The Japanese 32nd Army was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final stages of World War II. It was annihilated during the Battle of Okinawa.
The Japanese Imperial Guard is the name of two separate organizations dedicated to the protection of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial Family, palaces and other imperial properties. The first was a quasi-independent branch of the Imperial Japanese Army which was dissolved at the end of World War II. The second is the Imperial Guard Headquarters, a civilian Imperial Guard formed as part of the National Police Agency.
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. Initially intended to secure vital airfields and port facilities to support future operations, preparatory bombardment resulted in heavy damage to the island's infrastructure, including its oil production facilities. As a result, the strategic benefits the Allies gained from the campaign were negligible.
The 16th Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Australian Army. First raised in 1912 as a Militia formation to provide training under the compulsory training scheme, the brigade was later re-raised as part of the First Australian Imperial Force during World War I. Its existence was short lived, as it was disbanded after about six months, before it could be committed to the fighting on the Western Front. Raised again in 1939 for service during World War II, the brigade was deployed to the Middle East in early 1940 and subsequently saw action in the Western Desert and in Greece in 1941. In 1942, it returned to Australia in response to Japan's entry into the war, and later the brigade played a prominent role in the Kokoda Track campaign and at Buna–Gona in Papua. Withdrawn to Australia in early 1943, the 16th Brigade was re-organised and received many replacements from disbanding formations, but it was not recommitted to combat operations until late in the war. In 1944–1945, the brigade was committed to the Aitape–Wewak campaign in New Guinea. After the war, the brigade was disbanded in 1946. Today, its name is perpetuated by the 16th Aviation Brigade which was raised on 2 April 2002.
II Corps was an Australian Army corps, one of three that were raised by the Army during the Second World War. Formed in mid-1942 as part of defensive measures to protect the eastern coast of Australia from invasion, the corps was initially composed mainly of home defence troops drawn from the Militia. For a brief period in 1942, a US infantry division was also assigned to the corps prior to its dispatch to fight the Japanese in New Guinea.
The Battle of North Borneo took place during the Second World War between Allied and Japanese forces. Part of the wider Borneo campaign of the Pacific War, it was fought between 10 June and 15 August 1945 in North Borneo. The battle involved a series of amphibious landings by Australian forces on various points on the mainland around Brunei Bay and upon islands situated around the bay. Japanese opposition to the landings was sporadic initially, although as the campaign progressed a number of considerable clashes occurred and both sides suffered relatively significant casualties. While Allied conventional operations focused largely around the coastal areas, guerilla forces consisting of Dayak tribesmen and small numbers of Allied personnel from the Services Reconnaissance Department fought an unconventional campaign in the interior. Ultimately, the Allies were successful in seizing control of the region, although to a large extent the strategic gains that possession of North Borneo provided the Allies with were ultimately negated by the sudden conclusion of the war in August 1945.
The 1st Independent Mixed Brigade or 1st Mixed Brigade (獨立混成第1旅團) was an experimental combined arms formation of the Imperial Japanese Army. In July 1937, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the brigade was known as the Sakai Brigade, for its commander, Lt. General Koji Sakai. The brigade participated in Battle of Taiyuan in late 1937. After being promoted lieutenant general Masaomi Yasuoka took command from 1938 to 1939.
The Battle of Labuan was an engagement fought between Allied and Imperial Japanese forces on the island of Labuan off Borneo during June 1945. It formed part of the Australian invasion of North Borneo, and was initiated by the Allied forces as part of a plan to capture the Brunei Bay area and develop it into a base to support future offensives.
The 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion was a battalion of the Australian Army during World War II. One of four infantry battalions raised in New Guinea, 1 NGIB was formed in March 1944. In late 1944, the battalion began deploying company-sized elements in support of combat operations on Bougainville, New Britain and on mainland New Guinea. It later became part of the Pacific Islands Regiment before being disbanded in June 1946.
The Battle of Porton Plantation took place near the village of Soraken on Bougainville Island, in the Solomon Islands archipelago during World War II. Involving forces from Australia, New Zealand and Japan, the battle was part of the wider Bougainville campaign, which had begun in late 1943 and lasted until the end of the war in August 1945. The battle formed part of Australian efforts to liberate the northern part of Bougainville.
The 33rd Brigade was a formation of the Australian Army established at the end of World War II. Formed in August 1945 at Morotai Island, it consisted of three Australian Imperial Force infantry battalions that were raised for occupation duties in the Dutch East Indies following Japan's surrender. After deployment to Timor and Ambon, it returned to Morotai when Dutch colonial rule was re-established. It was disbanded in early 1946 and its personnel demobilised.
The Battle of Pearl Ridge was an engagement of the Second World War fought between Australian and Japanese forces on Bougainville Island. Part of the wider Bougainville Campaign, the battle took place in the central sector of the island, shortly after the Australians had taken over responsibility from the Americans. Believing that the ridge was held by less than a company of Japanese, on 30 December the Australian 25th Infantry Battalion launched a four-pronged attacked the ridge. The defending force, however, had been greatly reinforced by elements of the 38th Independent Mixed Brigade and was closer to a battalion in strength. After being held up on the right of their advance, the Australians dug-in overnight and repulsed a strong Japanese counterattack before resuming the attack on 31 December. By late in the afternoon, the Japanese had been swept off the ridge. The Australians later established an observation post on the ridge, which had commanding views of the whole island, and throughout the remainder of the campaign used it to control artillery fire as they advanced towards Japanese enclaves in the north and south of the island.
The Landing at Jacquinot Bay was an Allied amphibious operation undertaken on 4 November 1944 during the New Britain Campaign of World War II. The landing was conducted as part of a change in responsibility for Allied operations on New Britain. The Australian 5th Division, under Major General Alan Ramsay, took over from the US 40th Infantry Division, which was needed for operations in the Philippines. The purpose of the operation was to establish a logistics base at Jacquinot Bay on the south coast of New Britain to support the 5th Division's planned operations near the major Japanese garrison at Rabaul.
The Battle of Ratsua occurred during the Second World War and involved Australian and Japanese forces. Part of the wider Bougainville Campaign of the Pacific theatre, the battle took place in the northern sector of Bougainville between June and August 1945. The main forces that took part in the fighting were the Australian 23rd Brigade and the Japanese 87th Naval Garrison Force.
Kesao Kijima was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanding Japanese ground forces on Bougainville of 1945 in the closing months of the war.
The 56th Independent Mixed Brigade was an Imperial Japanese Army unit of World War II. It was raised in June 1944 to reinforce the defences of Japanese-occupied Borneo, and was initially stationed in the north-east of the island. In early 1945 most of the brigade's units were ordered to move to the Brunei Bay area of west Borneo, with the brigade's personnel subsequently making a difficult march across the centre of the island.
The Battle of Beaufort took place during the Second World War between Allied and Japanese forces. Part of the wider Borneo campaign of the Pacific War, it was fought between 26 and 28 June 1945 in North Borneo. The battle formed part of the Allied efforts to secure North Borneo in the final months of the war and saw two Australian infantry battalions attack the town, which was held by a force of around 800 – 1,000 Japanese. Over the course of several days heavy fighting took place before the Japanese began withdrawing on 29 June. While withdrawing, the Japanese were ambushed and suffered heavy casualties.
The 25th Independent Mixed Regiment was a regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) active during World War II. It was raised in July 1944, and deployed to Borneo in September that year. Elements of the regiment briefly saw combat against the United States Army on islands near Tawi-Tawi Island and against Australian forces during the Battle of North Borneo.
