In December, the brigade was part of Operation Pounce, a mission to disarm the remaining Japanese forces in Java until they could be relieved by Dutch forces in April 1946. On their arrival in Batavia (Jakarta) they discovered that the Japanese had handed over their weapons to Indonesian nationalists who attacked the British force when they tried to wrest control, knowing that the British intended to return Batavia to the Dutch. The brigade dispersed rioters and patrolled the city until they were moved to Semarang on the coast between Batavia and Surabaya in January 1946. To prevent nationalists entering the town, the three battalions established patrols on the outskirts of the town and seized the docks and the airport. Despite a number of guerrilla attacks, the Indonesians were defeated. In April 1946, the British handed over control to the Dutch and returned to Singapore.