Defeat in Java PTO (id:#66925)

(ASL 11a - Doomed Battalions (4th Edition) ID: 314)   [next]   [previous]

Soebang, Java 1942-03-02 (6 others)

Overview:

The fate of the Dutch East Indies-a prize rich in natural resources and one of the prime objectives of the Japanese expansion-had been decided by the naval clashes off the coast of Java. But even with the retreat of the Allied naval forces, some 25000 Allied troops remained on the island. Despite the fact that the bulk of these were poorly armed and poorly trained native Indonesian soldiers (the ratio of Europeans to Indonesians in the five colonial regiments was 1-to-40), stiffened by a handful of small Australian, British and American formations, the commander of the 16th Japanese Army, Lt. General Hitochi Inamura, was far from complacent. His meticulous plans for the conquest called for amphibious landings by two divisions at widely separated points, and rapid exploitation from these beachheads. A key operation in his plans was the immediate capture of the large and relatively modern Kalidjati airfield ten kilometers west of Soebang by the specially organized Shoji Detachment. After a pre-dawn landing on 1 March, elements of the Shoji Detachment overran Soebang and attacked the airfield. By 1230 hours, the 100 Allied troops defending the installation had been wiped out and the Japanese set about organizing defensive positions in anticipation of the arrival of the fighters of the 3rd Air Brigade. But the Allied Command realized the importance of such an airbase on the front lines; near mid-morning the next day, elements of an Indonesian infantry regiment supported by British light tanks attacked Soebang with plans to press on to the airfield.

Defender: Japanese (230th Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division/1st Independent Rapid-Fire-Gun Battalion)  

Errata (source)