The Japanese Period and its Effects on Post-War Developments

Abstract

Following two inconclusive naval battles in the Coral Sea and near Midway Island, Japan found itself gradually losing the supremacy of the sea which it had commanded since Pearl Harbor. It was the Allies’ turn to inflict damage on Japanese shipping to the Southern Area. The initial Allied strategy was to bypass the Philippines, Borneo and Java, and head straight for Japan by means of ‘island hopping’. However, military strategy was overruled by political considerations. The US President, Franklin Roosevelt, decided that it was politically advantageous to American post-war policy to honour General Douglas MacArthur’s promise to return to the Philippines. Therefore, in the revised Allied plans, the responsibility for retaking former British North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak and Dutch Borneo was entrusted to the AIF 9th Division. The recapture of Borneo was part of MacArthur’s strategy to secure bases for the invasion of Java.¹