued. As British and Dutch air plans had become more closely co-ordinated, it had been decided that Singkawang II should become the principal Anglo-Dutch air base in West Borneo. This aerodrome was situated, not at Singkawang which is on the coast of Dutch West Borneo, but at Sanggau, sixty miles inland and about thirty miles from the Sarawak border. The R.A.F. already had a small ground staff with some stores there and it was through the W.T. station there, manned by Dutch personnel, that military communication between Singapore and Kuching was maintained. This aerodrome at Singkawang II was also of great strategical importance because it was only 300 miles or so from Singapore and the Sunda Straits through which our sea-borne reinforcements now had to come. IN other words, in Japanese hands it would constitute a very serious threat both to the defence of Singapore and also to the security of Java and Sumatra. Lookoed at from the broad strategical point of view the denial to the Japanese of the aerodrome at Singkawang II was undoubtedly of far greater importance than the denial of the landing-ground at Kuching. Unfortunately, between Krokong, the end of the road on the Sarawak side, and the beginning of the road on the Dutch side, there was only a bush track quite impassable for wheeled transport. That meant that all the transport and much of the reserve ammunition, supplies, and other stores of a force moving by this route would have to be destroyed or left behind. The decision to use it was therefore one which no commander would lightly take. These were the considerations which now faced Lane, and they should be carefully weighed by anyone who passes judgement on the operations which followed.

...

Many of the Japanese troops were dressed in British and Sarawak police uniforms, a ruse which on more than one occasion deceived the Indian soldiers.

...

On the morning of 25 December, Lane decided to withdraw his force into Dutch West Borneo that evening. The European women and children, the sick and some officials with the State records, were sent on ahead and crossed the river safely, but then trouble developed at the ferry after firing had broken out in the vicinity, the native ferrymen disappearing leaving the ferry on the far side of the swift-flowing stream. The withdrawal from the aerodrome, which was now being attacked from the east and from the south, was expedited, but the rearguard company as unable to extricate itself and suffered heavily. The total casualties of this battalion during the fighting in Sarawak were four British officers and 229 Indian other ranks, a proportion of which could be classified as "missing".

After trekking throught he jungle on the twenty-sixth, the force cross the frontier on the twenty-seventh and that evening reached Siloeas, the road-head on the Dutch side. Here it was met by the Dutch district officer and dather on by the Dutch military commander, who arranged for it to occupy the barracks which had been built for the R.A.F. at Singkawang II (Sanggau) aerodrome. In the meantime, Lane had been able to get a message through to Singapore, as a result of which containers of food, ammunition, and water were hurriedly prepared and an effort was made to arrange for the R.A.F. to drop these supplies. For lack of suitable and available aircraft the effort came to nothing. Efforts to ascertain the possibility of landing aircraft on the aerodrome itself were also unsuccessful as no information could be obtained as to whether it was in a serviceable condition. Eventually the supplies required by our troops were sent by sea to Java, where we had a military liaison officer, with a request that they should be forwarded to Borneo as early as possible.

Sanggau was reached on 29 December and the force then came under the orders of the local Dutch commander. Its further adventures, therefore, do not belong to this history but may be briefly summarized to round off the story.

The 2/15 Punjab regiment, after re-forming and being as far as possible re-equipped though still without tranport, was allotted local defence tasks int he Siloeas-Sanggau area. Stragglers and local agents reported that the Japanese had landed 3,000-4,000 troops in Kuching. They soon had coolies at work on clearing and bridging the Bau road and on repairing the landing-ground, from which aircraft were operating within two or three weeks. On 7 January the Japanese arrived at the Sarawak-Dutch West Borneo frontier and between then and the eighteenth much bittter fighting took place between there and Sanggau. The 2/15 Punjab Regiment fought gallantly in an endeavour to prevent the enemy reaching this important aerodrome, losing about another 150 men, but it succeeded in gaining time for the aerodrome, its installations and bomb stores, to be demolished.

By that time the Japanese had landed another force on the west coast of Borneo, so retreat in that direction was out of the question. The battalion, therefore, struck out south-eastwards, fighting a rearguard action as far as Ngabang, where contact with the enemy was lost. The battalion was now operating independently again, and it was decided to move to the south coast in two columns in the hope of being able to find transport there to take it to Java. One column was to make for Sampit in the centre of the south coast and the other for Pankalang Boen, 120 mmiles father west. The columns started on 3 and 5 February respectively and, after traversing wild and undeveloped country, reached their destinations simultaneously. The Sampit column, however, found the Japanese already in possession and, after a brief skirmish, moved off to join the west column, which it succeeded in doing after six days march through dense jungle on a compass bearing. By the end of March, officers and men were exhausted after a feat of endurance which assuredly will rank high in the annals of warfare. Since leaving Kuching most of them had marched over 800 miles through some of the worst country in the world, most of the time on half rations and carrying with them their light automatics, rifles, equipment, and ammunition. It says much for the morale of this fine battalion that it remained a formed and disciplined body till the end. The Netherlands East Indies had already surrendered to the Japanese and on 3 April the 2/15 Punjab Regiment became prisoners of war.

....

The force was never strong enough to stop the Japanese--that was due to lack of resources--but it did make the Japanese deploy a fair-sized force, it did gain time for both the oil-fields and the air facilities to be denied to the enemy as far as this could be done and it did help to prevent the enemy from occupying the all-important aerodrome at Singkawang II until 18 January, thereby making a definite contribution to the delay imposed on their southward advance. A military sacrifice it may have been, but it was a sacrifice which, judged by results, was in my opinion fully justified.