WORLD WAR ll ~ ROYAL DUTCH (SHELL) OIL WORKS ~ BALIKPAPAN BORNEO - 1942

Description

Scarce early original vintage silver gelatin press photograph shows a view of the Royal Dutch (Shell) Oil Works in Balikpapan Borneo just before invasion by the Japanese Imperial Army.
On 18 January 1942, the Dutch began destroying oil facilities at Balikpapan. At 0700, 19 January 1942, the Japanese landed unopposed at Sandakan, British North Borneo. During the night of 23-24 January 1942 MajGen Sakaguchi’s 56th Mixed Infantry Group and the No. 2 Kure SNLF landed in Balikpapan and occupied the town and oil refineries without resistance.
The refineries on Borneo were estimated to supply Japan with up to 35 percent of her refined petroleum products and more than half of that used by Japanese forces in the Philippines.
The Balikpapan refining and oil center was second only to Sumatra's Palembang in production. Allied Intelligence estimated that Balikpapan refineries processed 5,240,000 barrels of crude oil annually and produced aviation gasoline, diesel and motor fuel, kerosene and lubricating oil. Balikpapan’s Pandansari refinery, “the Ploesti of the Pacific”, was a new and modern plant essential to distillation of aviation gasoline and its Edeleanu plants produced sulphuric acid for the solvent treatment of aviation gasoline.
Photograph measures 7 x 9 inches and is in excellent condition with no bends, tears, or creases and is very sharp and has strong tones with good contrast and clarity.
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NOTE: BUYERS - I can combine shipping and send out 8 ounces of items for the same price as one ounce...or about the equivalent of 6 - 8 x10 photographs.