World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Kingdom of Sarawak was created in 1841 out of Brunei after explorer James Brooke, who would become the first Rajah, offered military assistance to Brunei to defeat piracy and insurgency. In 1888, it became a British protectorate, and two years later, with the backing of the British Empire, it forcibly annexed the Pandaruan region from Brunei, generally forming the kingdom's borders as it was at the eve of the Japanese invasion in Jan 1942. It was defended by the Indian Army 2/15th Punjabi Regiment and the small para-military Sarawak Rangers, supported by a few anti-aircraft guns and some obsolete aircraft based at the Kuching Airfield. The Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Vyner Brooke, was in Australia when the invasion began, and thus escaped captivity. The population suffered from rampant disease and starvation during the occupation. After WW2, in 1946, Charles Vyner Brooke sold his kingdom to the British Colonial Office. In 1963, Sarawak merged with Malaya, North Borneo, and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia.

Photographs

Sarawak in World War II Interactive Map