A NEW LANDING

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 7, 9 July 1945, Page 5

A NEW LANDING

AUSTRALIANS AT BALIK

PAPAN

; WASHINGTON July 6. Elements of the 7th Australian Division, with naval support, landed at Penadjam, on the west shore of Balik Papan Bay, and are moving inland against negligible opposition, reports General MacArthur's communique. Australian units on the opposite shore are closing in on the remaining oil refineries held by the enemy. The enemy dead in the operations in Borneo total 3031 and prisoners 274. Our casualties are 214 killed, 22 missing, and 420 wounded. LONDON, July 8. The thrust at Penadjam has ended the first phase of the campaign ahead of schedule. All the immediate objectives, including two aerodromes and the spacious harbour, have been captured in five days, .firmly establishing the Australians among the strongest Japanese defences encountered in this theatre. Time was vital at the outset, but now it is secondary. The Manila correspondent of the "New York Times" says that Penadjam is virtually of no significance except for a small oil well and inland storage area, but the capture gives the 7th Division control of both sides of the entrance to Balik Papan Bay. The Australian column which captured the two airports encountered stiff resistance on Thursday just beyond the eastern edge of Manggar aerodrome, where the "Japanese had apparently established a defensive line. The tralians met fire from two Sin coast defence guns and small'mortars. An Associated Press correspondent says that tough close fighting is reported at the Pa.tdansari refinery near Balik Papan. The enemy is also resisting strongly as its main force withdraws to the Sambodja oilfield, 15 miles northward of Manggar airfield. A Washington message says that the 7th Division pushed north-eastward six miles beyond Balik Papan and moyed steadily inland from beach i positions at Penadjam on the west shore of the harbour. This is recorded in General Mac Arthur's communique. In the Brunei Bay area, the 9th Australian Division patrolled extensively,sfurl;h'er;:r.educing isolated-enfemy^ groups'.'' Our air forces supported ground operations and ranged at will over Borneo, wrecking two freighters at the southern port of Bandjermasin. One enemy plane ineffectively raided the Balik Papan area at dawn. Tokio radio says that the Domei news agency interpreted the invasion of Borneo as part of the final pincer movement against Malaya and Singapore. "The most significant feature of the campaign is the drive to acquire the island's oilfields to help supply an estimated 11,000 planes being employed against Japan. In this sense the tempo of the enemy's campaigns in Borneo has a direct bearing upon the Serfection of the Okinawa bases and ie time scale for his invasion of the Japanese homeland."