A comprehensive study of Japanese army air force operations in Indonesia during World War II.
 
This translation of a volume of the Senshi Sosho, the National Defense College of Japan’s unparalleled 1966–80 war history series, The Invasion of the South describes Japanese army air force operations against the Dutch East Indies during World War II. This essential resource provides the most comprehensive treatment of Japanese activity in the Indonesian archipelago, one of the largest transoceanic operations in history.

Willem Remmelink served for more than twenty-five years as the executive director of the Japan-Netherlands Institute in Tokyo.

Contents [War History Series Vol. 34]
Editor’s Note
About the Senshi Sōsho (War History Series)
A Note on Japanese Military Aviation
Foreword
Preface
Introduction: The Army’s Strategy for the Areas to the South [of Japan] and the Changes in the Employment of Aviation (Until the Spring of 1941)
1. The First Initiatives for a Strategy Against the U.S. Forces in the Philippines and the Army Air Service
2. Incorporating the Strategies Against Britain in Malaya and the Army Air Service
3. Incorporating the Strategies Against France in French Indochina and the Army Air Service
4. The Army Air Service and the Overall Strategy for the South Including the Invasion of the Dutch East Indies
5. Acceleration of the [Army] Air Service’s War Preparations for [the Operation in] the South
6. The Composition and Equipment of the Army Air Service
Part I The Army Air Service’s Preparations for the Southern Invasion Operation (May – November 1941)
Chapter 1 The War Preparedness of the Air Forces in the South Around the Opening of Hostilities Between Germany and the Soviet Union (May – August 1941)
1. The Intelligence of the Opening of Hostilities Between Germany and the Soviet Union; the Worsening Situation in the South for the [Japanese] Air Forces
2. The Army Air Service’s War Preparation After the Opening of Hostilities Between Germany and the Soviet Union
3. The Stationing of Forces in Southern French Indochina
4. The Shift in Focus to the South of the Preparations of the [Army] Air Service
Chapter 2 The War Preparations of the Army Air Service After the Plan for the Southern Invasion Had Been Roughly Decided (August – October, 1941)
1. The Decision on a National Policy with the Determination Not to Flinch from War
2. A Comprehensive Study of the Employment of the Army and Navy Air Services
3. The Army Air Service’s Full-Scale Preparations for the Southern Operation
Chapter 5 The Air Operations in Preparation of the Capture of Singapore and Palembang (January 1942)
1. The Speeding-up of the Invasion Operation of the South and the New Plan of Employment of the Air Arm
2. The Plan of the Air Operations Against Singapore and Palembang
3. The Air Operations of the Third Air Force in Southern Malaya and Sumatra
4. The Third Air Force’s Advance of Bases Toward Southern Malaya
Chapter 6 The Palembang Paradrop Operation and Support for the Capture of Singapore
1. Establishing the Conditions for Launching the Operations
2. The Execution of the Paradrop Raiding Operation Against Palembang
3. The Air Operation to Support the Singapore Operation 259
Chapter 7 The Invasion of Java: The Success of the Stepping-Stone Tactics
1. Acceleration of the Preparations for the Java Invasion Operation
2. Finishing the Preparations for the Java Invasion [Operation]
3. The Progress of the Java Invasion Operation
4. The General Situation in Malaya, Sumatra and Java After the Java Operation
Part III The Air Operations in the Final Period of the Invasion of Key Areas in the South (Until June 1942)
Chapter 1 Evaluation of the [Military] Gains and Examination of a Policy for Subsequent Operations (March – April 1942)
1. The Evaluation of the Situation from a Higher Strategic Perspective
2. Air Strength’s Wastage and Replenishment, and the Countermeasures
3. The General Principles for Conducting the Future Operations
4. Preparation of the Air Defense Arrangements of the South
5. The Southern Army’s Lessons of War Concerning Its Air Arm
Conclusion
Notes
List of Signs and Abbreviations (Chiefly Related to the Army Air Service)
[Attached Tables]
List of Brief [Career] Histories of Key Air Service Personnel in the Army’s Southern Air Operation
Specifications of the Japanese Army and Navy Aircraft [Employed in] the Southern Invasion Operation
Addendum: War History Series Volume 5, Chapter 4
Editor’s note
Chapter 4 The Invasion Operations Against Both Central and Northern Sumatra and the Andaman Islands, as well as the Transport Operation to Burma
1. Circumstances and Preparations Until the Implementation of the Invasion Operations
2. Implementation of the Invasion Operation
3. The Operation to Transport Reinforcements to Burma (the 56th and the 18th Divisions, the Sakaguchi Detachment and the Units of the 33d Division Left Behind in Eastern China)
Notes Volume 5, Chapter 4
Glossary
Index of Personal Names
Index of Place Names
List of Organizations that Supported this Publication