Tuhia he tomokanga mō tēnei whitiāhua - I whakamutua te whakamua o Hapanihi i te Moananui a Kiwa i te tīmatanga o te 1943, e ngā hōia o Ahitereiria i New Guinea me ngā hōia o Amerika i Guadalcanal, i muri i tērā ka haere nga Allies ki te whakaeke, ka haere whakamua mā New Guinea me te Solomon Islands ki te Philippines. I roto i te 1944, ka timata nga Allies ki te whakamahere ki te whakahoki mai i a Borneo. Ko te General Headquarters o te General Douglas MacArthur's South West Pacific Area te kawenga mo te whakamahere i te mahi, engari na te pono o nga ope US ki te whakahoki mai i a Philippines, ko te mahi ki te whakahoki mai i a Borneo i tukuna ki nga ope whenua o Ahitereiria. Ko nga mahi a te Allied i Borneo ko nga taunga ki Tarakan, Labuan
, me Balikpapan. I te timatanga, i whakaaro a MacArthur ki te whakamahi i a Borneo hei huarahi ki te tango ano i a Java, engari i whakakorehia tenei mahi i muri mai ka tukuna te kawenga mo te Netherlands East Indies ki te Tumuaki o te Tonga ki te Tonga o Ahia i arahina e Ingarangi. I te waahanga whakamahere, ko te rangatira o nga Ope Taua o Ahitereiria, a General Thomas Blamey i taunaki kia kaua e taunga ki Balikpapan, i te whakapono kaore he kaupapa rautaki. I muri i te whakaaro nui, ka whakaae te Kāwanatanga o Ahitereiria ki te whakarato i ngā hōia mō tēnei mahi. Ko te US Joint Chiefs of Staff he awangawanga ano mo te kaupapa rautaki o te mahi, engari e ai ki te kaituhi hitori a Garth Pratten, i whakahaerehia e MacArthur te Kawanatanga o Ahitereiria me te Joint Chiefs ki te whakaae ki te hopu i a Balikpapan. Ko te kaupapa o te mahi, e ai ki te kaituhi o te hitori a Chris Coulthard-Clark, "ki te haumaru i te tauranga me nga waahi hinu i te rohe, me te whakatu i tetahi turanga hei whakarewa" i nga mahi a muri ake. Hei taapiri, ka whakahoutia te mana kawanatanga o Netherlands East Indies.