page_title: Borneo campaign
section_title: Opposing forces
hierarchical_section_title: Borneo campaign / Opposing forces
caption_attribution_description: English: Crowded US Navy Landing Craft Infantry approaching Labuan during the landing there
context_page_description: The Borneo campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II to liberate Japanese-held British Borneo and Dutch Borneo. Designated collectively as Operation Oboe, a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July were conducted by the Australian I Corps, under Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead, against Imperial Japanese forces who had been occupying the island since late 1941 – early 1942. The main Japanese formation on the island was the Thirty-Seventh Army under Lieutenant-General Masao Baba, while the naval garrison was commanded by Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada. The Australian ground forces were supported by US and other Allied air and naval forces, with the US providing the bulk of the shipping and logistic support necessary to conduct the operation. The campaign was initially planned to involve six stages, but eventually landings were undertaken at four locations: Tarakan, Labuan, North Borneo and Balikpapan. Guerilla operations were also carried out by Dayak tribesmen and small numbers of Allied personnel in the interior of the island.
context_section_description: The main Allied ground forces assigned to the campaign came from the Australian I Corps, under Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead. The main elements of this force consisted of two infantry divisions: the 7th and 9th. For the operation, the Australian corps was assigned as a task force directly under MacArthur's command rather than as part of the Eighth Army, which was controlling operations in the Philippines. Allied naval and air forces, centred on the U.S. 7th Fleet under Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, the Australian First Tactical Air Force, and the U.S. Thirteenth Air Force also played important roles in the campaign.  A small number of Dutch personnel also took part in the operations. Over 74,000 Allied troops were assigned to the initial landings of the campaign. The bulk of the logistic support was provided by the US, particularly provision of the shipping that was required to transport the vast amounts of troops, stores and equipment required for the operation.
  Allied forces were resisted by IJN and IJA forces in southern and eastern Borneo, under Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada, and in the north-west by the Thirty-Seventh Army, led by Lieutenant-General Masao Baba, which was headquartered in Jesselton. The main elements of the Thirty-Seventh Army were the 56th Independent Mixed Brigade (northern Borneo), 71st Independent Mixed Brigade (southern Borneo) and 25th Independent Mixed Regiment; these units had been raised in Japan during the second half of 1944 and arrived in Borneo late that year. The IJN's 2nd Naval Guard Force was also stationed in Borneo. Allied intelligence assessed that there were about 32,000 Japanese troops in Borneo, with 15,000 of these being combat troops. Most of the units which had been ordered from north-eastern Borneo to the west coast were still in transit when the Australian landings began and had been greatly weakened by the difficult conditions experienced during their cross-island march. The transfers left only single battalions in place at Tarakan and Balikpapan. Japanese air power in the region, except in Java and Sumatra, was ineffective.
caption: US Navy Landing Craft Infantry crowded with Australian soldiers prior to the landing at Labuan
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