July 1, 1945 – Reports from Bob Brumby and Don Bell via Shortwave to Mutual – July 1, 1945 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
July 1, 1945 – Reports for this day from two Mutual correspondents via Shortwave on the situation in the south Pacific and the Borneo Campaign. 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. While major combat operations were concluded by mid-July, mopping-up operations continued throughout Borneo until the end of the war in August.
The last major amphibious assault of World War II was at Balikpapan on 1 July 1945. The landing was preceded by a heavy aerial bombardment over the course of 20 days, while minesweepers worked to clear the area for 15 days, establishing safe lanes for the invasion fleet to pass and clearing proposed anchorages. These operations were undertaken inside the range of Japanese coastal guns; to protect the minesweepers, naval gunfire and aerial bombardment was used to suppress and neutralize the Japanese guns. Due to the unavailability of the Tarakan airfield, air support for the operation was provided by RAAF and US units based in the southern Philippines. Three minesweepers were lost during the clearance operations.
Here are two reports from the South Pacific, from July 1, 1945.
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