Lutong

On 23 June 1945, the Australian Army landed and took control of the oil refinery and airstrip in three hours, with little resistance from the 553rd Independent Infantry Battalion. It was thought that a week earlier, the Japanese garrison had left the region and moved 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the southwest of Lutong, toward Miri. With the capture of Lutong, the Australians have gained control over the entire west coast of Borneo, extending our reach 80 miles (130 km) below Brooketon on the tip of the Brunei, where they landed just 12 days ago. They have also cut off the enormously valuable oilfield of Seria and placed the Australians across the main Japanese line of retreat down the coast.^[2]

The key to the main oil fields on the west coast was Lutong. After being processed there, the oil from Seria was sent via sea lines to ships. The Japanese made every effort to further the development of Seria, which has the potential to be the largest field in the British Empire. They also made great efforts to maintain the Lutong refinery, which employed over 200 Indian POWs and an unknown number of Javanese as forced labor.^[3] Huge quantities of machinery and other equipment were also brought by them. The refinery had been completely destroyed by intense Allied bombing for several months, and the airstrip on which they landed had also been abandonment by the Japanese a few months prior, when the Australians burst into Lutong on Wednesday morning.^[2]

Allied bombs had damaged the hangar and the huts, but the field had fared better than the Labuan or Brunei strips, and it could be restored fast and simply. When the Australians arrived at Lutong, 135 Indian POWs, including Sikhs and Punjabis, were released. They were taken prisoner upon Singapore's collapse and sent to Lutong to labor in the refineries. They displayed symptoms of semi-starvation, maltreatment, and neglect spanning three years. and several were discovered by their patrols within the compound, so frail they were unable to leave.^[2]

Drivers who wish to avoid the excessive traffic on the main routes have taken to using Lutong Beach Road. Additionally, and sporadically, vehicles on this route from Lutong to Miri across the Piasau bridge have a nice glimpse of the sea. It used to be the sole path that connected Brunei with Miri. The beach was more resilient to the weight of the cars that were traveling through it to get to both locations back then.^[4] In 2021, emergency construction to construct a 185 metres (607 ft) gabion wall was initiated as a temporary solution to prevent waves from Lutong Beach each from further damaging the coastline road near the Lutong Old Airport.^[5]

In the Second World War, soldiers and equipment were transported over rivers using jetties equipped with ferries (operated by the 2/13th Battalion).^[6][7] A Westland Hovercraft was seen skimming onto Lutong Beach.^[8] Since there were no concrete roads, the only way to go from Lutong to Kuala Belait was to take boats across the Baram and Belait rivers and utilise the sandy beach.^[9]

Lutong Airstrip is a remnant of the Japanese occupation of World War II, with them operating Nakajima Ki-43s on the airstrip.^[10] It was repeatedly bombed by allied forces during the Japanese occupation. It was later captured by the Australians to allow reconnaissance aircraft such as the Taylorcraft Austers, to land.^[11] After being restored and put into service in 1954, when Malayan Airways expanded its Borneo service air network, the airstrip began to receive commercial passenger planes. This continued until the runway at Miri Airport was constructed.^[12]