An olive-drab, two-engined plane without markings or number swept in low and thundering over the Indonesian port of Balikpapan in Borneo. Bombs tumbled out from the opened bomb bay, and the British tanker, San Flaviano, erupted in a series of explosions that broke the vessel's back. An Indonesian corvette, anchored protectively at the harbor mouth, took a direct hit, burst into flames from stem to stern. The Royal Dutch Shell Co. hastily shut down its installations at Balikpapan, signaled oil tankers to clear the area.
All last week unmarked planes ranged the Molucca and Celebes Seas, the Strait of Makassar,...