The invasion of the Dutch East Indies by the Imperial Japanese Army began on 8 December 1941, ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese sought to secure the resources of the Dutch East Indies to support their war effort. The Japanese military initially landed on the northern coast of the island of Sumatra and advanced southward, capturing the capital of the Dutch East Indies, Batavia (now Jakarta), on 8 March 1942.
The invasion was met with significant …