Although Tarakan was only a small marshy island off northeastern Borneo in the Netherlands East Indies (today's Indonesia), its 700 oil wells, refineries, and airfield made it a crucial objective for Japan in the Pacific War.

miles in diameter, the discovery of oil at a relatively low depth below the ground (50 to 300 meters) brought great significance to Tarakan.

[5] Despite the prevalence of this massive production, before the war, most of Tarakan's hilly terrain at the center of the island, as well as the swamp coastlines in the east remained at their natural state.

The road network was limited to connecting the Pamoesian and Djoeata drilling sites, the port facilities at Lingkas on the west[4] and the airfield nearby with a 1,500 m runway.

In 1923, an infantry company was established in Tarakan to serve as a covering force during the destruction of oil refineries and other production installations in the event of an unforeseen attack.

[3] In 1933, a so-called "Reinforcement Detachment" from Java arrived to bolster Tarakan's defense, as tensions in the Pacific were brewing up at the time.

Benjamins (Commander: Lt. Anthonie C. van Versendaal) - 2 x Patrol boats - 3 x Dornier Do-24K - A light ship of the Government Navy Early Dutch plans before 1941 called for the defense of the oil fields and installations at all costs.

If deemed impossible, Dutch forces were to deny the enemy the usage of Tarakan's oil-producing machinery, before withdrawing to mainland Borneo.

The deployment of the Tarakan Garrison was orchestrated to prevent enemy occupation of the port complex on the western part of the island.

Defense positions consisted of several "fronts" of double fence barriers:[10] On the East Coast, Dutch troops prepared a platoon-strength support point at the mouth of the Amal River.

Despite all of these preparations, in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, a certain defeatist atmosphere had already enveloped the defenders even well before any signs of invasion.

One prong of the advance, the Right Wing Unit (under Col. Yamamoto), would land at the shores near the Amal River and destroy any Dutch troops there.

Without waiting for the landing to be completed, the unit would then move westwards through the jungle and launch a sudden attack to seize the Pamoesian oilfields.

[7] The second prong, the Left Wing Unit, would land further south at Tandjoeng Batoe (Tanjung Batu) and make their way west to capture the Peningki-Karoengan gun batteries, before moving to Lingkas, passing by the 2nd Kure Special Landing Force at the airfield, to attack and capture the Gunung Cangkol and Djoeata oil fields and the Djoeata battery up north.

[12] On 10 January 1942, after an MLD Dornier Do 24 spotted the approaching Japanese invasion fleet, Lt. Col. Simon de Waal ordered the destruction of all oil installations on the island.

[13] The engineer platoons dynamited the drilling pipes, causing an underground explosion that prevented the wells and oil below to be extracted in the near future.

Spangenberg, commanding the Amal River support point (with 53 troops) reported sighting landing vessels nearing the coast.

[15] At that point, the Right Wing Unit of the Japanese invasion force began to land on the eastern parts of Tarakan under the silhouette of the blazing oil fields.

Consisted of around 650 men, the line was supported by Everaars' Javanese machine gun company, Treffers's Ambonese soldiers and several overvalwagens.

[20] Meanwhile, from information obtained through interrogating captured soldiers, the Right Wing Unit now advanced to the north side of the Tarakan oil field.

[16] With supplies dwindling, the number of troops thinning out and communications with the coastal batteries breaking down, the Dutch finally decided to capitulate.

Bendeler's company of 65 men left Tarakan City, having been assigned to take a position in the vicinity of Tandjoeng Batoe and to guard the paths leading to the batteries.

Yet since he was unable to establish any contact, just before midnight on the 11th, Sakaguchi ordered an infantry company under Lt. Col. Namekata to go ashore at the Left Wing Unit landing point and advance along the coast to seize the battery.

Advising caution, Sakaguchi sent a message to the Navy: "Although the enemy has offered to surrender, it is feared that the battery at the south end of the island is not aware of this and it would be dangerous to proceed to the Tarakan Pier, therefore, hold up your sailing.

Kanauji's troops, hindered by poor communication and cumbered advance, had only managed to seize the Karoengan battery at 17:10 on 13 January, a day after de Waal surrendered.

[24] On the night of 11 January, before Japan completed the blockade of Tarakan, the Dutch submarine K-X, the patrol boat P 1, and BPM motor schooner Aida slipped into friendly waters.

The ship's skipper, Anthonie van Versendaal and three other officers were among those killed in the battle, while Yamakaze picked up 16 survivors and putting them ashore in Tarakan.

The results of these strikes are summarized below:[31] (Three returned en route) By 13 January, the Sakaguchi Detachment had rounded up all prisoners and captured materials, and handed over the administrative matters to the Navy the following day.

[33] By June 1942, the wells had been repaired and the oil production continued without any serious hindrance until mid-August 1943, when the first Allied air raids on Tarakan began.

[37][38] A differing account stated that survivors from the two sunken minesweepers beheaded the prisoners or tied their hands and feet and threw them into the swamps to drown or be eaten alive by crocodiles.