Quoted from Flight Journal Jan-Feb. 2003
Mission To Balikpapan
B-24s bomb Pacific oil refineries by W. David Lewis

Balikpapen was called "one of the brightest jewels in the stolen treasure house of the East Indies" because of the vital importance of its oilfields and refineries to the Japanese war effort. In this article, W. David Lewis tells of the first raid on Balikpapen by B-24s of the 5th and 13th Air forces, including the adventures of Joseph Tafaro, pilot of the Liberty Belle II. During the raid, the Liberty Belle II was damaged by enemy fighters, later causing it to make a water landing near a small island.

LINKS

- Dateline: Late January 1942
- Order of Battle: Battle of Balikpapan
- Dutch AirForce Order of Battle Nov.30, 1941
- The Capture of Balikpapan Jan.1942
- The Balikpapan Raid
- The Battle of Balikpapan 1
- The Battle of Balikpapan 2
- The Battle of Balikpapan 3
- The Battle of Balikpapan 4
- The Battle of Balikpapan 5
- Japanese Landing at Balikpapan Jan.24 1942
- The 380th Bomb.Group at Balikpapan
- The 90th Bombardment Group
- 390th Bomb Squadron
- Battle for Borneo Chronology
- Australian Tank Deployment
- Lost Batallion: 131st Field Artillery
- The Conquer of Borneo island 1941-42
- The Capture of Banjarmasin
- Early July 1945
- Manggar aerodrome
- Tarakan Aerodrome
- Essay on Battle of Balikpapan
- Balikpapan massacre

US Ships
- History of Asiatic Fleet
- USS John D. Ford DD-228
- USS Parrott DD-218
- USS Paul Jones DD-10
- Last action of USS Pope DD-225

US Submarines
- USS S40
- USS Pickerel
- USS Porpoise SS-172
- USS Saury SS-189
- USS Spearfish SS-190
- USS Sturgeon SSN-637

Japanese side
- Japanese Shipping Loses
- Japanese ships
- Japanese Carriers in WW-II

Others
- Imperial Japanese Naval Infantry
- Borneo Honours List
- USS Marblehead (CL-12)
- USS Smith DD-378
- USS S-38
- USS Columbia CL-56
- USS Vance
- Richard Bong
- LCT-1304 at Balikpapan beach
- LST-454 in action July 1945

1994 Tragic, heroic account of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet at the outbreak of WW II with graphic descriptions of the battles of Balikpapan, the Java Sea and the Sunda Strait. Unforgettable.

Describes the capture of Balikpapan by elements of the Sakaguchi Detachment from Tarakan Island and the subsequent mop-up of the surrounding area.