Netherlands New Guinea of 1962 back into time to 1942

And the Netherlands Up timmers are already on high alert due their semi war with Indonesia in 1962, as soon as they find out what happen they will do their best to slow down the Japanese and call in the Americans and Australians to reinforce them, which they will do.

Some pictures of the military hardware the 1962 Netherlands forces posses:

Friesland-class destroyer



Dolfijn-class submarine





Hawker Hunter 



Lockheed P-2 Neptune

Guys

Interesting discussion. A few points and questions:
a) Jon are you suggesting a strike on the Japanese invasion force while its at Rabaul or after its left? I would have thought that the latter would have had two advantages. Without the defences of the port the Dutch would be able to do more damage and that sinking the ships at sea means more losses of men and supplies for the Japanese. Plus you could have the sub come into play as a 1962 sub should be lethal to the Japanese.

b) The key question would be how much supplies and equipment will the up-timers have? Given how thinly stretched the Japanese are and how confused their going to be by the sudden leap in Dutch power they could hold on for quite a while but their likely to run out of equipment and spares before the Japanese can defeat them in battle.

c) As I say, the initial Dutch attack will mightily confuse the Japanese as their not going to realise what those forces are and where their coming from initially. Plus they will be confused about what additional forces the defenders have and why they haven't appeared before. This could be another reason to hit the invasion force at sea rather than in port as the Japanese are likely to discover less about their attackers. This could be useful as it will mean the Japanese will be uncertain what they have to commit to any invasion once they realise the enemy is operating from New Guinea. Of course this could mean they try and come in in overwhelming force but that would constrain a lot of other operations, take some time and still probably mean some vital losses.

d) As Jon says the allies, once the uptimers establish contact with them and confirm what their saying, although how they would do that quickly I'm unsure, they would seek to support the Dutch. Also this gives a potential huge advantage to the allies if the US can be persuaded to commit their carriers to the area. Some equivalent to Coral Sea could be a crushing victory fairly quickly as finding Japanese forces could be hugely easier with the Dutch a/c and possibly also the sub. This is likely to butterfly any Midway battle as the potential threat from New Guinea, even if the forces are actually largely disarmed by lack of supplies, would force the Japanese to continue making attacks to clear the region. The big danger here might actually be surface ships once the Japanese locate the Dutch bases as they can't sink that many of them and shore bombardment could be highly destructive.

e) In terms of short term reprieves elsewhere I don't think it would make much difference to Baatan. If the Japanese don't attack the defenders are forced to surrender due to lack of food if nothing else. However if Burma could be saved as a result this would make for some big differences to the war in the area and possibly also in China since the Nationalists could get a hell of a lot more supplies if the Burma road stays open. Also Burma in British hands could avoid some nasty disasters in the region, including possibly seriously mitigating the Bengal famine.

f) Of course the biggest butterflies will come later on. Long after any impact from the forces operating in the region has passed there is the knowledge the up-timers have. Both on WWII and on later events. Knowledge of nuclear weapons, the cold war and Soviet spies, numerous technological advances and some social changes, including the rapid decolonisation that is largely completed by 1962.

Anyway, some fascinating options here I think.

Lordroel

I would expect the answer to both those questions would be yes. The local population is the only source of extra manpower that the defenders have until they can be reinforced and they really need to link up with them not to be too totally dependent on the US and other allies.

Similarly, at least once the early fighting is finished flying out a Hunter and some plans and technological details for the allies to look over and see what they can reproduce and how quickly. With their resources the US will take the lead here but British knowledge on early jets could be useful here. Possibly it wouldn't be an Hunter but some sort of early jet might be available in numbers in say 18-24 months at a guess.

5/6 of the IJN's fleet carriers (remember the Kaga struck a reef in February and had to sit out the end of the Java Campaign and the Indian Ocean raid in OTL) are also scheduled to arrive at Staring Bay on Sulawesi on March 10th 1942. If the uptime Dutch forces are able to figure this out (not an impossibility IMO) they could easily station their two submarines in the region and advise the rest of the Allies to do the same. This could lead to the Japanese navy taking even further casualties, especially if the Dutch Air Force can launch a night time strike with their P-2 aircraft. If the Dutch pull this off, along with a strike on the 4th fleet in Rabaul, the IJN might be completely gutted far earlier than OTL.

I think that the Dutch Hunters aren't the only things that will be reverse engineered, An example of the P-2N would be also a massive tech boost (it's engines would smooth the development of the B-29 immensely). Also new designs of the landing craft would also speed things up. The Bofors submarine mortars alone would be able to massively accelerate the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic once mass produced. TTL's Second World War is going to be over much earlier than OTL.

An expansion of the Papuan Volunteer Corps is a given, especially in 1942. Though initially equipment is likely going to come from Australian/NZ reserve stocks, American supplies will likely begin arriving sooner rather than later. I could see the Dutch negotiating for enough funds from the US to put through some kind of GI bill in Iran Jaya as a means of inducing more people to volunteer. With additional militia, the existing 1962 forces, and American troops (28th division can be rerouted from New Caledonia with more to follow) the Japanese are going to find it impossible to take the region.

In all likelihood Dutch New Guinea becomes what the Solomons was in OTL, the battle of attrition that decisively wears down the Japanese Army and Navy while preparations are made for larger campaigns elsewhere. 





 

  Jon

  If the KB is successfully gutted then things are a lot better.  My concern was how long will it be before the up-time weapons such as the Hunters and subs run out of munitions or spares?  I was thinking it was a problem for both sides during the Guadalcanal battles getting forces there and this is somewhat further away and closer to Japanese bases.  However willing to bow to your much greater knowledge of the campaigns [and await the Wake/Alamo updates with anticipation. ]

  Steve