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World War II

1943Chinese and Suluksrevolt against Japanesein North Borneo

On this day in 1943, local Chinese and nativeSuluks rise up against the Japaneseoccupation of North Borneo. The revolt,staged in the capital, Jesselton, resulted in thedeaths of 40 Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese had begun scooping up islandsin the Dutch East Indies in late 1941. Kuching,on the northern coast of Borneo, was taken inDecember; January of 42 saw the fall ofBrunei Bay and Jesselton, also in NorthBorneo. The British and Dutch forces on theislands were dealt swift and severe blows.Attempts by the Allies to hold on to otherislands in the regionMalaya, Sumatra, andJavabegan shortly thereafter, with BritishGeneral Archibald Wavell commanding aunified force of British, Dutch, and Australiansoldiers. It was a disastrous failure.

The treatment of Allied and civilian prisonersin the Japanese-controlled islands washorrendous, with hundreds dying of diseaseand starvation. The rebellion of Chinesesettlers and native Suluks in the Borneocapital of Jesselton, although delivering a blowto the Japanese to the tune of 40 deadoccupying soldiers, was dealt with quickly andbrutally. The Japanese destroyed dozens ofSuluk villages, rounded up and torturedthousands of civilians, and executed almost200 without trial. In one extreme example ofcruelty, several dozen Suluk women andchildren had their hands tied behind themand were hanged from their wrists from apillar of a mosque. They were then shot downby machine-gun fire.

North Borneo would not be liberated until1945, mostly the work of Australian forces.The next year, it would be made a colony ofBritain. That region of Borneo controlled bythe Dutch was given sovereignty in 1949 aftera rebellion by Indonesian forces.

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