In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

195 + + + + + PART FOUR “I Deeply Regret Failure to Hold ABDA Area” following the japanese landing on Sumatra on February 14, the Dutch defense forces had counterattacked and appeared in a position to defeat the Japanese paratroops tenuously holding the Palembang No. 1 airstrip . However, additional paratroopers were dropped in the area, and another Japanese force in barges succeeded in moving up the Moesi River to join the fray. Allied air strikes on the Japanese landing forces could not slow the Japanese advance. With the arrival of the main Japanese force off Palembang on February 17, virtually all Allied forces on Sumatra were evacuated across the Sunda Strait to Java under chaotic conditions. West Java now lay open to Japanese invasion.1 Japanese strategy for the seizure of the Java prize had now reached the third phase, the isolation of Java from the east. The plan comprised three almost simultaneous operations: the seizure of Bali to serve as a springboard for air operations against East Java, the occupation of Timor to cut off the ferry route to Java from Australia, and a massive aerial attack on Darwin, eliminating it as a threat to the Timor invasion and as the supply point for the Indies.2 On February 17 the Bali and Timor invasion forces set out from Makassar and Amboina, respectively, while the carrier force that would strike Darwin arrived in Kendari the same day in preparation for a fast night passage of the Banda Sea to put it in a position to launch on the morning of February 19. Army troops of the Timor force were heading for Koepang in nine transports escorted by a cruiser and eight destroyers, while five additional transports carried troops to occupy Portuguese Dili to the north, where only four hundred Dutch and Australian troops would be opposing them. The Bali inva- 196 Part Four sion force was much smaller, comprised of a single battalion embarked in two transports with destroyer escort.3 The Bali force was the first to reach its destination, on the evening of February 18, and landings began early the following morning. The main action occurred at sea, where Dutch cruisers and Dutch and American destroyers engaged the Japanese in the Badoeng Strait in a confused action resulting in the loss of a Dutch destroyer and heavy damage to an American destroyer, a “dismally fought action on the Allied part.”4 An aerial attack on the Japanese landing forces on the morning of February 20 by American P-40s and A-24s cost five of the fighters and two of the dive bombers, with no Japanese ships damaged or sunk. With the failure to stop the Japanese ground force, the Allies lost Denpasar Airfield, leaving nearby Soerabaja and the American B-17 base at Singosari wide open to incessant bombing and strafing attacks. At Darwin, the arrival at 0940 of 188 aircraft launched from the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu of Nagumo’s 1st Air Fleet over the town’s harbor and airfields caught the Australians completely by surprise, despite the early warning they had received. The defenders were totally ill prepared for such a massive aerial attack, without a single Australian fighter to defend the base and only a few antiaircraft guns emplaced. Darwin posed a lucrative target, with more than forty-five ships in the harbor and nine RAAF Hudson bombers on the field, but the Japanese also went after the dockyards, oil depot, and even the town itself.5 Also caught unprepared for the attack, the pilots of ten P-40s that were transiting Darwin for Java were overwhelmed by the Zeros and all but one shot down or destroyed on takeoff. Four of the pilots were killed, including the commanding officer of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron (Provisional). An LB-30, six of the Hudsons, and three Beechcraft transports were destroyed on the ground, as well as four PBY flying boats of Patrol Wing 10 near Melville Island, shot up by the Zeros on their way to Darwin. Eight ships in the harbor were sunk, including the U.S. destroyer Peary; three others were beached; and ten were damaged. To add to the destruction, fifty-four Japanese landbased Betty and Nell bombers from Kendari followed up at 1158 with further attacks on the RAAF field.6 The first-ever attack on Australian territory by a foreign power triggered a panic among military personnel and civilians alike, who streamed out of the Darwin area by foot...

Share