Oil tank blazes on Tarakan Island, Borneo, 1945

Description: 

Photograph. Australian soldiers, carrying communication gear, stand near a burning oil tank on a hill. Official Caption: "Rome, 6/5/45--Oil Tank Blazes on Tarakan--Australian Signalmen pause to watch a shell-torn oil tank blaze as they move inland on Tarakan island, off the east coast of Borneo, where Australian forces landed on April 30, 1945. A soldier (center), carrying a mobile radio set, removes the equipment from his shoulders for a moment's rest. U.S. Navy amphibious units transported and supported the Australian forces in the landings on Tarakan, site of rich oil fields. On June 5, the Australian radio quoted a spokesman from U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur's headquarters in Manila as saying the Allied troops have achieved 'all desired objectives' on Tarakan with mopping up operations proceeding 'at the discretion of the local commanders'.--FN photo--Serviced by Rome OWI (A list out). Approved by appropriate military authority. 6577." Tarakan Island, Borneo. 05 June 1945

Image Information

Donor: 
Dylan Utley
Accession Number: 
2012.019.334
Date: 
06/05/1945
Location: 
Hometown: 
Branch: 
Theater of Service: 
Unit: 
Campaign / Event: 
POW / KIA: 
Topical Subjects: 
Soldiers--Australian--Borneo
Smoke--Borneo
Communication devices--Borneo
Petroleum industry--Borneo
Fires--Borneo
Collection Level: 
Items from the service of Isaac "Ike" Bethel Utley, who was born in Smith Mills, Kentucky on 3 March 1920. Ike enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 19 January 1942. He was shipped overseas to the European Theatre and worked with a supply division based out of the city of Naples with an office set up in a residential villa. Utley worked with the Office of War Information and used their photographs in news articles to inform soldiers of the progress of the war. At war's end, Utley returned stateside. A trunk full of over 800 photographs from the O.W.I. arrived on his doorstep from his office in Italy, sender unknown. This collection consists of those photographs.
Geography: 
Tarakan, Pulau
Thesaurus for Graphic Materials: 
Soldiers--Australian--Borneo
Smoke--Borneo
Communication devices--Borneo
Petroleum industry--Borneo
Fires--Borneo