The Battle of Tarakan took place on 11–12 January 1942, a day after the Empire of Japan declared war on the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Although Tarakan was only a small marshy island off northeastern Borneo in the Netherlands East Indies, its 700 oil wells, refineries, and airfield made it a crucial objective for Japan in the Pacific War.
Major General Shizuo Sakaguchi
Dutch defensive positions on Tarakan, 1942
Dutch pillboxes. Captured by the Japanese in January 1942, this pillbox was blown up by a bomb blast during the Battle of Tarakan in May 1945.
Dutch barracks at Lingkas (Tarakan). Captured by the Japanese in 1942, it was recaptured by the Australians in May 1945.
Tarakan is an island and co-extensively the sole city within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is the largest urban area in North Kalimantan population-wise and is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island. Once a major oil-producing region during the colonial period, Tarakan had great strategic importance during the Pacific War and was among the first Japanese targets early in the conflict. It is the sole city within the newly established Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. According to Statistics Indonesia, the city had a population of 193,370 at the 2010 Census and 242,786 inhabitants at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 249,960.
Tarakan
Oil storage tanks and a pier at Tarakan photographed between 1905 and 1914
A pier and oil barrels in Tarakan during the Dutch colonial period, ca. 1925
Allied landing vessels during the Battle of Tarakan (1945)