Barb Wire & Bamboo Magazine Article

60.000 Australians, 3 Divisions, captured by Japanese

We know this is not true, but for time running out this could well have been the situation in 1942. In the December 2001 and February 2002 edition of this magazine were published some interesting and authentic articles on the 3000 Australians of Black Force. These troops were the vanguard of the 7th Division’s move from Middle East and were on board the S.S. Orcades but were ordered to disembark at Oosthaven Sumatra on the 15th February, the day Singapore fell. It was due to the intervention of Lt General Lavarack that the 2/3rd Machine Gunners and the 2/2nd Pioneers were returned to the Orcades and landed in Java on the 18th February 1942. . Despite Lavarack urging the Australian Government not to agree to the landing of these troops in Java he was ordered to obey Wavell’s orders. Wavell and his headquarter staff took over the accommodation on the “Orcades” vacated by Black Force and evacuated to safety in Australia.

Brigadier, later Lt General Sir Frank Berryman Chief of staff of 1st Australian Corps has reported in his memoirs that with Lt General Lavarack he arrived at Wavell’s HQ in Bandoeng on the 27th January 1942. Wavell explained the current situation and said that the Australian 7th Division was to be deployed in Southern Sumatra and the 6th Division in Central Java. Lavarack did not agree to the Australian Corps being split up and referred it back to the Australian government, surprisingly the response was to obey Wavell’s orders but to press for the two divisions to be united as the situation permitted. On the 8th February 12 days later the Japanese crossed into Singapore and fortunately time ran out before the two divisions could take up their assigned positions in Sumatra and Java. From Colombo ships containing the two Divisions raced unescorted across the Indian Ocean to Australia. Given that Japan had complete control of the air and the sea, once in position, it would have been impossible for these two divisions to be supported, resupplied or evacuated. The obvious end would have been the 6th and 7th Divisions joining the 8th Australian Divisions as prisoners of war. Instead of 8000 Australian casualties among our POWs the probable toll could well have been 24,000.

One can wonder what the outcome of the Kokoda Trail Battles would have been with the 7th Division prisoners in Sumatra, the 6th in Java. Despite the brave sacrifice of the 39th Battalion, Port Moresby would surely have been occupied by the Japanese troops. With the gateway to Australia now wide open, history would have had to be rewritten.
Neil MacPherson, WX16572, 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Williams Force Burma
Additional Notes
History shows that the Japanese considered Java the jewel in the Dutch East Indies, and no doubt influenced by knowledge of the movement south of a vast Australian force from the Middle East, landed a huge force on Java.

In the series Australian In the War of 1939-45, “The Japanese Thrust” on page 497 Wigmore describes the Japanese final thrust for the biggest prize of the whole campaign, Java, it would seem that their plans had envisaged a defence force involving two Australian battle hardened Divisions, not an ad hoc brigade of three under equipped battalions

The two Japanese invading forces involved the Eastern Force consisted of the 48th Division, which had captured the Philippines, and the 56th Regimental Group that had captured Ballikpapen were contained in a Naval force of 41 Transports. The Western Group consisted of the 2nd Division from Japan and the 230th Regiment of the 38th Division made up of 56 Transports, this Western Group made two separate landings in Sunda straits. The map below shows the rapid advance of the Western Force, until they met the Australians at the Llewiliang Bridge west of Buitenzorg (bottom left on map) and suffered severe casualties. As well as the 2/2nd Pioneer and 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalions, the latter without their machine guns, the 131st US Artillery Company gave support to the Australians.

One wonders what the course of the Pacific War would have been had these invading force in the 97 Transports with their escorting Naval task force continued on to unprotected Australia, with all it’s fighting men still in transit from overseas.

Java, which surrendered on The 8th March, was the last of the Dutch East Indies to fall to the Japanese, the Dutch army with their forces thinly spread over all of their islands, no air or sea power left, were never capable of fighting for Java. As it transpired the main resistance to the Japanese was from the lightly equipped Australian Black Force at the Llewiliang Bridge.

The surrender of Java can only be described as the completion of the largest, quickest, the most extensive conquest of the largest area of the world, and as a triumph of planning by the Japanese, in a period of six weeks the following surrenders took place.

Ambon 6TH February, Rabaul 14TH February, Singapore 15th February,
Timor 23rd February Java 8th March

In this period 22,000 Australian Service men and women were made captives, of these over 8,000 were to perish.