Australia // Capture of Tarakan / Pennant
The first HMAS Westralia was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Glasgow for the Huddart Parker company as a twin screw motor vessel, being completed in 1929. Westralia was requisitioned for war service by the Australian government in 1939 as an armed merchant cruiser. She was fitted with 6 inch guns, and 3 inch AA guns, commissioning into the Royal Australian Navy in January 1940.
She along with elements of the Royal Australian Air Force and the 9th Corps of the Australian Army liberated the island of Tarakan.
Tarakan is an island in the East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a marshy island situated in the eastern Celebes Sea, off the northeastern coast of Borneo.
The Japanese Occupation of Tarakan took place on January 11-12, 1942. Even though Tarakan was only a small marshy island at northeastern Borneo in the Netherlands East Indies, but the 700 oil wells, oil refinery and airfield on it, was one of the main objectives for the Empire of Japan in the WWII.
Tarakan remained under Japanese occupation until May 1945 when it was liberated by Australian troops in the Battle of Tarakan (1945).
The liberation of Tarakan was the first stage in the Borneo campaign of 1945. It began with an amphibious landing by Australian forces on May 1, code-named Operation Oboe One. While the battle ended with success for the Allied forces over the Japanese defenders, delays with bringing the island's airfield into service rendered this a largely pyrrhic victory.
This pennant was commissioned as a souvenir of that battle, and is typical of felt pennants made for service members and loved ones back at home.
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