What was perhaps the first instance of Anti-Aircraft weaponry being used in warfare was displayed over the island of Borneo. The Japanese invasion of the Majapahit Empire continued, and it became clear very quickly that the 8.8cm flak cannons employed by the Royal Majapahit Army were more than capable of annihilating the floatplanes used by the Japanese battleships as a means of reconnaissance.
Within the first twenty-four hours of the invasion, Itami had lost six planes and six pilots from these AA installments. As a result, she had become desperate to eliminate these installations and had issued the order to dispatch a hundred bombers from the Japanese Airbase in the southern Philippines to bomb the fortified positions where these anti-aircraft guns were located.
